Couchsurfing in Caen (Normandy)

While in the Northern part of France, I decided I couldn't miss checking out the D-day beaches/ museums in Normandy. I decided to make base camp in Caen (Lower Normandy), but didn't know anyone there. So, I decided to couchsurf! Until Caen, I had only hosted people on Couchsurfing.org. So, this was my first time actually couchsurfing myself which was kind of exciting. Anyway, after sending out a few requests, I got a response back from a cool Frenchman named Leo, who is a Psychology major at the University in town.

My first couchsurfing experience was amazing. Not only was Leo super friendly and welcoming (also very intelligent), but his 2 roommates were freakin awesome too! Olav (prounounced Ooo-lav) is from Norway and is quite the character. His English is very good, and actually kind of sounds like he’s from Scotland or something. Haha Caterina completes the roommate flat, and is an Italian superwomen! She’s always smiling, is a GREAT cook (pasta dinners must take at least 2-3 hours for it to taste good according to her), and can speak Italian, French, and English. Such a diverse apartment, and when they had friends over, conversations in 3 languages were going on at once (sooooo cool).

When I arrived Leo was cooking up an Italian pasta dish, and with the help of Caterina it turned out very well. Haha Olav joined us after getting back from a run, and the 3 of us explored the city a little bit. Caen (pronounced Kahn) is definitely a cool town, and if you know your WWII history, you would know that Caen was a very difficult city for the allies to take after landing in Normandy. So pretty much the town was obliterated, but surprisingly a number of historic buildings survived/have been renovated. While walking along the castle walls overlooking the city, Leo pointed out a street that had been made by allied tanks that went straight through buildings to get to the canal. Pretty cool (not gonna learn that kind of detail in a museum or staying in a hotel…). Anyway, we walked around the city which was fun and talked a lot about WWII the whole time, and I got to learn more about Germany occupying France and Norway which was interesting.

Later that night I went to a concert with Leo, Olav, and some of their friends. I had no idea what expect with this concert, but apparently it was at a famous music hall. Well, it turned out to be quite the experience as the musical style was that of electronica mixed with orchestral. The musicians were very talented, and played a ton of different/bizarre instruments including the violin, bass clarinet, kazoo like accordion, xylophone, at least 6 synthesizers. I’ll post a video soon that showcases the strange sounds and atmosphere of the concert. Overall, I had a great time, and I actually did enjoy listening to the music despite it being so different from what I’m used to.

After the concert I joked that we should go to the beach and have a bonfire, and Leo was like, “hey, that’s actually a good idea!” So, the 6 of us, packed into a tiny European car (I got shotgun; it’s good to be tall sometimes), and made our way out to the Atlantic following a series of canals and rivers. As we got closer to the ocean, we noticed that the moon was an unusual orange/red color, and quickly realized that a lunar eclipse was taking place. A LUNAR ECLIPSE!!! SWEET! Haha It was really cool to see, but by the time we had parked it was no longer the unique color it was when we were driving out (dang! No cool picture of the moon over the water). Anyway, we walked around for a bit, sat on a dock, walked along the beach, smoked cigars (jk, I wish), and Leo and I even climbed up a mini lighthouse that I’m 99% sure was illegal to climb. Haha This is why I love couchsurfing. You’ll never get this type of experience staying at a hostel or a hotel. Thanks for the awesome night guys!!!