Disneyland Paris and Paris Paris

Sooo... what is there to say? We went to Disneyland Paris-- it was nice, but Jana and I agreed that part of the Disney magic comes from the nice weather the theme park is supposed to get all year round, but in France you know that's not happening. Then again, the day we played at the park was the only day it didn't rain on our vacation, so I have to give Disneyland Paris points for trying. Even though it was cold.

Because it's so cold in Paris all the time, EuroDisney doesn't have rides like Splash Mountain or the Jungle Cruise. It does, however, have a rather good addition, which is Crush's Coaster-- a roller coaster that makes you feel like you're gliding along the EAC with Crush and Squirt from Finding Nemo.

On the night we arrived, I had my heart set on a pizza in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head (I saw it online, so I'm not THAT much of a freak), and seeing the movie Tangled (called Raiponce in French). We did not find Mickey Pizza-- alas, it seems that may have been discontinued and replaced with a big weiner-- seriously, they sold hotdogs EVERYWHERE, but that doesn't do me no good.

We ended up going to a restaurant called Cafe Mickey which was half empty (or half full for you optimists), and we got a table immediately with no reservation. But when Jana and I only ordered a brownie (Jana) and a bowl of soup (me), the waitress said in a haughty French accent (is there any other kind?) "Um... I don't think you can do that. I have to ask." Really? You can't serve me a cup of soup in a nearly empty restaurant in the off-season? Well, the waitress came back and told us her manager had said it was OK for us to eat-- thanks for your permission, Disney bitch.

We waited forever for our check, which never came, so Jana threw down some money and we left. It was only three days later when Jana realized she had given the woman English cash, which would have been a good joke had we done it on purpose. We had a good hearty laugh over it.

After dinner, we went to see Raiponce (Tangled is only shown on Saturdays), and despite it being in French, we understood quite a lot of it. The animation was brilliant, the songs were catchy, and there was a lot of physical humor, so Jana and I were well-entertained. We actually loved it so much, we ended up going a second time on our last day in Paris, and I've grown to love the French voices, especially Rapunzel's... not like that's very hard, seeing as Rapunzel is played by Mandy Moore in English and I'd rather not hear her whining-- I mean, singing.

EuroDisney is composed of two parks: Walt Disney Studios, and the Magic Kingdom. We conquered both easily in a day, with a long lunch in the middle, as well. We hit the Studios first and went on the Tower of Terror (my personal favorite), Aerosmith's Rockin' Rollercoaster, and a Disney animation show. In the Magic Kingdom, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean, which has not been altered to include Jack Sparrow like in Disney World (thank god), an Indiana Jones ride which is NOT very fun because it knocks your head around, the Haunted Mansion (in French), Pinocchio's Voyage, and Peter Pan's Flight.

We'd made lunch reservations especially for the Blue Lagoon, which is the restaurant that overlooks the Pirates of the Carbbean ride. I had wanted to eat there since last time I went to Disneyland Paris, and I couldn't then because the person I was with didn't want to spend any money. But this time, at long last, two years later (who knew I'd ever be back?), I finally got to eat there. It was SO COOL! You seriously get to watch as people go by on the ride, and not only are you right next to the water, but the whole place is piratey. The atmosphere is dark and lit by big flickering lanterns, pirate music plays in the background, and it's just the most awesome thing ever.

The food was-- eh-- but most Disney food is. I had a lobster that was probably just a little too chewy to be properly cooked. But the dessert "Folie de Banane" was fantastic. As the name suggests, it was all banana-related-- I had a mini banana milkshake (about 2 sips really), a small banana cooked in a chocolate box (that's the only way I know how to describe it), and a mini carmelized upside-down cake with banana flavor mmmmm mmh.

After lunch, we rode Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast (at Jana's persistent request), watched a stage show, then went back to Walt Disney Studios for Crush's Coaster and a Cinemagique show. We were able to do so much simply because it was the off season-- the longest wait was for Crush's Coaster, which doesn't have a fastpass, and it was still only 40mins. All the other rides we either hopped right on, or waited for 10min at most.

The Disney Village, which is the equivalent of Downtown Disney in Florida, except MUCH smaller, was our nighttime haunt since the park closed at 6PM (seriously! Those Europeans and their early closing hours). It is mostly made up of themed restaurants and some Disney shops, all in a strip that is not very long. Since we'd already explored the Disney Village (where Cafe Mickey and the cinema are located), we just browsed the shops a bit, bought a couple of crepes and went back to our hotel.

The next day, we woke up early for downtown Paris. Jana and I bought all-day metro passes and enjoyed another day packed with tourism. We got a little lost at first, but found our way to Notre Dame. From there, we found the Louvre, which was unfortunately closed that day to the public. I had already been once before, so I wasn't too bothered by it, but Jana was really bummed. She will be going back in April though, so we sucked it up, took our pictures of the pyramid, and went on our merry way down the Champs-Elysee. Of course, there were several touristy booths selling all sorts of gaudy Parisian crap, and Jana had to look at all of it. Between the two of us we basically bought out the streetside bakeries, munching on our pain au chocolats, baguettes, cheesy crepes, and beignets.

We oggled at the Arc de Triomphe, but not before stopping at the Disney Store (really, Jana?), then we took the metro to Montmartre where we explored the Sacre Coeur cathedral, where you can see the white statue street performers, zigzag up and down cobblestone roads, and look at more gaudy Parisian crap (Jana).

There was this AMAZING candy store though, where everything was wrapped in paper or closed up in pastel cans with intricate pictures on them, boxes full of macaroons and chocolate olives (not chocolate-covered olives, that would be nasty), and individually-wrapped bonbons... that place was a lot of Paris heaven, and I just had to buy myself a square of fresh nougat! Mmmmh!

We passed by my favorite part of Montmartre, the artists' square, where local painters set up their easels all over the road and you can just walk by and observe, get yourself sketched, or buy something already made.

We took a quick detour to the Moulin Rouge, snapped our pictures (not much else to do there), then took the metro to the Opera Garnier, where Jana insisted it would be easy to break into Box Five. Once we paid our admission fee, we explored the grand staircase and "ooh"ed and "ah"ed at the marvellous architecture. We found Box Five all right, but it was locked, and not easy to break into. Jana thought we should hop the roped-off stairwell and take a detour to the basement, where there is supposedly an underground lake where a fire-headed ratcatcher and Erik the Phantom used to live. She was satisfied just playing with the elevator though, which didn't take her anywhere.

Finally, our last stop of the day, was the Eiffel Tower. I told Jana how overrated it is.... and it is... I didn't bug her too much about it though because when you're in Paris I guess it's something you just have to see... And as soon as we got there, we were bombarded by street venders with tacky keychains and models of the Eiffel Tower. They came at you all at once, and attacked you with Egyptian-esque cries of "Five euro! Just five euro! One euro! One euro! Five for one euro!", and if Jana and I hadn't been used to this aggressive behavior from previous journeys, we may have ended up buying something.

Oh wait, Jana actually did.

Yep, five tacky Eiffel Tower keychains for one euro.

Le sigh.

Anyway, we had a good day altogether-- and since the Eiffel Tower was our last stop, we got to see it light up when the sun went down. It was a very beautiful sight.

We had a very smooth journey with no unforseen problems at all-- it was a perfect little vacation, half of it being my birthday present from Jana (the Disney tickets) and half of it being my birthday present to Jana (the plane tickets).

And, when we got home, Stefani's CD had finally arrived! Yippee-hooray!

Not long until the next term starts, now... that is Monday... when I have to start working again... but I still have the zoo to look forward to tomorrow (if the plan is still on), and the Nutcracker ballet on Sunday!

Vacation is not over yet!