Aaah.. The long awaited report of our (my lovely girlfriend and myself's) trip to Disneyland Paris.
We left monday morning on the 7.30 AM Thalys from Brussels Midi to Paris Gare du Nord. We decided to check into the hotel first and then take the RER to Marne-la-vallée. Our hotel was on the Boulevard Rochechouart, which is a short walk away from the Sacre-Coeur. We purchased our park tickets at the local subway station (thus avoiding the huge queue at the park entrance). The RER (kinda like a long distance subway) was packed! Once we arrived at Marne-la-vallée metro station, we got some sandwiches at the quickie mart just outside the park. One of the security guards at the park entrance asked me if he could have a look in my backpack and asked me to open it for him. The sandwiches were still on top and he didn't even bother to look underneath them. At the souvenir shop just past the entrance, I got a blue wizards hat (from Fantasia) and some Mickey gloves for my sister's birthday. The square near the entrace is full of Disney stores and Main Street itself isn't any different. It feels like a giant Disney Mall. Walking through Main Street, we saw the castle from Sleeping Beauty.
If you walk through the gate, you can take the stairs to a small level which offers very little amusement (beside some tapestries). Behind the castle lie a few fairy tale based shops and kids rides. We walked around for quite a bit before we took the rides. After waiting in queue to the train ride ride for about 20 minutes, one of my lenses shifted and I rushed out of queue to find a mirror. We later did the ride and it was super! We also did the haunted mansion (pretty freaky elevator), pirates of the caribean (so so) and some walkthroughs. We watched the parade at 4 o'clock. The weather was excellent! The park closed at 8 PM. We, and a truckload of other people, took the RER back to Paris centre. We got tons of loot! After freshing up in the hotel, we walked around Montmartre a bit and had supper at Les Deux Moulins on the Rue Lepic.
The next day, after packing our luggage, we visited most of the Paris landmarks: Louvre, Jardin des Tuileries, steps of the Sacre Coeur, the Eiffel Tower, Pont des Arts, Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Ãâ°lysées. We walked most of the time and only took the subway to get somewhere fast. From the Place Vendôme, we walked to the jardin, to the Louvre, crossed the street to the Pont des Arts, crossed it and walked through the Ile de la Cité and halfway through Ile St-Louis for an ice cream at Berthillon.
I brought some champagne and we drank it on the steps of the Sacre Coeur, enjoying the view. It went down pretty well! My girlfriend wanted to visit the Tati shop.. which was somewhat disappointing. We also dropped by the Disney store on the Champs-Ãâ°lysées (really, how much of THE mouse can you take on 2 days anyway??). We had lunch at a small bistro on the Place D'Abbesses. By the time we went back to the hotel and got to Paris Nord train station, we were both tired but pleased!
Re:Now here's a funny thing...
Beatnik on 2006-07-14T00:29:42
We didn't go any a lot of rides.. We passed by "It's a small world" and "Space Mountain". My girlfriend didn't really fancy the fast and darker rides and I didn't want to go in there alone. We went to Paris the 26 and 27th. It was the fourth time in a little bit over a year. There are still loads of places in Paris I have to visit but I love it there! The park music becomes VERY irritating after a whole day.
