Paris, France

Paris. City of love and romance. Cultural center for art, fashion, gastronomy, and mean waiters. Beyond the obvious Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, and Louvre, this city has so much more to offer if you know where to look. We were lucky enough to be shown around by a local and got to live “like Parisians” for a couple of weeks.

During the day, we walked around Paris, ate some delicious macaroons from Angelina, and found our way to the AntiCafé Louvre in the Rue de Richelieu - which is awesome. It’s the perfect place to sit down in a comfy sofa and get some work done (if you’re a designer-blogger-traveler like me). In this cozy little café, you pay for the hour instead of paying for each individual coffee. Great concept right? Basically, for just €4 an hour (or €12 for the full day) you get unlimited coffee, teas, toast with different kinds of spreads, snacks like carrots and hummus, little biscuits and of course high-speed WiFi. There’s even a friendly barista who prepares nice cappuccinos and espressos - all included in those €4! You also get access to their projector, printer, scanner and board games. Plus, you can bring your own snacks if what they have isn’t enough. It’s also a good place to make some new friends that are also freelancing or working on some kind of start-up.

As for the nightlife, my favorite local hangout area we went to was the "Canal Saint Martin". First, we went to "Paname Brewing Company,” which is a cool beer spot with a great atmosphere that just recently opened up. Then we checked out the péniches (boat bars) to watch the sunset, and headed over to the "Point Éphémère" for dancing, free photo booth pictures, and cool people. We also got to experience the craziness of “La Fête de la Musique” which is the Parisian way to celebrate the summer solstice with a day of free live music all over the city. So much good energy filled the streets of Paris and signs everywhere read “faites de la musique” which means “make music” and plays up the name of the festival.