Sacré Coeur + Paris Rooftop

(Katherine) Today we slept in quite late to make up for no sleep during our Rio to Paris transit. Once we finally got up and got out of the house, we decided to head to one of Paris’s biggest tourists attractions, which also happened to be on our backyard - Sacré Coeur. Just behind our apartment is a series of steps that take you up the side of the hill to Sacré Coeur. Let’s just say that if we were to take these steps every day I might just work off all of the weight I put on in Argentina from eating steaks!

There were thousands of tourists all around, put we still managed to snap a few photos and then make our way through the church. They take you on a path which goes around the center of the church where the public at large is welcomed to sit in prayer any time of the day. They also employ a couple of professional “shushers" who tell tourists to quiet down when they are being too loud. I’m proud to say that most of the people who got shushed were not Americans. We enjoyed a few moments of reflection in one of the pews at the back of the church and took in the beauty of the building - it truly is a sight to behold.

We continued to explore our neighborhood and finally stopped for a bite to eat at Café de la Palace. We then hurried home to change since we had another date arranged with our new friends at AirBnb.  They had selected a place called Favlea Chic, a Brazilian place where the literal translation of the name means “Slums Chic” (ironic, since we had just been in Rio). We met up with Venetia and Lisa and enjoyed some cocktails, wine and appetizers. We also met a Parisian client, Clement, who manages a dozen apartments in the city, all of which are listed on Airbnb.  After dinner, Robert, myself and Clement went across the street to the apartment where Venetia and Lisa were staying where they tried calling some other Airbnb clients to coheres them to come out with us. During this process, they received a Skype call from Joe, one of the founders of the company. After a few minutes, all of the Airbnb founders were in the office, and Venetia introduced us to them via her computer - we are known as “The Honeymooners” for our unique Airbnb story. They all seemed very cool and enthusiastic about our Airbnb experience.

After the conference call, we ventured out to find a new venue. Clement and Lisa decided upon a nightclub called Andy Wah-loo, a hipster venue that can be tricky to get into without knowing the right people. Fortunately for us, Lisa and Clement were the right people that night, and we enjoyed a mojito at the bar while a DJ spun disco and r&b.  Afterwards, Clement invited us to enjoy an extremely exclusive view of Paris from from his rooftop. The 360 degree view is a rare sight for most tourists. We could see a number of landmarks including Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower.  I tried to take some photos of our surroundings but the camera didn’t do it justice

After soaking in the view, Clement introduced us to his 5th floor neighbors who were very gracious to invite the five of us inside. Robert got to test out his French speaking skills while I talked with Venetia for quite a while - we shared a lot of similarities beyond just our Hoosier background. It finally started to get quite late and we all went our separate ways. Robert and I took a leisurely stroll home while reflecting on our new friends and our amazing view of our new city.