Sunny Spain With Accordions

Our last day in Madrid and again we leisurely got up and had our last breakfast in our hotel. After checking our bags, we headed out and walked up to the Banco de España metro stop. Along the way, I pointed out the Westin Hotel that sits prominently in front of the Neptune Fountain and Puerta Alcalá. Here's a photo in the median down to Puerta Alcalá and then down Gran Via, the large road that cuts through Madrid:

We took the metro a few stops and got off at Opera where we rested in front of the Royal Theater as pictured here:

Just on the other side of the theater, is the Royal Palace. The royal family no longer lives there and it's just used for special occasions. Here are some outside moments:

As we tried to find the ticket office, we heard some drumming and a parade of soldiers with instruments, different horses, ponies pulling canons, and soldiers marching on beat. What a special sight to see! Apparently, they were practicing for a special visit next week for a foreign ambassador. Here is a collage of the parade experience:

While we waited on the security line, we enjoyed the music of an accordion player, so I gave him some change as I do when I enjoy any street musician's talents. A nearby beggar saw and so I gave her what I had left which was like a penny and she gave it back to me. Apparently, beggars can be choosers.

Unfortunately, the discount for senior citizens only applies if you are from the European Union. My brother said in Spanish to the woman manning the ticket booth, "does it help that my father is really really old?" She roared with laughter, even snorted a little. I chirped, "un chiste!" My favorite thing to say in Spanish, which means "a joke!" And she laughed even more. What can I say, Korean Americans speaking Spanish are charming.

In the courtyard, we asked a nice Chinese man to take these photos:

But what is magnificent and really impressive, is the grand staircase as pictured here:

Unfortunately, photos are not permitted in the palace, but we enjoyed the Goyas, tapestries, ceilings, chandeliers, Stradivarius violins, and jewels. The rooms were beautiful and we meandered through in a much calmer fashion than we did in Versailles. It's a bit of a catch-22 when you can't take photos - there's a higher sense of calm and you enjoy the moments more without the excitable tourists, but then I don't have my own photos of the visit to share on the blog.

We finally left the Royal Palace and headed to the Sabatini Gardens which sits just behind it. Here, we sat and enjoyed the fresh air and wonderful weather. Again we listened to accordion players playing Frank Sinatra, Despacito, Time to Say Goodbye, and Ave Maria - quite the eclectic set! Here's a collage from the gardens:

We walked down the avenue and I suggested we pop into the Cathedral which I've never been to before. I'm so glad we did - it was beautiful and a bit modern in design and color, as you can see below:

I was also in awe of the Chapel which is only for prayer and not for tourists which I had to remind Mama Kim who desperately wanted to snap a picture. I've been to many chapels within Cathedrals and this one was so unique. My mom said it looked like if a Klimt painting was a chapel which is pretty accurate.

It was time for us to head to La Musa Latina where I had made reservations for lunch and which was about 500 meters away. However, it was a bit deceiving as it was a bit hilly. Nonetheless, we made it 10 minutes late which the restaurant said was totally fine, and made our lunch even more satisfying as we chugged water and a sangria.

I feel like the weather is a lot hotter than it says it is, because the buildings are much shorter and so the sun beats down on us more. I asked for us to be seated in the coolest part of the restaurant and the hostess placed us underneath the air conditioning.

We opted for the tapas tasting menu that feeds 2 and ordered several more to supplement. All was delicious: hummus, salmon, ceviche, potato stuffed with meat, fried green tomatoes, dumplings, shrimp salad, calamari, carpaccio rolls, mushrooms, beef in a cream sauce, and a dessert plate of cheesecake, passion fruit yogurt, and apple crumble.

Full, but not stuffed, we walked up and down hills back to Calle Mayor which cuts through the city center and over to Chocolatería San Gines - the most famous churro shop in Madrid. It had expanded since I was last here in 2014 and there were many tourists. A coffee, cappuccino, churros, and giant churros called porras pictured below made a fantastic afternoon snack while again being serenaded by an accordion player:

Afterwards, we went to the bus stop and boarded for a few stops, so my dad could conserve his energy and rest a little after the hilly walks. But we made it to the Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza, which completes the famous Madrid Museum triangle.

Justin went off to what I thought was check my dad's backpack and returned wheeling himself in a wheelchair rental. You can see my dad run to him with excitement in the collage with a picture of the front of the museum:

We wheeled around my dad and walked the various floors and saw Dali's, Miro's, all the impressionists, and etc. You can see in the collage an O'Keefe, Lichtenstein, Dali, and Chagall. I'm pretty sure I took the same photos on my last trip here, but I just love them:

After wheeling my dad around who said that he started to get sleepy, we headed across to the Prado as we wanted to visit a second time during the nightly free admission. We wanted to see paintings we missed last night and because Justin skipped out on it yesterday as he was not feeling well.

We only waited 20 minutes or so, sandwiched between a Brooklynite and some Turks and they all borrowed my map and floor plan to get acquainted with the museum. I assured them there will be enough time and pointed out the must-sees as it was all their first time while this would be my third.

Justin went off to see the main masterpieces and my dad, mom, and I went to more obscure rooms. My mom was delighted when we walked by Velasquez's Las Meninas again. We also saw Goya's "Maja Clothed" and "Maja Naked", side by side and his "The Parasol". We also visited with Titian's paintings and sat on a comfortable bench to soak in his large paintings. Here's a collage of us all celebrating that we saw the Prado museum two times in front of the statue of Goya - I'm sure that others thought we were being stereotypical Asians:

With Madrid conquered, we went back to the hotel to get washed up, check emails, picked up some sandwiches from a small restaurant around the corner, and get our suitcases. We headed to the main road for our 2 minute drive to Atocha train station. We ended up having to split into 2 cars as our suitcases didn't all fit in the small taxi's trunk.

At the train station, we met and made it through security and on the train. In Europe, you're assigned seats which I explained to my family and after a bit of a cluster putting our suitcases in the storage compartments at the end of the train car and an impatient old man who got annoyed we even had suitcases, we were finally on our way to Córdoba. We ate our sandwiches and tortilla and rested during our 2 hour high speed train ride south to Córdoba.

We're staying one night in Córdoba at the AC Hotel Marriott which is one block from the train / bus station / rental car pickup. We checked in and set up our early wake up calls. Also, I preset the GPS with various location addresses that I had downloaded Spanish maps to, so we could be prepared tomorrow for sight seeing and driving - yay for Papa Kim with less walking planned for a few days!

Korean Americans Speaking Spanish

Today was our first day in Madrid and in Spain! We celebrated by sleeping in and left the hotel at around 11 am! It was very much needed and since we didn't have a museum pass to max out nor is Madrid very big, I didn't have a jam packed schedule planned. 

We enjoyed our hotel breakfast and walked down to the Sofia Reina museum. On our way, we stopped by the Vertical Gardens at Caixa Form, a modern art exhibit place. You can see the vertical gardens in the picture below:

 

After the few blocks, we arrived at the national museum, where my parents entered for free.  Here's a photo of my mom at one of the entrances:

The museum has a courtyard and many rooms where you cannot take any photos and they are all a bit separated from one another. So to get a taste of the experience, here's a picture of one of the long hallways that wrap around the courtyard and where we enjoyed many benches for resting:

Although there are no photos, the main reason to visit Sofia Reina is to see Guernica - perhaps Picasso's most monumental piece of work and Spain's most famous painting. My parents were blown away by it and my mom said she was thrilled to have finally seen it in real life. 

We walked through and also saw Luis Buñuel films, Dali, Miro, Gris, and others. The museum is more modern and my mom was shocked that my brother and I knew these films. My brother had seen "Los Olivados" in Spanish class, and I had watched "Un Chien Andalou" in French class. Unfortunately, these films are tough to stomach, but my mom was at least impressed by our high school education. 

After a few hours, we walked over to the Lavapies metro station and got off at about 4 stops to see the Debod Temple which is situated inside a beautiful park. I liken it to the Temple of Dendur that sits in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I had seen it and even went inside on my 2014 trip to Madrid, but my parents said a photo was enough as shown below:

We walked down along the park to see if we could catch a bus. We admired the Spanish architecture and my dad asked me to take a photo of him in front of this building:

The bus was going to arrive in 16 minutes per the bus tracker, so we opted to take a taxi to Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida, a chapel where Goya is interred and where his frescos depicting Saint Anthony can be seen via mirrors strategically placed around the chapel. Again, you can't take photos here, but my parents enjoyed this quiet chapel which no longer has religious services to preserve the frescos. As such, an identical chapel was built next to it. Here's a photo in front of the original chapel:

We walked over to the bus stop in case we could get on a bus, and one was just arriving - perfecto! We took it a few stops to Plaza de España and hopped on the metro to Puerta Del Sol - the center of the city and Madrid's Times Square, replete with cartoon characters peddling for photo opportunities. They were all wearing the soccer jerseys of Athético Madrid and Chelsea who were playing tonight in a Championship League game as explained by our private transfer driver last night. 

I took this panorama as my dad and brother rest by the fountain and my mom went exploring: 

After trying to look for some shoes for my mom, we walked through Plaza Mayor where you could a hear a chorus of Chelsea fans in blue shirts singing various English songs and drinking beer. I've never been to a South American or European soccer match, but I'm sure by the likes of this, it's incredibly intense and the city was clearly excited for the match. Here's a college of our Plaza Mayor experience:

We finally made it to Sobrino de Botin in the Latin Quarter and for our 3:30 pm reservation; apparently this is the oldest restaurant in the world and was founded in 1725. I picked it because I thought my dad would like the fact that Hemingway had eaten here and had written about it in the "The Sun Also Rises" and Goya had worked here as a waiter when he was a student. Here are a few photos of the dining experience:

So I had planned this late lunch as we weren't planning dinner and boy, did we eat! The restaurant is known for their roasted suckling pig and my mom and I loved every juicy morsel and crispy skin of ours. Our roasted pig also came with Andalusian Gazpacho and ice cream while my dad had blood sausage and then a fish stew, while Justin enjoyed a Botin filet mignon. I also had my first delicious Rioja which I suspect will be the first of many on this trip - a collage of our satisfying meal below:

As we walked off our meal and was pondering whether we should take the metro back to our hotel, my mom yelped and my brother and I turned around. Apparently a guy had stuck his hand down the front of my mom's backpack and ran off and two kind people were asking my mom if she was ok and missing anything. I translated a little and my mom had mostly worn her backpack in front on this trip, but wasn't at this specific moment. But my mom wasn't that phased as she had nestled her wallet and phone deep in the bottom of her zippered part of her bag, while the front were just her reading glasses. She quipped, I'm sure he would have been disappointed if he had taken them and has good vision, but he had taken nothing. In all my travels, I think this is the first time anything like this had happened. 

At this point, we hopped in a cab and headed to our hotel to rest for The Prado Museum which is free from 6 pm to 8 pm nightly and across the street from our hotel. After our hour rest, we stood in line for 30 minutes and enjoyed this amazing museum. Again, no photos, but of course the most famous Goyas, Velasquez, El Grecos, and many more. My parents thoroughly enjoyed seeing Velasquez's Las Meninas and Goya's 3rd of May (which was the cover of my European history textbook in high school). 

Although our hotel clerk warned the line would be long and the museum crowded, by NY and Parisian standards, this was nothing. There were only 5 other people looking at Las Meninas at the same time as us. I had been here in the afternoon in 2014 and the museum was practically empty. 

Also, the museum plan makes it really easy for you to see all the masterpieces as the room locations are listed and we marked them off as we went from gallery to gallery. At one point, a security guard came up to me and asked me if I was ok that the museum was closing in 20 minutes. I was a little confused, and he said, he saw that I was checking off each masterpiece and he wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be disappointed by running out of time. I told him, we had seen the Bosch, the Goyas, and Velasquez, and all we had left were the El Grecos. He nodded with approval, smiled, and just said, "8B". Seriously, the hospitality of the Spanish people is wonderful that he could be worried I didn't get to see what I wanted. Little does he know this is my 2nd time here and that we may possibly come again tomorrow. 

The bells finally rang and it was time to leave, so we headed to a bench outside and reviewed what we had seen. Here's a photo of my mom in front of one of the entrances and my parents reviewing the museum plan and guide - my mom said since the museum had the right amount of people, there was such great energy:

So after our scavenger hunt through the world famous Prado, we walked across the street to our hotel. We all remarked running around the musuem was easier knowing that we were just across the street from our hotel. After some fresh fruit water and candies from our lobby, we all decided to get some rest for our last day in Madrid. 

Our Spanish has sure come in handy today as many don't speak English, and the waiters and taxi driver seemed to enjoy conversing with us. I think they're a bit shocked that my brother and I can engage - Justin speaks it much more comfortably than I do and he asks more thorough and conversational questions. The taxi driver told us he was from Cadiz, preferred the country, but managing the milk and cows was hard work. My parents and I sit back as we listen to my brother's accent and comfortable demeanor. Seriously, Korean Americans speaking Spanish - watch out Spain, we're charming! 

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!

Museum Monday

Although I have a general plan of our schedule, I tend to figure out the order the night before or day of and had planned to visit the Louvre first thing today due to the expected crowds and since it's closed tomorrow. But since our hotel was not too far from the Gustave Moreau Museum, but opened a little bit later at 10 am, we decided to have a later breakfast and rested before heading out. 

When I studied in Paris for the summer before my junior year of high school, I did lots of day trips and went to many museums, but I somehow missed this one. The difficulty was that it closes in the middle of the day and is not open for long. My family had no expectations, but found his home and studio wonderfully furnished and filled to the rim and to the shelves of his works. My dad also identified some Roualt paintings thinking they were just of his style, but I aptly pointed it out they were actual Roualts. We climbed up and down stairs of this intimate 3 floor museum and delighted in the details. Here's a collage of our visit:

We then took the bus down to the Louvre Museum and we enjoyed the lack of stairs which is typically needed to take the metro. Although it's super convenient, the metro stairs and transfers can really take a toll on my parents. So the leisurely 15 minute bus ride which allows us to observe the city was a nice break. We made it to the I.M. Pei designed pyramids where we stood in a fast track security line and took fun pictures and selfies as shown here:

As many know, the museum is gigantic with 3 main wings. I'm not sure why, but I don't feel like the crowded museums of NY are overwhelming, but the Louvre, always feels like a cluster. The tour groups, the flags of tour guides, and the many visitors trying to see the most famous paintings in the world really suffocate even this museum lover. My strategy today and like the last time, was to see the highlights and observe others en route. For fun, I encouraged my family to take selfies with me as everyone knows these famous pieces - Winged Victory, the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and the Sphinx: 

We actually got up pretty close to all of them, even the Mona Lisa. My mom and I waited very patiently to be in the very front, and a short Chinese man was trying to take a selfie with the Mona Lisa. I kept laughing, because I just kept seeing my brother's face in his camera and then when he finally got his settings right, he was so short that only the top bald part of his head would make it into the photo. He finally gave up his spot to us and my mom was excited to be so close. And then she realized she didn't have her glasses as my dad was holding them in the back of the crowd. Nonetheless, it was worth all the elbowing. 

We enjoyed many more works, and here's a few more of Da Vinci and others. A nice Canadian couple took of photo with Hercules below, but the partner could not work the iPad from the bench we were sitting, so I offered to help and took some good shots. I was inspired to take a photo of Hercules too, as shown in the collage:

The couple and I chatted for a bit and asked me how to say "thank you" in Chinese. I told them I didn't know, because I wasn't Chinese and they were quickly embarrassed. I told them don't worry and that it happens all the time. 5 minutes later, a Chinese woman came up to me pointing down the hallway and asked me a question, and I responded in one of three phrases I know in Chinese: "I'm a Korean person" and she nodded and walked away. You see? Happens all the time. I must have a trusting face or exude some gravitas, because Chinese people always ask me questions in public places. 

We were over the crowds and ready for some fresh air when we made our way to the metro. I promised my dad less walking today even if it is only one stop on the train. As we got on the metro, we watched school kids struggling with the turnstiles and talked about how cute French kids were. They literally had to crawl underneath, because they weren't walking through fast enough after inserting their tickets - pure cuteness and comedy gold watching the 20 or so little ones. 

After a few quick stops and transfer, we made our way back to Ile de la Cité, where we lunched at a brasserie on the corner next to Notre Dame Cathedral. Everyone had penne pasta, but I had a goat cheese salad with some beer as we watched the long line for the Cathedral. However, we realized the line we were looking at was the walk up to the towers, which we were not planning on doing and made our way to the front entrance. 

I still remembered having my confession heard here in high school (not sure what sins I had) and the gorgeous rose windows. Here is a collage of the front and the rose windows:

Inside, we walked around the whole church, my mom said a prayer, and we sat for a little bit as shown in the photos below:

After the Cathedral, we had several options from our museum pass. We got a bit turned around looking for the crypt, so I suggested the Delacroix museum. Here we also got turned around too, but finally made it. We were so tired upon arrival, we looked for the first seating which was in front of a modern film. I was so confused because it was modern, in German with French subtitles, and had nothing to do with Delacroix. But we didn't care as we were excited to be off our feet. 

We realized the first part was some special temporary exhibit, but we made it to his studio and then to his gardens. Here's a photo of my dad in front and the serene backyard:

Although we could have probably squeezed in another site, or could sit in a garden or café, everyone was spent and decided a nap at the hotel was a better option. So we took the bus for a 20 minute ride and short walk back to our hotel. My dad and I were craving ice cream and I was so surprised how cooperative he was being, so I treated us to pistachio and hazelnut ice cream as shown below across the street from our hotel:

After 2 hours of napping, we were ready to walk 7 minutes to our dinner reservation at La Bourse et La Vie, another Daniel Rose restaurant. Although there were some similarities with Chez La Veille, it was a Daniel Rose original and very French. We had leeks with crushed hazelnuts, mushrooms with duck hearts for starters; my dad and brother had steak frites, while my mom had a fish stew with a side of potatoes and eel, and I had duck with cabbage, Jewish style; for a shared side, lettuce with anchovy dressing finished with a cheese course. The flavors in everything from the wine to the coffee was so incredible, that this was a wonderful way to celebrate Paris. 

We said goodbye to our friendly waiters and walked off the food shown above by making our way back to the hotel. We also missed the rain during the dinner, and as my dad said, "Paris smelled so fresh after the rain!"

So a simple night for us as we get some rest for our last day in Paris before we head to Madrid tomorrow night. The hard part is over with the jam packed Parisian museums conquered, but they made this Museum Monday so memorable. 

Versailles With Kim Louis

This morning, we lingered over our first hotel breakfast which was quite enjoyable - comforting eggs, bacon, sausage and fresh European fare of ham and a variety of cheese. I told my parents I reserved our rooms with breakfast for the 1st week to make it easy as we get settled. By the 2nd week, we'll mostly be in Spain which has great markets and I felt like we might get tired of hotel breakfasts. They agreed with my logic as they savored the fresh fruit and tasty cheese.

Although we ran a little later than I had hoped, we made it to the subway and then transferred to the RER commuter train to head out to Versailles. Unfortunately, another train arrived at the same time as ours, and I didn't pay close enough attention. Before we knew it, we had gone 20 minutes in the wrong direction and had to double back. My mom said this humbles me because I'm such a perfectionist, but I was frustrated because I knew it would be crowded on a Sunday when they had musical fountains. My parents chocked it up to adventure and enjoyed the extra sitting time. They have been really good sports thus far!

We finally arrived at Versailles Chateau Rive Gauche train station and walked to the palace. There was a long line for the bag check, and then for the entrance to go through security. While snaking through and waiting in line, we took photos in front of the golden gate. My dad sat most of the time on his walking stick that turns into a chair, so he could save his energy. My dad's Catholic name is Louis, so I kept calling him Kim Louis (as you would say the last name first in Korean) and his "throne" was his Sky mall walking stick!



After waiting in line behind some nice Koreans with a chatty son, we made into the apartments. I didn't take many photos as it was my 3rd visit here and because of the crowds - but here's a collage:



The highlight inside of course was the Hall of Mirrors and my parents were super stoked to see it. But you can't tell by our Asian stoic faces here, but trust me, we're thrilled:



And after seeing all the state apartments and Louis XIV rooms, we made it to the gardens. As we entered, a cute French boy around 4 or 5 came up to my dad and said: "excusez-moi monsieur, mais de quel pays êtes-vous?" And I responded on behalf of him, "Etats-Unis". The boy's father explained his son was taking an informal survey of where folks were from and that's why he asked my father. Justin quipped they probably thought we were from an Asian country - but adorable nonetheless.

Here are some collages as we took in the awe of the meticulous topiary and manicured greens:





During the summer, all day Saturday and Sunday, they have musical fountains with timed shows around the garden and baroque music playing over speakers. I got some fun videos and it was so pleasant to listen to, but there was really no way my parents could walk around the garden to see it all, so we picked a few to watch. Here's a collage of some of the water choreography:



For a midday snack, we enjoyed some paninis and fries in the garden. We then headed out to the train station where we caught a train very quickly - thank goodness we had already bought our return tickets as there were crowds trying to use the kiosks. We took the train back to Paris which took about 30 minutes to the Orsay station. Since the RER stops in front of the museum, I thought it would be a perfect time to see it. I did not come here on my last visit in 2014 and much had changed, but the awesome impressionist collection in this old train station was refreshing to see again as I had such great memories from seeing it in high school.

Here's a photo of the famous window clock from the station - the sky was so clear and blue today:



My mom and I ran around a lot to maximize seeing the museum while you can see my dad and brother from the balcony took several moments to rest:



However, we did see the permanent collection together in all its glory and here's a collage of the family enjoying some famous masterpieces:

You will note one famous painting missing though - I didn't take a photo of Courbet's "Origin of the World" - I remember being shocked to see it when I was 15, studying art history in Paris for the summer. My mom wanted to see this famous painting and my dad was like, "why aren't you taking a photo of this one?" Funny dad.

Although it was one stop to Ile de la Cité, which is an island in the Seine River, I suggested we walk along the river to enjoy the bridges after the museum closed. I underestimated the lack of ice cream or crepe shops and benches which made the walk less bearable. But here's a selfie of us before getting on the island that I compared to NYC's Roosevelt Island:

 

On the island, we found a restaurant where we had crepes, an omelet, and a Croque Madame which I washed down with a beer. Our collective crepe count is now 5. We had dinner across the street from the Palais de Justice and Sainte Chappelle, where I had purchased tickets for a one hour classical concert, recommended by a colleague of mine. The musicians played Vivaldi, Pachelbel, and played with great vigor. Here's a collage below and my mom with the head violinist from whom she bought an autographed CD of the concert:

 

Although I had pondered visiting Notre Dame cathedral, I thought it would be a bit pointless if it was closed. So to maximize our museum pass tickets, I suggested going to the Arc de Triomphe for a night visit and the family agreed. I think the one hour of sitting refilled our energy and we walked over to Chatelet and got on the metro. On the way, not sure what came over me, but I started to quote from the Meg Ryan movie, "French Kiss", and kept repeating "I will triumph" and "George Cinq" with a snobbish tone. When we arrived, the was a queue in the median of the road to take choice pictures in front of the monument. Although this may not be the safest decision, we waited in the line and a nice man from Miami took this for us:

As our museum pass included free entry and I had never gone to the top, we decided to experience the panoramic views on the lovely night. Normally, you would walk up around 240 steps, but the guards permitted us to take the elevator on account of my parents. The elevator was clear on the top and we shot up and then we only had to climb about 46 steps. We took in the lights of both Champs Élysées and Eiffel Tower. After soaking it all in, we headed down and paid our respects to the Unknown Soldier and headed back to our hotel via metro. A collage of our visit:



After meandering through the large Charles de Gaulle - Etoile station, we got on our train which dropped us off directly in front of our hotel. As we were a bit thirsty, Justin and I headed out to buy waters and we returned also with several cones of sorbet which seemed to make the hotel lobby clerk chuckle.

I'm so proud of my dad today. We walked tons and we saw a lot, and he didn't complain once. I also explained today and tomorrow were going to be the roughest as we were visiting Versailles and Louvre back to back. I told him we would take as many breaks as needed and I tried to order our agenda to be as efficient as possible, so he could rest and not be too exhausted. I'm hoping tomorrow goes as well as it did today, but as we wind down our museum pass and since in Spain we'll be driving much, he's taking it all in like a champ - or a king!