# Paris, AngelHack, API Days 2012 *January 2013* ![Paris Street Scene](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/665498111876725f7613f1e6/1719666484841-DR8IKQXGXAFG9BW5HFOE/5e66e-img.jpg) I just returned from a lovely trip to Paris, France. I was there for a Heroku-sponsored hackathon: AngelHack:Paris. ## Getting There Unfortunately, I had to fly to Paris straight from Las Vegas, so I had a grueling ~15 hours of flying ahead of me. Luckily, the flights on the way over were lovely. I got bumped up to premium economy and had power outlets on both flights. I took advantage and brushed up on my Ocarina of Time skills. ![Gaming on the plane](https://instagram.com/p/SsEIkgmtNf) I landed at noon already adjusted to local timezone and with all my batteries fully charged. ![Charged devices](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8239923051_41bc89b15f_z.jpg) Perfect. :) ## Paris: Rich, Filthy, and Beautiful This was my second trip to Paris. It's one of my least favorite cities in general, I have to say. Strangers are rude, there's little English to get by, credit cards are rarely accepted, and hotel rooms are extremely small. Despite that, I love vising Paris for one reason: contrast. ![Well-dressed stray dogs](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8203/8241038176_f35609da67_c.jpg) Paris, where even the stray dogs are well dressed. ![Street vendor with steaming beans](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8070/8239968025_7446360e2c_c.jpg) Where sketchy people sell odd steaming beans out of shopping carts. ![Graffiti on ancient monuments](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8338/8241029090_083fae9f8f_c.jpg) Where graffiti clings to ancient monuments. ![Beautiful Parisian architecture](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8485/8241015112_b47005f9c4_c.jpg) As well as beautiful buildings. ![Tourists in Paris](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8069/8241022462_fda989d4a7_c.jpg) Where tourists stick out like sore thumbs. ![Fearless pigeons](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8487/8239955267_27d26931d3_c.jpg) Where pigeons have no fear. ![Families in Paris](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8059/8240998742_196581fd0f_c.jpg) Where families raise their children. ![Parisian transportation](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8059/8241019272_0c515dda86_c.jpg) Where motorbikes aren't in style. ![Homeless in Paris](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8199/8241001982_34ce8a4ccc_c.jpg) Where the homeless are either handicapped or simply out of luck. ![Wine bottles in phone booth](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8483/8239949485_39004221a1_c.jpg) And empty bottles of wine can be found in phone booths. ![Magical Paris](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8211/8255089364_0f416a8dc8_c.jpg) It's a magical place. ### Accommodations My last stay in Paris was fairly rough. The hotel featured a single wall outlet, a shower large enough for a small child, and a rock-hard twin-sized bed. This time, I studied up on TripAdvisor and decided to try a nicer (€220 a night) hotel in the non-tourist district of town: Hotel Magenta. While still quite uncomfortable by American standards, the Magenta proved to be a much better place to spend some personal time. It even had a bathtub (oooh). The room also featured a single outlet for the entire room, but this time I was prepared: ![Power strip in hotel room](http://distilleryimage10.s3.amazonaws.com/e830d80c3bd811e2ab6722000a9e087c_6.jpg) Getting around the city wasn't as hard as I expected. Uber finally came to town! ![Uber in Paris](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8351/8254013693_512e4f1187_c.jpg) ## AngelHack:Paris The purpose of this trip was to accompany some Salesforce evangalists, Guillaume Roques and John Stevenson, and show them the ropes of representing Heroku. AngelHack was a fantastic hackathon, with an incredible amount of energy and excitement in the air. I highly recommend checking it out next time it comes to a [city near you](http://angelhack.com/). Much to my surprise, ran into my good friend and fellow PSF Member: Tarek Ziadé. ![Meeting Tarek Ziadé](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8064/8239976465_6c760b1090_c.jpg) The first and second place teams won an all-paid trip to San Francisco to pitch their startup ideas to some angel investors (hence the name AngelHack). ![AngelHack winners](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8059/8239978143_3d253bffa8_c.jpg) The thirds and fourth place teams of the hackathon won 5x 13" Retina MacBook Pros and 4 iPad Minis, provided by Heroku. Many congratulations to the winners! ![Prize presentation](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8346/8239979675_6b6de1c2fe_c.jpg) ## Designer Jeans In my travels, I've learned to pack as lightly as humanly possible. Unfortunately, a single point of failure was discovered this trip: my jeans. While in Vegas, my pants developed a very small tear between the legs. Much to my surprise, by the end of the hackathon, this small imperfection had transformed itself into a 10 inch hole. No number of hotel sewing kits could possibly repair this situation. I had a keynote the next day. My hand was forced: I had to buy new jeans. In the fashion capital of the world. On a Sunday. After frantically searching through the city for several kilometers, I stumbled into a men's clothing shop that was open on a Sunday. I begrudgingly walked away with a €195 pair of **Dolce & Gabbana** jeans (luckily, they were 30% off). Sigh. ## API Days The next day, I headed over to EPITECH, a technical university, for API Days: ![API Days at EPITECH](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8498/8255083478_737485d791_c.jpg) Due to some complicated circumstances, I had the opportunity to give an impromptu keynote. Despite only eight hours of advance notice, it went fairly well. I did make a few [comical mistakes](https://twitter.com/steveklabnik/statuses/275552778070413312), however: > My name is Kenneth Reitz, and I work for a subsidiary of Heroku named Salesforce. Err, I mean..." Lots of suits. Lots of sales. Lots of hackers. Lots of buzzwords. Lots of enterprise. ![API Days audience](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8074/8255082358_dcdb06d130_c.jpg) ![API Days presentation](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8498/8254010665_f2cd666799_c.jpg) Interesting event. ## Photo Trek with Guillaume In exchange for doing Guillaume's API Days keynote, he agreed to take me out for a late night photo tour in the city. ![Night photography in Paris](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8353/8254020433_69bd9cd69b_c.jpg) ![Paris architecture at night](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8255090676_aeb786a22c_c.jpg) ![Illuminated buildings](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8343/8254020813_46be7587c5_b.jpg) ![Street scenes](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8201/8254011775_339e2caa07_c.jpg) ![Night lights](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8492/8254013299_50eefdb647_c.jpg) ![Paris monuments](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8348/8254017353_c0dae5ebf0_c.jpg) ![Evening photography](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8077/8254019579_1b28d57914_c.jpg) ![City lights](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8219/8255092572_488865bd9e_c.jpg) ![Night tour](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8214/8255094718_c9f199fe4e_b.jpg) ![Photo walk conclusion](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8077/8254023131_ec9d4db5c6_c.jpg) It couldn't have gone better. Thanks, Guillaume! ![Guillaume photo tour](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8489/8255090376_5e0fcaa5b4_c.jpg) ## Heading Home I've flown home through Charles de Gaulle (CDG->IAD) several times. ![Charles de Gaulle airport](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8077/8255096238_4b742281de_c.jpg) ![Airport departure](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8222/8254023791_8060c57594_c.jpg) It's somehow one of my least favorite flights. 10 hours in the air seems to strike the perfect balance between *almost-over* and *never-ending*. The 16 hour flight I took to Australia last year went past faster than this. Regardless, it was a fairly uneventful flight. I got a good photo of two strangers cuddling while watching a film on a MacBook: ![Strangers sharing technology on flight](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8341/8255097162_7afe7763ea_c.jpg) Funny how technology brings us together.