Paris with Amber and Parker, May 12. 2023

Over the past year or 2, Parker has been getting more into the world of futbol: playing it himself, playing video games, watching it, collecting cards, following world cup, and talking about players and teams with his friends. His favorite team is currently PSG club in Paris which also happens to have a few of the best and most popular players in the world. In addition, Parker loved our trip to France last fall and really wanted to visit Paris. So as a combination of his Christmas and birthday presents, he got a trip to Paris and tickets to see a PSG game where he saw Mbappe and Messi play. Parker and Amber went together for the weekend while Todd and Drion had their own nice time together with friends at "home" in Torremolinos. P.S. Amber wrote the following wordy entry

Ici C'est Paris! We had a great time cheering on Paris Saint Germain at Parc des Princes Stadium! We saw the team score 5 goals with Kylian Mbappe scoring two of them. Impressive to watch some of the GOATS play football. Unfortunately Ajaccio wasn't much of a challenge. PSG won 5-0.

We stayed in Boulogne-Billancourt a bit outside of the center of Paris. This neighborhood is easily accesible by Metro to all of the popular Paris sights as well as the stadium. We found a bakery where we enjoyed pain au chocolat and coffee/hot chocolate each morning. One of our goals was to try as many french treats as possible over the weekend!

Paris doesn't disappoint when it comes to grand architecture. Parker was awed by his first views of the Eiffel Tower. On our first day exploring the city, we walked nearby but decided to wait until Monday morning to summit the tower. Turns out the crowds were much less on a foggy and chilly morning but that didn't stop us!

After several security checkpoints to get to the base of the tower (very different from the early 2000s when I lived in Paris), we bought a combined ticket to the Eiffel Tower summit. This involved climbing the stairs two platforms and an elevator to the very top. We enjoyed looking at the city from every direction, observing eiffel tower painters at work harnessed to ropes and a La Duree macaroon with hot chocolate on our way down.

One of my favorite moments was taking breaks and sharing macaroons throughout our tour of the city. Our favorites were the La Duree salted caramel and lemon flavors.

I've visited the Louvre several times but never as fast as the visit with Parker. We sped past egyptian, greek, and roman artifacts, italian and french paintings. "Where's the Mona Lisa?" pleaded Parker if I stopped to explain how this painting or that was so much better. Once we reached the Mona Lisa, it was much more interesting to watch the crowds peek at the small painting from a considerable distance.

After the Louvre we got lunch in Le Marais, one of my favorite neighborhoods in Paris. I stood in line for an hour for falafal at L' As du Fallafel. Tasty but not as good as I remember. While Parker enjoyed savory and sweet crepes nearby.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, we strolled over Seine to Ile de la Cite to see Notre Dame. It is still under construction so we talked about the spire and how the church used to look before the fire. As we walked Parker admired the french news boy caps. He got one as a souvenir. Then we stumbled upon a bread festival where we watched bakers judging baguettes and rolling fresh croissants.

Il est mignon!

Parker's top four favorite things about Paris were the PSG game, Eiffel Tower summit Champ's Elysees, and the Metro. He loved riding the metro and makes extensive comparisons to the other train transport he has experienced in Spain. The metro is much more efficient!

A bientot Paris! Parker wants to study french so maybe he'll live there one day.

For now he is enjoying his souvenirs!