Giving My Parents the Surprise of a Lifetime

The difficult thing about moving abroad is that when you create a life thousands of miles away, you're usually leaving behind people that you love. For me, the hardest people to live away from were my parents. For years, because of the distance, we missed important moments of each other's lives. I spent most of my adult life seeing my parents on digital screens. All of this has given me a sense of urgency to make the most of our moments together. Last year, however, in a bizarre turn of events, my parents moved to France and amongst other reasons it was to be closer to me. That major distance that used to separate us, it has gone away. It's like I've been given a second chance to have them in my life and I do not intend to miss it. Can you dress me here for a second? Are we on a secret mission? No, there's something else going on here. So this year, to celebrate the two people that created me, I wanted to give them an experience of a lifetime. A birthday gift that they'll never forget. I booked a secret reservation for arguably the most iconic restaurant in Paris. And it surpassed even my expectations. Now, when it comes to iconic restaurants in Paris, it's difficult to name just one. This is a culinary capital of the world. Good food is the baseline here. But I wanted the best of the best. So the place I'm taking them is a Michelin-starred restaurant inside of the Eiffel Tower with a history of being run by some of the best chefs on the planet. It's called Le Jules Verne. My mom has never even been up the Eiffel Tower. But I had the good fortune of capturing her reaction when she saw it for the first time in her life last year. Wow! Doesn't look real right? It's amazing! Sometimes you've got to make the conscious effort to bring everyone together and create unforgettable experiences. So here's how this adventure went. They say it's not what you eat, but who you're eating with. So my little brother Sky is flying in from Lisbon to surprise my parents at a special location in Paris. This will only be the second time we've all been together as a family in Europe since I moved here four years ago. So as far as I'm aware, they have no idea what's going on. Are we going to some kind of artistic event? With food involved. There's food at this exhibition. No dad is always thinking about food. So without revealing where we were going, I took my parents on a walk, stalling while my brother gets into the right spot. This is so cool. I don't care what we're doing, it's fun. Nice! Okay, apartment infiltrated. They already left like 10-15 minutes ago. Now I just have to change, get on my get ready, and I'm getting ready to ambush them. Cool spot, right? Yeah, I like how the day's going. How is the day going so far? Great. I would like to know more. As far as I know, I think that statue thing right there is where they're supposed to show up, so I just gotta wait. I wanted to take you on this bridge. Which was where Inception was shot. It's like this really cool bridge. What a tour. Yeah. I think they're here as far as I know. Supposed to walk over now. How have you enjoyed the day so far? Great. What are the things that would make today better? I wish it could be the four of us. Yeah. Yeah. So that's for the future. What do you mean? All of us together? With your brother. Yeah. It's okay. It's okay. We'll get there. We'll get there. What mom doesn't want her whole family to be together? Fortunately, she was about to get her wish. No way! What? There you go! Oh my god! Wow! Oh my god! And I said just two seconds ago that I would have liked for the four of us to be together! And this happened! But you know what's hilarious? We picked the perfect spot to not look weird because everyone else is doing this. Yeah, true! Hey, nice camera! Best gift ever! Coordinating this! was so freaking stressful. I'm so bad at this. Like, what happened? I turn around and there's Skylar coming up. I was like, I was like, am I seeing him? Or someone that looks like him? I think I saw your reaction. You know what I mean? They were so stunned, they had no idea what was to come. The real surprise was standing right behind them. The Drew crew has united. This turned out perfect. We did it. My plan was for all of us to go up the Eiffel Tower. Of course, I didn't mention the restaurant framing it as though the big surprise of the day was my brother showing up. That is so sweet. I'm so touched. This way, I could shuttle my parents into the Eiffel Tower without them thinking we were going to dinner. As the elevator slowly carried us up, what was once the tallest building in the world, I could not help but feel as though we were beginning to enter a new realm. Located 410 feet up in the air, Le Jules Verne feels as though it is halfway to the heavens. It's insane! I felt it was time to let them know about the real surprise. Basically, the place we're having dinner is in the Eiffel Tower. It's over. Are you serious? Oh my god! Is this cafeteria? No, no, no, no, it's not. What? That? No, I'm not going to take you to a cafeteria to celebrate you, my goodness. I just didn't know where the hell the entrance was. It was hidden. So basically, just listen, so basically everything we've done so far has been a preamble. Finally, we were entering this mythical restaurant. Before we get into a full review of how this restaurant experience went. I want to thank the sponsor of this video, which is OnePlus. And I'm grateful for their support, because it was what has made it possible for me to surprise my family with this experience. They have just launched their new phone, the OnePlus Open. Their first foldable phone. And it is a phone unlike any I've ever used. I've gotten to play around with it a little bit, and honestly, it's unbelievable. It's like carrying around a smartphone and a tablet with you all in one. It's really light. I was shocked at how incredibly light it is given all of that screen space. And the phone actually allows you to have up to three apps open at once. It has a really modern, elegant design. Plus, I have to mention the cameras, as OnePlus teamed up with Hasselblad for the highest quality lenses, which is of particular importance to me, as I really need my phone to be able to capture moments of my life, especially experiences like this one. I am really grateful for OnePlus's support of this channel. You can check out the phone for yourself if you're interested with the link in the description. And now, for the rest of this experience. Arriving at our table, we were all chaotically and excitedly reacting to our new and very foreign surroundings. I'm going to do my best to give a proper account of what would ensue, but this excitement you see, it's the kind that sort of consumes you. I can't wait! This is so special. We all knew we were in for a ride. We were greeted each with a poem written by Jules Verne himself. Welcome again. Remember this guy? Only two years ago, Edi was a student who I took to the best restaurant in the world in the south of France. And now he was amongst the servers this evening, working in this incredible restaurant. I could not be more proud of him. It's thanks to him that I even got a reservation into this restaurant on such short notice. As it often goes with this kind of thing, the night was just beginning. To have the full experience, I got everyone the seven course meal that goes for 275 euros per person. And then we got the wine pairings on top of that. It's a lot of money, and some people scoff at spending that much money on one single meal. But for me, this is like getting tickets to a Taylor Swift or Beyonce concert. It's a once in a lifetime experience. I think this is one of the best experiences money can buy. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The food was only beginning to come out. First, with a few amuse-bouches, a chestnut panacotta tartlet, Alsacienne baking cream, and sherry vinegar. Like, literally, what did I just say? Maybe I'm not refined enough, but I barely understood what the waiter said when explaining these elaborate little dishes. All I end up doing is saying silly things like, it smells fantastic! Or, that doesn't taste like what I thought it would. What do I taste for? Wow! Wait, hold on. It is in fact bread and butter. This is just the beginning. I can't, I can't. It was, because only then did the seven courses actually begin. First came the crab. Whoa, whoa, whoa. This is heaven, heaven. Then the scallops. This food is so surprising three-dimensional. This is so awesome. I'm so entertained by their reactions three-dimensional What the heck is three-dimensional flavor? Well, you go in first of all you Imagine what you're gonna go get okay? You have to go all the way in then you take a taste and then there is like One, two, and three flavors. There you go. Three dimensional. I usually don't even like crab. Is this crab in there? Okay, you don't think there's like a candyish flavor in there? Then the langoustine. Mmm. Oh my. That is ridiculous. Wow. Stop laughing. This was insane. I literally cannot believe the Eiffel Tower is what is behind me as we're eating right now. Halfway into our meal, the reality of what we were doing began to sink in and all four of us were acting like children in a candy shop. So silly and so enjoying this barrage on the senses. Bro! I'm having so much fun. This is so much fun. This wine is exquisite. It is off the charts. So the wine is so delicious! Wow, what an experience. Damn, this is crazy. You see in Latin America? Amazing. Then two incredible things happened. The first is that my parents actually got recognized by another YouTuber for their work on YouTube, which is unbelievable. And we were all taken to the larger room with the view of the city for the remainder of the meal. It was gorgeous. This is this kind of thing is such a sensory overload. The further we went the tipsier we all got. It felt like the food was endless. This was definitely not one of those restaurants you leave feeling hungry. This just reminds me how bad of a cook I am. Oh my god. We were met with an onslaught of delicious combinations. The quality never seemed to dip. The service wonderfully coordinated. Okay. Oh my god. This is like that ratatouille clip where he's just the fireworks. The fireworks. This is the fireworks. This is the fireworks. Amazing. The biggest joy of the evening for me was not the food, despite how world-class it all was. It was giving this experience to the people that I love. My parents and my brother with me, doing this all together. The view is impeccable. The food is impeccable. I have seven words for you. Go for it. Dang! I've never had a one that tastes like this. A lot of words. Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I'm so drunk. I have no more thoughts. No more thoughts. It's all so delicious. I've lost my sense of judgment. You have no more thoughts, Lavin. This was just so much. So rich, so deep, so enjoyable. The four of us together? Yeah, yeah. And that makes a lot of difference too. Being together. Being together. It added value to the meal. I don't even know, I can barely make sense of this entire evening, this entire day. It was insane. This is just ridiculous. We're the last people here in this restaurant. This was insane. Behind me is literally the city of Paris. Really an experience unlike any other best experience in my life. Yeah, this is the best experience in my life. Did I think it would go for four hours? No, I wasn't sure what to expect. But we stumbled out of the restaurant at 1230 a.m. Reveling in the experience we had just had and off on a walk through a sleepy Paris. We jammed back the day and you kept like adding layers. Then you bring your brother and I was like, wow! that was that was it for me and then you're like no we're going to the Eiffel Tower and then i'm like wow and then you're like guess what we're eating at the Eiffel Tower no more to let us have this thank you for sharing

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Timestamps 

00:00 Intro
01:46 Part 1: Surprising my parents
05:56 Sponsor
06:49 Part 2: Eating in the Eiffel Tower