À Bientôt, Paris!

So as fans of the Simpsons, my brother could not help but repeat this Simpsons' joke repeatedly and therefore, I have included the video here for your enjoyment: https://youtu.be/-r7dveDEv-I

As we laughed these past few days, I post here, our obligatory Eiffel Tower family photo:

After our last breakfast at Tryp Hotel, we took the metro to the field in front of the Eiffel Tower. I had hoped by going early we could get a nice shot. Even with the smaller crowds, they were still hawkers and scam artists peddling petitions and string games, so they can fool tourists. Not us - as one guy with the string in his hand started to approach us and walked away when he saw us unwilling to engage.

Other than a life lesson and reminders to my parents, do not engage with people who run up to you asking if you speak English, we had a pleasant visit. We decided not to go to the top, so we could maximize our museum pass and because of the long lines. My mom repeatedly said how it looked much lighter up close. Here's a view from underneath:

I also had some fun with my photos and even in one of them, my mom got into the action:

After the obligatory photoshoot, we walked over to Invalides and the Army Museum which has a variety of resources for veterans. Here I wanted to show my family, Napoleon's Tomb. The sheer size of the structure with the dome church was so big, it took us awhile to walk to the entrance and through the buildings. 

At one point, my dad and I were curious to know where my mom and brother were as we had lost them walking through the complex and past the many cannons. A few minutes later they showed up with paper Napoleon hats that they were giving away at the ticket desk. You can see the collage of our outside photos and my parents looking like Napoleon (my brother likened them to Mickey Mouse ears, don't they look cute?):

Inside the church, my family was awestruck by the size of the tomb and its location. The church, altar, and dome are magnificent and my parents had fun citing different facts they knew about Napoleon. Here's a collage of the inside visit:

So the original plan after paying our respects to Napoleon was to go to the Rodin Museum just a few blocks away. However, we learned it was closed starting at 12:45 pm for a private event which was the Christian Dior fashion show! Here you can see the photographers lining up:

So we decided this would be a good time for lunch. We went to a café around the corner, waited a bit for a table, but enjoyed our lunch. I had beef tartare with a beer, my dad ordered a cheese omelet, my brother ate a steak, and my mom enjoyed a quiche Lorraine. Our lunch was very active since it seemed like the crowds were building and the photographers eating in the restaurant and running around outside. 

I was a little confused, but I learned from one of the photographers that celebrities and models have a different entrance, and these photographers were just looking for stylish guests. Non-celebrities were strutting their stuff and walking around as photographers went nuts. It was pretty funny as there was a wide array of outfits just so they could stand out. I also teased my mom who looked like a complete tourist with her backpack in front and taking photos of the well-dressed fashion show attendees. The policemen directing traffic were getting impatient as these ladies were having their moment in the sun. Here's an example below:

So with the Rodin Museum plan squashed, and the last day of our museum pass, I suggested we visit the Pantheon which I've never been to in Paris, but we had all been to the one in Rome, so we thought it would be fun to compare. However, if I had known it sat on a hill, I probably would have rethought this suggestion. But alas, we took breaks walking up, and my parents loved this visit and seeing students milling about from the nearby Sorbonne and a high school - my mom said being around students gives her such great energy. 

While walking to the Pantheon, I managed to step into a puddle and pulled out a wetnap from my all-you-can-eat sushi buffet lunch with my colleagues on Friday. When I told my parents the wetnap was from Ichiumi, they thought it was hysterical and my dad asked me if they were even still in business!

Here are a few photos of the outside:

And here's the inside with the incredible dome and frescoes as this used to be a church:

Several famous French people are entombed here and there's a tribute to literary contributors that my parents recognized and enjoyed seeing where they were buried or honored. In the collage below, you can see Voltaire (enlightening with the light behind him!); my dad next to a rememberance for Antoine de Saint Exupéry, the writer of the Little Prince; my parents in front of the crypt of Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and Émile Zola; and my mom and I front of the crypt for Pierre and Marie Curie, the famous scientists and Marie was the first female winner of the Nobel Prize (my brother also impressed me by knowing her Polish maiden name, thanks to the Simpsons again!):

After walking through the the crypt and admiring the Pantheon's frescoes, we walked down the hill and took the metro back to our hotel where we ate an early dinner. We chose the crepe and ice cream shop, and my dad had pistachio ice cream, my mom a fruit crepe, my brother a salmon crepe, and I had a halal chicken and cheese crepe. This brings our crepe count to 8! We tried to pay our bill to include gratuity, but our waitress seemed to struggle with the concept of adding a few euros to the credit card and we had to just rush out to meet our private transfer for our flight to Madrid. 

Again, I booked with Suntransfers for our ride to Charles de Gaulle airport where he dropped off us at a small terminal. I always remember this airport being huge, but Iberia Express was located in a small one. Our flight was just 90 minutes to Madrid where we were again met by our Suntransfers driver, Angel, for our ride to our hotel, Mercure Madrd Centro.

He was friendly and so was our hotel clerk. Mercure is part of the French hotel group Accor that owns Novotel and Sofitel. I hadn't realized this, but I had booked a Spanish hotel in Paris and a French hotel in Madrid! But as I explained to my mother, I prefer the European hotels chains when traveling to Europe or Latin America, because they are so reasonable compared to American hotels and just as nice and clean. 

So we had 4 wonderful days in Paris, but we'll see her soon for our last full day in Europe. In the meantime, we're all excited to be in Spain where we have already felt the friendliness of the folks who've welcomed us - Bienvenido Kim familia!