The flight had a bit of turbulence and we enjoyed our iPads, but the shows and movies were a bit limited for my parents. My dad also really enjoyed his pasta dinner - I told him that it was because he was so hungry, but he exclaimed the flavors really hit the spot. He also tried my prized and expensive noise cancelling headphones, kept remarking he couldn't hear a thing and the plane by comparison was really loud. He never gave them back to me until we were landing - I chock up my sacrifice up to filial piety. My mom also said she wants them on the return trip. Double filial piety.
Both my parents also needed help opening their vacuum sealed flight kits that had ear buds, toothbrush kit, and a mask. I told my brother, "it's like we have children now" and my mom said "I have opened many things for you in my life." Touché, Mama Kim. Touché.
After landing on a sunny and warmer day than expected, we collected our luggage and then I purchased our 4 day museum pass and a few carnets or 10 pack metro tickets at the tourism desk. I had thought about buying unlimited transport, but everything I read said its a bit of a wash, so I decided to do à la carte with the 10 pack carnets. I also could have had everything delivered to the hotel, but decided to save on the delivery fees. We then met our car service which I arranged with Suntransfers. In the Mercedes Benz minivan, he drove us about 30 minutes into Paris and took us to Tryp Paris Opera hotel. I picked it because it was part of Melia Hotels which I like to use for overseas travel and liked the neighborhood.
We took showers, napped, and got settled in our very European hotel - we could only fit two to an elevator. Around 2 pm, we motivated to head out. While my mom and I waited for Justin and my dad, we walked over to the HSBC for cash and bought a ham and cheese crepe. My mom didn't want one originally, so I said we would share - after a few bites she wanted her own. Here's a photo of my mom with her first crepe in Paris made by the nice Chinese woman behind her - if that's not globalization, I don't know what is:
Our hotel is right in front of the Grands Boulevards metro stop and we took it to Concord where we walked through the Tuileries Gardens to the Orangerie. I picked a small museum to start off our half day jaunt and to kick off our museum pass. My parents had never heard of it, so when they walked in to see the amazing Monet Water Lilies panoramas, they were surprised and my mom said I picked a good museum to start with. A collage below:
Around 4:30 pm, we got back on the metro to head to Centre Pompidou, the modern art museum. Most museums close around 6 pm, but Centre Pompidou closes at 9 pm, so I thought this would be a good place to visit in our late day start and before our dinner reservations.
When we arrived, I was sad to see the famous fountains not working, but we decided to split another ham and cheese crepe and a mushroom and cheese crepe while watching and listening to rowdy groups dancing and singing. You can see my dad holding one of the crepes in front of the modern museum factory looking building that has all these escalator tubes. I suspect we should probably start a crepe count on the trip.
We headed to the top which had amazing views of the city as well as innovative modern art and an impressive collection of Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky, and Brancusi. The art was so modern, my mom yelped when she walked on some floor tiles thinking it was art and a major blunder, but I had to explain to her it was just floor tile. Here are a few photos of the visit:
As we meandered though the galleries, my mom remarked there were more chairs on display than seats and benches to sit on. Here's a photo of few of them:
As we left around 7 pm, the sun was setting and it was great to see the Eiffel tower from the vantage point of the sculptures:
After exiting the museum, and with the plaza a bit calmer, we walked about 15 minutes over to Chez La Veille, a Daniel Rose restaurant. Apparently it was owned by a woman for a longtime, hence the name of being at an "old lady's place", but closed and then famous chef Daniel Rose bought it and reopened it.
The downstairs is a small bar and the upstairs is a small room of about 8 tables and only accepts one dinner seating at 7:30 pm. The dinner was a perfect first dinner as it was warm, hearty, and flavorful. We started with phenomenonal oysters, herring and potato salad (this was my mom's favorite), foie gras and lentils, and terrine de campagne - all in the collage below:
For dinner, my parents each had monkfish, Justin the chicken, and I had the "famous broth" which had pork belly, spaetzel, egg, and cabbage. My mom exclaimed it was like their version of udon. A collage of the entrees with my mom in front of the restaurant - I told her it was funny that an "old lady" was standing in front of a restaurant called "at the old lady's":
For dessert, we ordered the rice pudding with caramel, creme caramel, and a plum pie - all delicious, but surprisingly did not photograph well and therefore no collage. We left the restaurant and contemplated walking, taxi, or uber and I mentioned if the bus comes soon, we should take it as it shoots up the avenue and stops in front of our hotel. The bus came in less than 5 minutes, and we hopped on. I remarked in my 3 trips to Paris, it was my first time on a bus and my mom said it was her first time too.
So all in all, a great first day with no problems - my dad did feel achy and we needed to sit a few times which made the chair exhibits at Centre Pompidou such a slap in the face, and my mom seems plagued by foot cramps. But if this is going to be our problems of the trip, I'll take it!
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