I often get asked how I met my Frenchman. Although I would love to share some romantic love story I have to admit we met just like any young couple: in a bar. while drinking. heavily. No love at first sight or first kiss on the beautiful Pont Neuf or even a late night ride through Paris on the back of a scooter. It was simply another drunken night en boite with my girlfriends.

After becoming close with a group of Erasmus students from all over Europe, I made a habit of going out with them every Tuesday and Thursday night to take advantage of special student soirées where entry was free and the drinks were cheap. Tuesdays were spent at Duplex, an underground discothèque found on Avenue Foch just a few minutes from the Arc de Triomph. As the majority of clubs charge around 20€ just to get inside plus 15€ per drink, student nights were very enticing. This particular evening my Scottish girlsfriends and I decided to go all out and purchase a bottle of alcohol for €100 (usually 150 – 200€) thus allowing us to have our own table and even (gasp!) sit down. We had already been drinking beforehand so you could say we were already enjoying ourselves before even taking our seats. It wasn’t long before we decided to hit the dancefloor.

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