Paris Pictures - 14-15 March & Disneyland Paris

Published 8.April, back-dated to 15.March to stay in chronological order.




Our moving the motorhome to Disneyland Paris turned out to be the best move. First off, let me confirm for any European motorhome visitors out there: Yes, you can park your motorhome at Disneyland Paris and yes, you can sleep in it overnight. No one would officially answer our questions prior to arrival (something I hate about Disney in general). In fact, even the woman at the tourist office just outside Disney Village couldn't provide a definitive answer.



The skinny on motorhome parking at Disneyland Paris:

• Cost (per day - you pay at the car park pay station each morning): 13 EURO
• Facilities on site: April-October - Water, dump station. Year round - bathrooms (not sure if there is a shower).
• Recommendation: Park as far away from the "slide walks" as possible. The entry themed music runs until about 1am. We permanently have "Hello, and welcome to Disneyland Paris!" engrained in our brains.
• Recommendation 2: Park in groups of motorhomes. Our second night there, the parking lot cleaners came through around 2am and they were nothing short of noisy. If parked in a group, at least the interior vehicles aren't being circled by the sweeper trucks.
• Recommendation 3: Visit this park during low season and during the weekday. Our Friday visit was awesome - short waits, easy navigation through the park. Saturday was a completely different story. Crowded and the key navigation points don't really channel people very well. Rides were 40+ minute wait times.

We provided our moms with "curbside" service in the motorhome! Dan and Megan ran up to get them from the hotel, with the Winnebago parked out in front. I wish I could have seen the looks on the hotel staff/management's faces (if they even noticed us - but then we do kind of stand out). We definitely got the stare-down from the crowd waiting for the shuttle bus. The image of a Winnebago parked in front of the Disney Enchanted Dream Princess Hotel (or whatever the name of it is) just struck a funny bone and made me giggle.

The walk in from parking is about 1/2 a kilometer. Then there's the typical Disney confusion about tickets ... then the slog through the picturesque pre-entry stuff. About 45-minutes later, we finally found ourselves walking down "Main Street USA" complete with American flags on the buildings (in France!). All my bad feelings about Disney shrank to the background as I felt myself being absorbed in the magif of the place.







Onto the good stuff.


Rides:

• Space Mountain II - great fun-though the music needs to be rachetted up a few notches! Megan was too small to go on it (she was fine on Space Mountain at Anaheim ... but this one is a bit rougher). Dan and I sent our moms on it after we went... I don't know that Charlotte will ever forgive us
• Autotopia - The regulations are different in Paris. It was possible for Sophia to go on the ride and drive (that's just not right!)! The attendant missed the break - so Charlotte and Sophia had 2 laps!
  


• It's a Small World - the must for every Disney visit. This one is bright, light and clean. We had fun enjoying the sights - but couldn't get that darn song out of our heads.
• Indiana Jones Adventure - not worth more than a 5-10 minute wait. Nothing like my memory of the version at Anaheim. Very short roller coaster ride. In fact, they almost let us go through twice, but another wave of people made it through to the entrance ... Megan was too small to go on it.
• Teacups - a dizzying fun ride, of course.
  
• Pirates of the Carribean - a must see. Tons of fun with the girls though Sophia was a little scared, but we were on the lookout for Scooby Doo to save her (oops. wrong film company...hope the Mouse ears didn't pick that up).


• Disney Railway - bummer. They don't manage the line queu and the only station open for boarding was Main Street - our attempts to ride it were futile this time.
• Haunted Mansion - Stil fun after all these years. Always a shocking twist at the end - one which Sophia couldn't quite figure out.
  

Character Meet-in-Greets:

A mouse from Cinderella... awww.




Even the grandmas got into the princess spirit. (Note: Arial recognized and remembered Sophia about 10-minutes later! As she walked by us, she called out a friendly, "Goodbye Sophia!" and blew a kiss!)



Chipmunks galore (in Hollywood Adventure Land)


Woody! We didn't get to shake hands, but hey, we still gave a good ole' shout out.

Misc. Attractions:

• We got swept away into the Alice in Wonder Land maze. I think we squirrled away at least 45-minutes, just because the kids wanted to go in the castle. Good job diverting traffic, Disney!



• Aladdin's Magic Carpet - not worth the time. Just some dioramas of the story of Aladdin. Not very interesting for any of us (we were hoping the building contained a ride...). Though we had great fun trying out dreds on Dan and Norma (my mom).
  
  




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• Sleeping Beauty's Castle - very well done, quite ornate and fun.


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Hollywood Adventure Land:

Built around the movie theme, much like California Adventure Land. A little lame - but more open spaces. Still was very crowded on the weekend.

Rides:

• Tower of Terror - first Dan and I, then we sent Megan as a chaperone for Norma and Charlotte. Hehe.

• Rock-n-Roll Roller Coaster - Charlotte sat this one out with Sophia and the rest of us went for a very fast, very fun roller coaster ride. Very similar to the Space Mountain in Disneyland. We were dubious. It was one of the only rides with no wait time and honestly, the description sounded lame. We exited the rides with huge grins.
• Crusher's Wild Ride - Everyone else was beat - but Megan and I were determined to go on Crusher's Wild Ride (well, me, more so than Megan- the more she read the signs leading up to the ride, the more she questioned if this was really an appropriate ride for her). After waiting over an hour in line (the ride broke down), we finally got in our turtle shell and were off for a crazy fun ride that tipped us sideways and spun us around. We both floated back to the motorhome laughing, arrivin just in time for dinner!

This being our last night at Disneyland, I coerced the family into wandering back out at 7:30 for the "Candelabra" show, thinking it would be like the nighttime parade at Disney Anaheim. It hadn't rained all day. As we made our way back into the park, a gust of wind hit so hard, it blew us all sideways. We found ourselves standing in the cold, pouring down rain for a 5-minute character dance in the central square! I couldn't help but laugh - I had Megan on my shoulders and rain was pouring down my coat sleeves. After a reinvigorating shower, I was ready to go on rides... but, honestly, we were all exhausted from running non-stop and called it a night. Disney at night is quite beautiful though. Even if I can't hold my camera still enough for the night-time shots.

Exhausted, we were grateful that we didn't have an hour of train commuting on top of such a busy two days. The kids have never been so easy to put to bed and we were quite grateful to have our own bed to collapse into.

Paris Pictures - 13 March

Published 8.April - back dated to 12.March to be in chronological order.

First full day with our (jet lagged) moms in Paris and we had the "idea" that we would have a low-key day, hit the "highlights" and rest up a bit. Fools! =)

We had them meet us in the subway at Chateau les Halles. Should be easy - just step off the subway, don't move, we'll find you. It really was that easy. Except that Dan and I freaked out when we arrived, thinking we would have to change platforms - then, once we realized where we needed to be, realized how long the subway cars are. Agghh! Needless to say, it was really easy. After about 30-minutes of fretting, we finally stood still and voila! Our moms arrived on the next subway, walked off the train car and all was good.

Should have stuck with my original plan of getting on the "hop on, hop off" bus - but my budget analysis got the best of me at the last minute. Afterall, we had already paid for public transit for 5-days, why should we pay again? Surely we can just use the public buses...

Alas, we hit the highlights and everyone was about ready to kill me by the end of the day.

Opera House - simply stunning inside and out. We opted not to go for the entire tour (8 EURO per person), but a traveling group broke into song on the steps - they may (or not) have been pros, but to hear voices singing and the acoustical beauty of just the entrance was moving. Very beautiful architecture and stunning attention to detail.

Arc de Triomphe

Next stop was the Arc de Triomphe. I'm proud to say, we managed to somewhat easily get on a bus from the Opera House and to the monument with relatively little problem. Figuring out the transit routes isn't as easy to do on the go when there are 3 adults and 2 kids heckling you. First up - snacks in the square across from the monument. Hey, there are no garbage cans, anywhere. Next priority - find the bathrooms. I'm pleased to say, there's a rather decent public bathroom near the Arc de Triomphe. Made everyone's lives easier.

Finally, we embarked on the walk to the monument, which takes you under the impressive roundabout which encircles the monument. What a fantastic memorial - beautiful and somehow thought-provoking amid the hub bub of traffic and tourists. The Arc d'Triomphe was originally ordered by Napolean in 1806, to commemerate his victories, and was completed in 1836. The monument today is a peace memorial, with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier located on site since 1921. On the wall of names, we found reference to "Scherer" on the section dedicated to "Armees de Pyrenees or(ales) Des Pyrenees oc(ales) de L'Ouest de Reserve du Camp de Boulogne."

Eiffel Tower

The signs of tiredness are there and we all are ignoring them. Press on - the Eiffel Tower is just over "that" way. I got us on the "right" bus; second guessed; got us off (it almost took off with our moms still on board!), wandered a bit and got us back on the "right" bus (ironically, the same direction we had just gotten off). Anyhoo. We exited at the Military School and walked up - for a few minutes I was dubious, then alas, you round the corner, and there she is. Megan was thrilled - she had been pining to see the Eiffel Tower since we arrived on the 10th.

We had decided we would go up the tower. Dan and Megan were interested in taking the stairs, the rest of us were begging for coffee and cake at the restuarant. Just as soon as we were under the tower, a huge gust of wind hit and it was threatening to rain. After several minutes of discussion, we decided to return another day vs. freeze in line for tickets and again at the top.

Pantheon

Don't ask me how we got here. It all started with a search for a cafe. Unbelievably, we couldn't find a cafe that we could agree on and soon found ourselves within distance of the Pantheon. Again, we didn't enter - the group was beyond ability to function at this point only I didn't recognize it. We admired the building and Megan used grandma's hat to put on a fashion show as we delibrated how best to end the day.

Dan and I needed to find a place to add money to our pre-paid cell phone and we wanted to find a grocery store for our moms to get a snack for dinner. The Disney Princess Hotel is really isolated and turns out, the dinner offered at the hotel is a buffet, at an outrageous price. After the fact, we realized more inline prices were available at the Disney Village, a free shuttle ride away. After trying to accomplish tasks with everyone, we finally saw our moms to their subway train - they simply had to get off at the last stop, then take the shuttle bus to their hotel. Then we continued (unsuccessfully) on our errand quest, eventually wandering back to the motorhome for dinner and a very welcome bed.

Dan and I recapped the day - what went well, what didn't. We had agreed with the moms to visit Disneyland next - but we were not going to move the motorhome. At the last minute, we decided to pack up drive as we understood we could park the motorhome in the Disney parking lot. That way, we take advantage of the proximity of the mom's hotel and we can take care of food (breakfast, lunch, dinner) from the motorhome. We couldn't alert our moms (there seems to be no published phone number for the Disney Princess Hotel and our cell phone is out of money) - so we planned to do our best to be at their hotel at 10:30am, as we had promised.

The Grandmas Are Here!!

Posted 20.March, back-dated to be in chronological order.

After a lot of build up, we finally arrived in Paris and found ourselves working our way over to Charles De Guall airport to pick up our moms. Their flight arrived at 8:40 AM, meaning we left our campground at 6:45 AM. I told them to wait for us at baggage claim, completely forgetting that you must retrieve your baggage prior to clearing customs.

About an hour after their flight arrived, they emerged from customs. Unfortunately, they had been inside, trying to call us from the public pay phones for 30 of those minutes. I don't think we even had the phone with us! Everyone was relieved to clear all of this up and we started moving luggage toward the RER. Got "The Grandmas" (as they are now re-named) 5-day public transit passes for zones 1-6 and started off to their hotel at Disneyland.

Proof our moms have been on the subway!

The hotel had them booked in a room with a king-sized bed. I helped plead their case, and after a few no's, followed by phone calls, I'm pleased to report that the Disney Princess Hotel upgraded our moms to a very nice two room suite and two king beds. They each had their own bedroom and a very luxurious bathroom (jacuzzi tub, robes, slippers, etc.). I honestly felt a little jealous - that jacuzzi tub looked mighty inviting.

Disney Princess Dream Castle Hotel

We ate a late lunch together and made plans to meet the next day ... hoping they would sleep well and that jet lag wouldn't hit too hard.

Tired bunch, love the tall tables!

Ciao!

Mimizan, France

Published 19.March, back dated to be in chronological order.

Enroute to Paris, off-season. We finally pulled out the Reisemobile Bode Atlas book again (cheap overnight spots). After a frustrating drive to 3 sites listed (which were full on campsites, but closed for the season), we lucked out and found "Parking Helistation" in Mimizan, France.

Huge parking lot - lots of large RVs, most of which were American imports. Had a lovely 3-night stay, just behind the sand dunes. Power included; water and dump station were super easy to access. In the off-season, it's 5.50 EURO per night (vs. 30 at a campground). Access to the supermarket and ocean were easy. Though, the promised 5.5 km bike ride to Mimizan felt more like 30 km to me! Maybe that's just a sign we weren't as active as we should have been while in Spain.




Market in Mimizan, France.

Did I mention that it's cold? Bring out the winter wear.



Met a fantastic Scottish family and the girls were thrilled to have a new play mate. A huge "hello" to Charlotte and her folks.





The girls with a new friend - in princess attire!

~500 km to go - onward to Paris!

Ciao for now!

En-route to Paris: 3 passes, 3 snow/wind storms

Published 19.March; back dated to be in chronological order.

I now know that Spain is not flat. We left nice, sunny, warm Madrid, hoping to stop at San Sebastian for a night or two.

However, after crossing 3 mountain passes (the highest was 1,300 meters, I believe) in three separate snow and wind storms, we were anxious to be anywhere but where it might continue to be cold. Unfortunately, France was probably not the best destination - but we have mom's enroute, so onward we go.

The picture (3rd of the passes, about 840 meters) does not do justice to what we were driving through. There were points of the drive that we thought we were going to need to stop, the wind was blowing so hard.

On a similar theme, at some point, just outside San Sebastian, we caught this road sign... exactly which highway are we on again?

We continued past San Sebastian to Camping Larrouleta - a rather uninspired campground in the off-season. The girls were tired from driving all day and we thought we could go swimming. Only the pool closed at 6 vs. 8 - even though 8 was the posted closing time on the door! I had two very unhappy little ones, who had hurridly put on bathing suits and ran from the RV to the pool in biting wind and rain, only to find out it was closed! The motorhome dump station is at an awkward down-hill angle so emptying tanks was a bit of a challenge. Overall, a good stopping point and friendly enough staff, but not a lot to offer in the off season.

Attempts to find the village on foot the next day were met with disappointment. We moved on.

Madrid, Spain

Posted 19.March, backdated to be in chronological order.

On our whirlwind journey out of Spain and to France, we stopped for a day near Madrid.

Camping was best found at Aranjuez, about a 45-minute train ride from Madrid. Easy enough. We stopped at Camping International Aranjuez (40.04217°N 3.60083°W). The campground was quite nice, though their Internet connection quite flaky. For once the Internet was affordable, only it went down 4-hours into our 24-hour pass and remained down for the remainder of our stay.

A note about the campground - it was really nice. They charge on a per pitch basis, so be careful which pitch you choose. Some of the pitches that are well suited for large motorhomes are poorly planned, with trees or light posts in the middle of the entrance. We ordered our ACSI card while there and they were gracious enough to cut the rate from 35 EURO per night to the 14 EURO per night + fee for kids. After our stay, we've been informed that the camping near Getaf is not nice and we felt that the camping in La Cabrera would have been too far.

We biked in to the train station - about a 20-minute ride. There are no busses from the campground to the city center or bus station. Aranjuez is quite a nice little town with a palace and deserves a longer stay. We would have loved to stay another day or two, but we have a deadline to meet... Paris by 11.March!

Once in Madrid, we jumped on the tourist bus and enjoyed the beautiful, warm, sunny afternoon on the 2nd story of an open air bus. Our favorite was the historical tour. The second path was not at all interesting. By the time we left, we were in love with Madrid and felt sure we could easily have spent a week exploring the city.

Some pictures from our whirlwind tour.

5-arch landmark in a round about.

3-arch landmark

Cathedrale

City blick

Cool!

This is much better than walking!

This tourist stuff is tiring.

On a personal note, we've been letting Megan experiment with the camera. Here's a peek at her blossoming photography skills. =)

Seville, Spain

Posted 19.March, back dated to be in chronological order.


Several stops back, we had been told that we could stay in Dos Hermanas and easily manage a day trip to Seville. My camping book lists two campgrounds and the larger of the two turned us away. (We could have parked alongside their reception office just fine and there was still ample room for parking but they wouldn't hear of it.)

We rerouted to nearby Alcala de Guadaira which on first look was close by, but we wouldn’t fit down the streets of Dos Hermanas so had to go back up the freeway and around. After 50 km, we arrived and there was no signage. Directions in the camping book are vague but say to follow the signs to the Hotel Oromana. I found the hotel in AutoRoute and mistakenly routed us directly there. The access road to the campground lies just before the entrance to the hotel – big rigs have no business driving up the hotel driveway. We had to back down. Rough road doesn’t begin to describe the next segment of driving.




Alas, we finally get to the campground. They speak no English. I speak virtually no Spanish. After some deliberation, they agree to let us stay and Dan walked the site to find the best route in. The site is on a hill and the access roads are being eroded by water! It was a bit of a rolling ride to the pitch – but there are 4 pitches that are almost suitable for pull through spots! Water is not potable and the drainage is nowhere to be found. The kids made quick friends with two Spanish children…who abruptly made us a flower garden in an old wooden box. Very sweet!


The next morning we were awoken by roosters. Actually, the crowing started around midnight and just didn’t stop until around 9am. Jumped on the bikes and headed to the bus stop – which I had been able to get directions to with much pointing at the map. No matter how many times you say the name of the street, if the person listening can’t understand it, you won’t get far. Regardless, the reception desk was helpful and we did find the way!



Bus to Seville was full – it took about 30 minutes to get there. We wound up stopped outside the Captania General building and should have gotten off one stop earlier. Wandering on, we quickly found our way to the tram – which for 1.20 EURO per person takes you from the central bus station to the Cathedral and Plaza Neuva. We wound up getting off at the Cathedral – there was a Starbucks, Post Office and hey – a really cool cathedral!







Dan had to get manager’s approval for two venti drip coffees! They just don’t do drip coffee here. The kids grooved on their hot chocolates and we all basked in the very warm sun. Only thing is, virtually everyone round us is dressed up to the hilt! Fancy suits, funny hats on the women… we have no idea what’s going on but I was starting to feel out of place in my shorts. After a bit of hemming and hahhing, we finally decided to join the line for the Cathedral. Loved the sign at the entrance… fee is 7.50 per person unless you are a native to Seville or unemployed. We were wondering if we could make our case as unemployed. In the end, we paid our 7.50 per person (kids are free) and for the first time, I bought in to the audio guide gimmick. Megan promptly took my audioguide receiver and I virtually didn’t get to use it again during our visit (I’m not really complaining…it was fun to see her getting excited about the history of the Cathedral). The Cathedral is built on the site of an old mosque. It is one of the longest and the central altar took 80 years to build. We were awed by the rich designs and intricate detailing. Loved the walk up the bell tower too with little glimpses of the city below. 38 flights of ramps later, we were at the top, admiring a fantastic blick of the city, including the bull ring. Then, back down again to the orange courtyard, where we decided to call the Cathedral visit to an end. I think we really only saw half of it!












View of Cathedral from Starbucks











Inside the Cathedral.






Descending from the tower.




View from the tower.



Megan swiped my audioguide!




This is where you exit the Cathedral.




Random pictures of Seville.








Onward to Madrid... our moms are coming to Paris to meet us on 12.March and we have over 1,000 km to go.



Ciao for now!