Paris!

We just got back from a very quick tour of Paris. We took the metro from Chessey Station at Disneyland Paris to Place du Chatelet. It was quite a maze to navigate the underground metro system to appear at the Seine. The signs were there, you just had to constantly navigate through a ton of bustling Parisians making their way to the city. Once we came up to the street, we made our way to Notre Dame. It was simply incredible. We met a long time friend of my Uncle who gave us a wonderful tour of the city. Sue has wonderful insight into her city and was able to give us a lot of history about the Cathedral. There are several stain glass windows. There are three large ‘Rose’ windows that are incredible. Sue told us that during World War II, they were afraid that Paris would be bombed by the Germans, so they removed every piece of stain glass and hid them around the countryside. After the war was over, they replaced every piece to its original location.

We also saw the prison where Marie Antoinette and her children were kept and later executed. It is actually now an office building.

We made our way to the Eiffel Tower and unfortunately, the top floor was closed due to inclement weather. We were able to make it to the second platform and see Mont St. Michele and wonderful views of the River Seine.

We are getting ready for Barcelona in the morning! Hopefully, the luggage will follow us there! Rumor has it that British Airways has finally located the last piece of luggage and is going to deliver it tonight.

Lazy Day in Marne La Valle

Patrick and Peyton lounging by the pool at the hotel.

Very lazy day today. We slept until 10:00am!

Mom went to the market and got everyone pastries for breakfast. I don’t know what they do to make bread taste SO good, but they really are amazing.

Since one of my bags had arrived, I had fortunately placed a bathing suit for Peyton in my luggage. We lounged by the indoor pool and relaxed all afternoon. Around 2:00, we went over to Disney Village. At this point we were all STARVING, so we found the first restaurant that looked halfway decent. The place was called Annette’s Diner and it was a 50’s style hamburger joint! They had real milk shakes, great French fries and decent burgers. We all enjoyed the meal until we got the bill - $102 for 3 burgers, 4 drinks and 2 desserts! No wonder the French are so skinny, they can’t afford to eat.

We spent the evening watching Apocalypto on the DVD player. My husband found a ‘hack’ on the internet to get the DVD player to play American DVDs. I thought he was crazy, but he really did it. J This is not a movie I would recommend because it is very hard to watch as a parent and very graphic.

Two more bags showed up today, so we are down to missing ONE!

More pictures

Daddy and Peyton watching the show at Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

Peyton riding Le Carousel de Lancelot.













Patrick and Peyton at the Disneyland Park entrance.

Disneyland Park - Paris

Peyton outside the hotel.

TWO bags have now arrived, only FIVE more to go! Luckily, Patrick put some of his clothes in one of Peyton's bags so he at least has a change of clothes now. No luck for my Mom, but we bought her a Mickey shirt at the park today.

We spent the day at Disneyland Paris and although it is MUCH smaller than the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, it is very nice. We had pastries for breakfast once we got in the park and they tasted great. We rode a bunch of rides, but Peyton and I were too chicken to get on the Space Mountain ride. From what Patrick (the only brave person) said, it was like riding Kumba (a wild coaster in Tampa) in the dark. Unlike Space Mountain in Florida, this one was COMPLETELY dark and did lots of loops. Patrick and I did go on the Paris version of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and it was really cool. It has not been updated to include Johnny Depp like the American versions, but it was much longer and had a lot more effects.

The biggest hit was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The majority of the ride was on an island, so we wondered how the train got there. It turns out that there in an underwater tunnell that zips you over to the island once you are on the ride. It felt much faster than the American version and once again MUCH longer. The other thing that surprised me was that the lines were almost non-existent. Many of the rides only had about a 5 minute wait.
Thunder Mountain had the longest wait at about 30 minutes. We were easily able to see everything we wanted to see in about 6 hours.

For those traveling here, the free shuttle to the parks is quite convenient. We even went to the wrong stop and a very nice Frenchman explained to me that we were in the wrong location. He did not speak a word of English, but my French was able to understand what he was trying to say. It has been a LOOONG time since I spoke any French, but I think I am remembering quickly. Many of the people in the area speak at least some English and those who don’t are very kind and speak slowly. :)

We ran into a few rude people in the parks, but I think you find just as many in Orlando as we found here in Paris. I must say we have found everyone to be quite delightful and when they see us (I guess we stand out as Americans), they always ask what part of America we are from.

Marne La Valle - Day 1

Yummy pastries!













View from our patio in Marne La Valle.

Yes, we did arrive here in Marne La Valle. The resort is just beautiful! Patrick and I walked to Champions Supermarket (about a 10 minute walk from the resort) and marveled at the differences between American and French grocery shopping. Good luck finding peanut butter in France!

We even waited for the Boulangerie and Patisserie to open (everything seems to close between 1 and 3:00pm). We got three different pastries and a baguette. I must admit the bread was the BEST I ever had. It was still warm from the oven and had a crunchy exterior and soft interior. SOOO good. We have not tried the pastries yet, but they sure do look awesome!

As for the resort, the Marriott is really nice. It has FREE wired Internet access in the rooms and the indoor and outdoor pools are just beautiful.

Hopefully, our luggage will arrive in the morning.

Vacation Day!!

How much luggage do you need to take 3 adults and 1 six year old to Europe for 21 days? A LOT!

Our vacation officially begins in about an hour while we wait for the car to pick us up and take us to the airport. Our flight leaves Tampa at 1:40 and arrives in Miami at 2:40. We then have about a 2 hour layover in Miami before the British Airways flight to London.

All of our bags are packed, we are just trying to convince Peyton to get out of his PJs and into some travelling clothes! I packed a bunch of snacks for him on the plane (cashews, peanut butter, diced peaches). My son is one of those kids who has Uncrustables (peanut butter and jelly) EVERY day for lunch! He does not eat a wide variety of food, so we are hoping that France has discovered Uncrustables or Peyton may starve!

Gotta finish a few things for work before I head out. I hope the airplane Gods are with us today to make all of these flights! I will let you know if it is possible to actually catch three different flights in 36 hours. :)

-3 Days and Counting!!

What an incredible day today! We received a call from Disney and we have been upgraded from a porthole stateroom on the second deck to a room with a veranda on the 5th floor by the kids club! We were completely SHOCKED!!

I am still picking up last minute items for the trip and some new DVDs to watch on the flights. I even got Peyton and Patrick new flight pillows for the flight and long rides on the tour buses.

Thanks for the comments! Unfortunately, my horse is not coming with me - maybe next time. :( She will be well taken care of by my two trainers (Clair and Tammy) at Kingsmeade farm.