Sunday 10/2/08
Had a bit of a lie in today, so bt the time we got down to breakfast at 9.45am there was a big queue.It moved very quickly though & we were eating another scrumptious breaky within minutes!
I couldn't face all the cooked food today but managed a few crossants & pan au chocolate!!DH had a bacon roll or should i say 'Sub' as it was huge!
we then collected our suitcase from our room & said "goodbye" to the Dream Castle.There was a queue to check out but they have an 'Express' check out box so we used that as we knew we had nothing more to pay.
Once again, we only waited seconds for the shuttle bus to take us back to marne la Valee station.
We deposited our case in a locker so as not to have to drag it around all day.There was a long line to buy tickets so DH decided to use the automated ticket machine which once we'd worked out how to use it, was very easy(you can select English version which helped!)
The train to Paris was waiting at the platform so we jumped straight on.
This is where the fun started as we hadn't researched at all & so had no idea where to get off!LOL!
All i knew from reading here on Dis was that it took approx 35mins by train to Paris!
Anyway, we picked a station within the 'Paris' zone & got off.The station was huge with so many exits we really went round in circles to get out!You can imagine, we spent lots of time laughing this trip!
Anyway, having finally found daylight we didnt know which way to walk so just guessed..Lucky i was with Dh as he chose which way & I'd have got it completely wrong!(my sence of direction is not too good!)
We walked down a long street for about 10 mins & suddenly came across 'Le Louvre & the pyramids'!!
Walked all around them & then strolled through the park towards 'Concorde' which was really romantic(or so i told my DH!)It was a very long walk but we really relaxed & enjojed it. we walked a little way along 'The Seine' towards 'Eiffel Tower' but decided we wouldn't walk all the way to it as it would have taken too long & we think it looks better from a distance anyway!
Walked back along a street which leads to 'Arch D'triomph'(sp!) which you can see from these pics!
It was 3pm so we'd been walking for 3.5 hours & were getting hungry so made our way back towards the train station we'd come from as we didnt want to get lost by using a different one. Not sure where to eat but ended up having a McDonalds & sitting in the sun by a fountain which was lovely but not something we'd normally eat!
Got the train back to Marne La Vallee & found that the England Rugby match was on the big screen at the Sports Bar in Disney Village so we sat & watched that,well DH did whilst i people watched really!
Had a final walk around the shops, bought a pressie for our little boy "Emile" the big fat rat from Ratatouille as he loves him!
We knew the Eurostar check in opened at 6pm so got our case & went to check in area about 5.45pm. What a difference to Ashford..No seats & felt like a cattle market. With such a big station you'd think they'd make it more comfortable for International passangers!
Boarded Eurostar at 7pm & departed on time at 7.35pm, another full train.
Arrived a little early to Ashford & after getting fuel we were on our way(Car park cost £34.50 for the 3 days..OUCH!!)
Back home to Bournemouth safely, 2 hours later(Yes my DH drives too fast!)
In conclusion, we had a wonderful trip, great weather & were very lucky with all our transport. The Dream Castle was excellent & I feel we had a great deal at £164 for the 2 nights through Opodo.
I LOVE everything 'Disney' but did find it was SO very expensive here now. The last time we went (New Year 03/04)it didnt seem quite so bad, possibly 'cos it was still 'Francs' then?
The parks are much nicer to walk around now as we hardly saw anyone smoking, unlike last trip, plus the CM's do seem to have more of that 'Disney' magic about them..Perhaps they've had lessons!
We are very fortunate to have been to WDW many times & for me The Magic Kingdom is one of my favourite places & DLP just isn't the same but that said , it was wonderful to see the faces of children having so much fun & for them wherever you do 'Disney' it's a magical experience but for us personally we prefer the 'American' way!
Had a bit of a lie in today, so bt the time we got down to breakfast at 9.45am there was a big queue.It moved very quickly though & we were eating another scrumptious breaky within minutes!
I couldn't face all the cooked food today but managed a few crossants & pan au chocolate!!DH had a bacon roll or should i say 'Sub' as it was huge!
we then collected our suitcase from our room & said "goodbye" to the Dream Castle.There was a queue to check out but they have an 'Express' check out box so we used that as we knew we had nothing more to pay.
Once again, we only waited seconds for the shuttle bus to take us back to marne la Valee station.
We deposited our case in a locker so as not to have to drag it around all day.There was a long line to buy tickets so DH decided to use the automated ticket machine which once we'd worked out how to use it, was very easy(you can select English version which helped!)
The train to Paris was waiting at the platform so we jumped straight on.
This is where the fun started as we hadn't researched at all & so had no idea where to get off!LOL!
All i knew from reading here on Dis was that it took approx 35mins by train to Paris!
Anyway, we picked a station within the 'Paris' zone & got off.The station was huge with so many exits we really went round in circles to get out!You can imagine, we spent lots of time laughing this trip!
Anyway, having finally found daylight we didnt know which way to walk so just guessed..Lucky i was with Dh as he chose which way & I'd have got it completely wrong!(my sence of direction is not too good!)
We walked down a long street for about 10 mins & suddenly came across 'Le Louvre & the pyramids'!!
Walked all around them & then strolled through the park towards 'Concorde' which was really romantic(or so i told my DH!)It was a very long walk but we really relaxed & enjojed it. we walked a little way along 'The Seine' towards 'Eiffel Tower' but decided we wouldn't walk all the way to it as it would have taken too long & we think it looks better from a distance anyway!
Walked back along a street which leads to 'Arch D'triomph'(sp!) which you can see from these pics!
It was 3pm so we'd been walking for 3.5 hours & were getting hungry so made our way back towards the train station we'd come from as we didnt want to get lost by using a different one. Not sure where to eat but ended up having a McDonalds & sitting in the sun by a fountain which was lovely but not something we'd normally eat!
Got the train back to Marne La Vallee & found that the England Rugby match was on the big screen at the Sports Bar in Disney Village so we sat & watched that,well DH did whilst i people watched really!
Had a final walk around the shops, bought a pressie for our little boy "Emile" the big fat rat from Ratatouille as he loves him!
We knew the Eurostar check in opened at 6pm so got our case & went to check in area about 5.45pm. What a difference to Ashford..No seats & felt like a cattle market. With such a big station you'd think they'd make it more comfortable for International passangers!
Boarded Eurostar at 7pm & departed on time at 7.35pm, another full train.
Arrived a little early to Ashford & after getting fuel we were on our way(Car park cost £34.50 for the 3 days..OUCH!!)
Back home to Bournemouth safely, 2 hours later(Yes my DH drives too fast!)
In conclusion, we had a wonderful trip, great weather & were very lucky with all our transport. The Dream Castle was excellent & I feel we had a great deal at £164 for the 2 nights through Opodo.
I LOVE everything 'Disney' but did find it was SO very expensive here now. The last time we went (New Year 03/04)it didnt seem quite so bad, possibly 'cos it was still 'Francs' then?
The parks are much nicer to walk around now as we hardly saw anyone smoking, unlike last trip, plus the CM's do seem to have more of that 'Disney' magic about them..Perhaps they've had lessons!
We are very fortunate to have been to WDW many times & for me The Magic Kingdom is one of my favourite places & DLP just isn't the same but that said , it was wonderful to see the faces of children having so much fun & for them wherever you do 'Disney' it's a magical experience but for us personally we prefer the 'American' way!
