Hostel hell...

We stayed at the Friend's hostel that had good reviews and was only a 15 minute walk to the city center. It doesn't sound bad right well we found it right in front of the train station with blinking blue neon lights. Still not so bad but we quickly realized that we were right in the middle of the red light district, lovely. The lobby was all mirrors, the halls bright orange, and our room was purple. Our bed consisted of a mattress, sheet, lumpy pillow thankfully under the sheet, and a concentration camp blanket that I would not touch from fear of contracting an STD. The bathroom contained a sink and a shower that I think people confused for a toilet so that was of no use to us. We may or may not have showered the duration of our trip. So that is why we look so gross in our pictures just FYI. Since the Moulin Rouge was so close we decided to take the 5 minute stroll to see it and all its glory. The walk was all neon lights and sketchy establishments. Vegas has got nothing on Paris. Everytime we returned home we were welcomed by the stench of stewage. That night as we retired to bed I discovered I was sleeping on plastic sheets. Well actually it was the plastic that covers the mattress upon purchase that they never taken off. So any movement I made every knew about it. We slept with our coats as blankets because our backpacks wouldn't allow us the space to bring such items and no way I was using the one provided. I tried to have as little of my body touching the sheets as possible. If I look uncomfortable then the picture does somewhat justice. The last night we were there a domestic disturbance of somekind went down right below our window. Sirens were blaring and cops got involved. A woman was thrown against the wall but then just ended with everyone storming off. I guess thats the kind of stuff you should expect from the red light district. You know what though we loved it the whole time and were always laughing. The hostel will forever be in our memories as an eventful experience and we wouldn't want it any other way. Oh the joys of the Friends hostel but hope to never experience anything like it again.