July 23, 2015 London to Paris
Catherine got to spend another day in London before catching the chunnel to France and Disneyland. She took the night bus to get there.
On the bright side, she found the guy that sold her her phone case and he replaced it for free. On the down side, the luggage storage was super expensive.
She saw Kings cross station and Piccadilly Circus again. Then spent some time in the British museum.
Poor kid. She was all excited about the chunnel before she left home. But was so tired she slept through the whole thing.
Kings cross station
July 24, 2015 Disneyland Paris
What a way to end a spectacular trip--with some days in the most magical of all places. Her hostel is nicer than the one in Scotland as well. Basic. But with the French idea of a basic breakfast. Other hostel breakfasts are white bread one can toast, strawberry jam and cornflakes. Hard boiled eggs if you are lucky. In France, 4 kinds of bread including baguette, lemon cake, fruit, fruit cocktail, 3 kinds of jam, honey cheese and cornflakes.
Her hostel is very centrally located so the train to Disneyland takes about an hour. But she gets to walk past the Arc d'triumph to get to the station.
In Paris, Phantom Manor is a much darker ride than the Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder is faster, but the Indiana Jones ride is just a roller coaster around the temple of doom.
In Small World, Ariel is NOT wearing seashells (not a problem, they're all children). Space Mountain is the best by far. The ride goes upside down and through an asteroid field. The graphics are amazing and you can't see the coaster track at all.
In Star Tours, it was the old ride. The Droid spoke French while everyone else spoke English.
They don't sell ear hats!! Just headbands.
Food prices, as in America are distinctly non-magical. And the nutella bread is no longer Mickey Shaped but the pizza is.
Since we had the day off today we had a good long Skype session and she took us on a tour of Alice's Curious Labyrinth.
Then she walked us all around the park, and through some of the shops. The castle looks amazing with waterfalls. It wasn't crazy crowded, and we could hear the happy Disney music all around. I'm glad Disneyland is one of her favorite places too.
July 25, 2015 Disneyland Paris
One nice thing about all places Disney--you spend a lot of time standing in line, which means you can text your parents what you're doing.
Catherine meant to get up early and go to a magic morning, but her body had other plans. Then, the direct train has gone off line for repairs, which means she now has to take three trains to get there. She is nothing, if not determined. It sounds as though she had loads of fun.
Rock 'n roller coaster
A cars ride
Disney Jr. in French---she said is was fantastic. She should know, having seen the American version literally a thousand times.
Armageddon special effects show.
Magic of Disney Animation.
Darn Good Tigger I think!
Crush's coaster---Totally righteous Dude!
Aladdin's carpets
Slinkys Coaster
A drawing class
Tower of Terror
Somewhere along the line there was a shrieking four year old.
Ratatouille
Speculation as to whether this building, which is part of the entrance is actually the Disneyland hotel? Naturally, we checked the prices of this hotel before she left. After reviving from our faint--she booked a hostel.
Saw a baby duck. And did some souvenir shopping with an eye towards getting us something. Good idea.
Thought she was going on Swiss Family Robinson Tree house, but ended up on Pirate Island.
Long line for Peter. naturally.
To end the day, she drew on her skills as a former cast member and got from the train station to a prime firework viewing spot 10 minutes before the show.
Glad she's safely at her hostel--there would be at least a small walk between any train or bus station and her day didn't end till about 1:00 a.m.
July 26, 2015 Plain Paris
Catherine took a break from Disney to play at the Louvre today. She's become an expert traveler. There was a huge line at the Louvre--over an hour wait, so she just went to the other entrance (by the lions) and walked right in. She spent time with the Italian Renaissance paintings. Then went to see if Francois the hippo was back from his trip to Madrid. Not yet. So she bought one for herself.
She had some plans for visiting the Shakespeare book shop, but it was wet and cold. So she took a nap and then got up to see the Tour de France ride by. One the first attempt she only got a picture of the crowd, but on the second attempt she managed to get some bikes.
July 27, 2015 Disneyland Paris
Back at Disney today. It wasn't the park's day. Everything breaking down and big lines because of it. I tried to brag to Catherine that my friend had brought me a brie cheese puff. She replied that she had goat cheese and a sun-dried tomato on a baguette. You just can't beat the French when it comes to food.
Being my daughter, naturally she rode everything anyway.
Ratittoule
RC racers twice
Back to drawing class--goofy this time (upload phone pic)
The train
Hanging out with Merida
Some pin trading
phantom manor
Happily for Catherine, there is an Earl of Sandwich here. She says she "may" have eaten here every day.
Annd---stuff is still breaking down.
But buying a baymax pin eased a lot of grief.
Snow White
Story book canal boats
Texting me to buy her a Chef Duffy--me saying, "no."
Then it was time for ribs.
Oh no! Rib restaurant only open for lunch!
Phew---back up restaurant found.
Park open till midnight, but she left around 10 to be able to get back to the hostel before the trains shut down.
July 28, 2015 Disneyland Paris
Slept in until 10:00. Good girl! I'm worried about her. She looks exhausted and she's not slowing down.
At Disney again today. Today the rides were working, but it was super crowded. Maybe the Tour de France people were there? It isn't a holiday. But she saw Elsa, and went to the Frozen sing-a-long in French. It was a chilly day (really) and Elsa was making it snow.
She also continued her quest to find a watch for Dave. Here's the winning watch--but it's sold out everywhere.
She ran (literally) into Jack Sparrow. And while she was waiting in the Pirates line, the whole line sang Happy Birthday to a lady turning 90.
The best part of the day---for me, was when she skyped me during my lunch. It just felt so good to chat with her.
The park continued busy. Even the ice-cream had a 20 minute wait.
Apparently, Europeans are a whole lot less line-oriented in America and will cut in line freely. Agree with Catherine, little kids running to the front to get a better view is one thing. Adults running to join them is quite another.
She rode Big Thunder and Peter Pan too. Overall, it sounds as though it was a mellow day. She says the park is small enough that she feels that she has really seen it, so instead of going headlong into battle with the crowds, she stepped back, took pictures with her fancy camera, explored the shops (not nearly the variety of stuff as in America), and didn't worry too much.
July 29, 2015 Paris
Last full day abroad. Where better to spend it than Disneyland Paris?
She rode Crush Coaster!, then the riverboat, then Pirates--where she heard a piratey edition of "Who's on the Lord's side, who?"
The bet part of the day was between 3:15 and 4:15. On the riverboat she found two tickets that are given to people when their park passes get demagnetized. These are fast passes, but since they didn't scan well, she kept getting more fast passes. She wound up with 2 Big thunder passes, space mtn, star tours, Peter and Buzz. If anyone would use those passes well, she's the one.
It's a good thing the trip is almost over. She's down to her last 5 pins.
July 30, 2015 Paris/Airport
She spent her last morning at Disneyland, riding Dumbo and Peter, crush Animagique and Ratatouille. For lunch she could have had a Darth Vader Burger with a black bun, but opted for the Jedi burger instead.
Last of all was Phantom Manor to finish.
On the train, a middle age middle eastern guy was pushy about getting her phone number. She finally just gave him our old number from Iowa to get rid of him.
At the airport she was hoping that she wouldn't have to pay 60 Euros to check in her roller bag that is always fine as a carry-in. She didn't. She had to pay 100. The plane was delayed because of repairs, that were still going on even after she boarded. The plane began to taxi at 12:00 noon our time. I can't wait to hear that she landed in NYC.
July 31, 2015 HOME!!
Not much sleep on the airplane. She got to NYC around 8 at night. The global traveler's card came in handy, she zipped through customs in 3 minutes. The expensive bag she checked in didn't zip nearly so nicely, but she got it at last. Got on the subway and took a long ride to her hostel. Well, almost to her hostel. Through out this whole trip, this night was the only night I felt uneasy about her safety. I'm glad I didn't know this. The train that would have taken her all the way to her hostel was out of service, so she had to take the next best thing which didn't drop her off at all close, so there she was all alone in the middle of the night with all of her stuff walking in a sketchy area of Manhattan. A guy started following her just as she got to her hostel. I'm glad I didn't know about this until after the fact when she was safe.
Up at a fairly reasonable hour, American time. She got herself a big bagel from Zuckers--THE place to get a real NYC bagel.
and went to the library.
She also saw Build a Bear again and spent a little time at Central Park, but wisely went to the airport early. Or tried to. The trains were having serious delays, so she opted for the Airport Express bus. That got her there. Once there, the plane itself had delays. Not clear what, exactly was broken, but at least something on the inside. A little unnerving to have the plane being openly fixed as one is boarding it.
But, ok. Safely to Dallas. Where the plane was also delayed. No idea why. The skies were clear. This was unfortunate as the SLC arrival was already due to be sufficiently late at 11:52 p.m. Dave and I went to a late movie and went bleary-eyed to the airport. Plane indeed late, but not as late as we feared. Totally breaking with protocol, Catherine was one of the FIRST off the plane! But this was made up for by the baggage taking forever. We didn't get out of the airport till 2:00 a.m. We figured we'd zip right home on empty roads. No. There was a traffic jam on I-15!! We got home at 3:00 a.m, so all of us are out of whack sleep-wise today. But what an adventure! And SO glad to have her home again!!
