Disneyland Paris:
The two things I learned today: Never doubt the power of Disney, and Disneyland Paris is Disneyland, but the intense version.
Never doubt Disney:
The day didn’t start off so well. First, Sara was late – not really her fault but a miscalculation of travel time (And Sara’s always late…). However, I without a phone was kind of freaking out.
Then, we got to the park. It was drizzly and it was windy – it was FREEZING. We got our tickets and entered. I didn’t mind the weather…then we got to Space Mountain, and it was closed due to weather. I thought, “Weather? Really?” (Turns out there’s 5 seconds – not even – of the ride outside that could have been affected by wind). We thought – Thunder Mountain will certainly be closed then, and it was. We went to Indiana Jones, but we then discovered in Paris it’s an outdoor rollercoaster. We went to Pirates of the Caribbean and had to wait a really long time due to a technical problem. Finally, we went to lunch tired and disappointed. A lot of people had questioned me before the trip – “You’re going to Paris – why would you spend one day in Disneyland?” and I started wondering the same thing. We went to the front to ask for our money back – or some form of compensation. She could only offer us a ticket to come back another day, but then she said in the other park all the rides were open, and we could get in even without a park hopper pass. So we headed to Walt Disney Studios – a sort of mix between California Adventure and MGM Studios.
I immediately cheered up when I discovered what I hadn’t seen on the website - They had Rockin’ Rollerocaster, a ride in Disney World, which I’d loved and always wanted them to add to California Adventure.
Starting to cheer up, after our first real ride.
We went to two shows, which were cute and an interesting mix of French and English (Under the Sea in French, Donald Duck spoke English, Mickey Mouse spoke French). And then, when we had done all there was to do in that park, the wind had stopped. We went back to Disneyland where all the rides had re-opened. So, in the end, it was actually advantageous – we got into both parks, and there were no real crowds. I was ashamed I’d ever lost faith in Mickey and the magic of Disney.
Plus, it had cool things like this lying around. What's not to love?
Intense Disneyland:
Most of the park was the same – same rides, at least – but they all had a little European twist, and many were far more intense. A new ride, Crush’s rollercoaster – from Nemo – started off like a Fantasyland ride with cute scenes and characters, then halfway turned into a rather insane rollercoaster in which, most of the time, Sara and I faced backwards – a sort of fun, sort of unpleasant experiences. More examples: Space Mountain had loops (I was scared of it enough when I was a little kid!), Thunder Mountain – when you went inside “caves” it was PITCH black. Pirates of the Caribbean was actually really cool and was basically the original Pirates before political correctness and Johnny Depp. It also had a rather steep drop. The most interesting was Haunted Mansion. It was actually CREEPY. I would not take small children on the ride. There was no narration, and in the graveyard the skeletons were grotesque and rather frightening. I was impressed, because I actually got the chills. And the “hitchhiker” at the end was a floating head, not a happy fat ghost.
The awesome piratey outside to Pirates.
Indiana Jones, the outdoor version.
So, my report: I still love the original Disneyland best, but it was a fun experience, worth the visit.
-Monday-
There’s a Scottish guy in my hostel who told me I looked Scottish. We then were talking about weather, and how it looked like I could handle the cold because of my genes. I think I consider that a compliment.
I went to the Museé de Cluny, a museum of medieval stuff, in the morning. Along the way, I heard a sort of hiss, which I later realized was a “Psst!” I looked toward the direction of the sound, and a guy was standing in a balcony. He waved to me. I thought it an amusing, and slightly classier way of hitting someone (which happens often in Paris…reminds me of L.A.).
The museum was nice. I asked in French if there was a student ticket and for once, the woman answered in French, but then I overestimated my ability to understand French and had no idea what she said. She just laughed, at least. A friendly Parisian!
Part of the building was the original, and part was renovated.
Heads of kings from the Notre Dame, chopped off by revolutionary fanatics.
Narwhal? No, definitely a unicorn horn!
Outside the museum was a bookstore, so I got myself my French Harry Potter. I wanted a baguette for lunch, but, when, in the morning, I could see bakeries everywhere, now I could find none. I did find a small fruit corner shop and got some amazing grapes to tide me over.
I walked past a protest of the “sans-papiers” (illegal immigrants) on my walk. Finally, after an hour of looking, I found a bakery and ordered myself a demi-baguette. Mmmm, it was so amazing!
I continued my walk to Invalides, a military museum and home of Napoleon’s tomb but, just my luck, it was closed the first Monday of every month. I was foiled then, but I still plan on paying homage to Napoleon.
From there I arrived at the Champ de Mars and the Eiffel Tower. What a feeling.
I walked up the stairs to the second level, then took the elevator the summit.
However, I did not get to fully enjoy it, because the line took far longer than expected, and I was late to meet Meghan. With a quick glance around, I headed back down, and as much as it is possible to sprint, I sprinted down the steps. I was far too late, though, and Meghan had gone back to the computer lab to see if I had sent her a message. I was absolutely freaking out, because my phone doesn’t work outside Denmark, and I had no idea what to do. Luckily, I found an extremely, extremely nice French family who let me use their phone. I offered to pay, but the man declined, and I am eternally grateful to that man who trusted a complete stranger with his nice Smartphone. I think I must have looked fairly desperate.
So, in the end, I did find Meghan, and I felt much better when we stopped at a bakery, and I had a delicious tart/cakey thing with raspberries.
Meghan's attempt to show that there was actually an Eiffel Tower behind me turned out rather artsy.
We decided to take a cruise on the Seine, which ended up being not that great, with more information about the bridges more than anything else, but it was still nice. I like boats.
For dinner, I had an egg, ham, and cheese crepe. Besides being delicious, the girl who took my order was really nice. She switched to English once, to ask if I wanted it “take away”, but then she went back to French. I appreciated that.
I was so exhausted by all my walking that I ended up going to sleep at 10:15, and only because I forced myself to stay up that late.
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