Sans Luggage

As mentioned last night, our luggage along with many others, did not arrive in Paris. With the advice we should have in the afternoon, we headed out to the Montmartre neighborhood where we had overpriced crepes. Despite the disappointing breakfast, my mom was delighted as she made contact with a long lost friend who lives in southern France. And despite the delayed luggage, everyone was in good spirits. 

After our breakfast, we walked by the Moulin Rouge which I had never seen before and pictured below: 

The point of today was to visit the Sacred Heart Basilica, or Sacré-Coeur in Montmartre. My mother is super proud that she went to Sacred Heart high school and college of Korea, and there is a real sisterhood with all the alumna around the world. We took the bus from the Moulin Rouge, walked uphill a little, and then the funicular for the remainder of the hill. 

After we went through security, we noticed a crowd around a few singers, who harmonized perfectly, to the point where several tourists sang along and another played his harmonica. It really got the group going as we all clapped and sang "Stand By Me". It really made us all smile:

You can't take photos inside, and although several did, I chose to abide by the rules. We lost my mom at one point, but we enjoyed our visit to this beautiful basilica on top of the hill and took the selfie below:

Here's a photo of Paris which was quite a chilly day. It was very warm in Spain, and although I brought warmer clothing, it was in my luggage. I had to borrow my mom's wrap to cover my shoulders to enter the basilica too to cover my shoulders. 

A nice Korean tourist was kind enough to take this photo of us. I'm glad it's not too close as we're without makeup and wearing the same clothes as yesterday:

So we no longer have the museum pass, and I suggested a few things we hadn't done, one of which was visit the Rodin Museum that had been closed for a fashion show last week. So we took the metro and made our way there. Here's a fun photo of all us in front of The Thinker:

I didn't take many photos inside, but I remember being here in high school and very impressed with the work of his mistress, Camille Claudel. This is such a wonderful museum. I enjoyed this Edvard Munch painting of The Thinker:

When we were outside, I pointed out to my mom you could see the Eiffle Tower. Here's a photo of Mama Kim trying to take the shot:

Here's the actual shot with Rodin's "Three Shades":

The Kims got into the fun too:

Here's my mom in front of the Gates of Hell, where she sprinted to be in the shot in between tourists who were trying to take a photo with it:

You can see Invalides where Napoleon is entombed, with The Thinker:

And the museum, a former hotel, with Invalides:

After the museum, we headed back to our hotel to rest before our dinner. We were hopeful the luggage would have arrived, but we were advised after calling the hotline, that the luggage had arrived around 4 pm and we should expect in a few hours. 

Our dinner reservations were at L'Atelier du Joël Robuchon where I had eaten with my friend, Mike in 2014. We had our hotel call in advance to see if it's okay to still go despite our casual dress and we were still welcomed. The service was great as we enjoyed a hearty tasting menu. Here's a picture of our wine and menu:

Here are a few shots of our dining experience that was counter seating looking into the kitchen:

And here's a collage of the wonderful meal:

After our dinner, we were hopeful to have our luggage waiting for us at our hotel which it was not. When calling the hotline, they said they were in the process of delivering throughout Paris. We didn't sleep at all throughout the night, waiting and hoping for our luggage to arrive. I jumped at every sound of a truck outside. Alas, we had a wonderful trip, but the luggage weighed heavy on our minds.