London/Paris June 2017 - Trip Report-FInally finished 11/5 - Including Disney Paris

Great trip report! Can't wait for your next installment. My husband and I are taking this trip in September (adults only) with a 3-night DLP add-on, so this is really helping me to know what to expect and easing my nervousness about out first trip abroad.
 
My Husband and I are also really enjoying reading these reports. He was a little skeptical about this choice of countries for our first ABD as he has been hearing go to Italy. But as the saying goes Happy wife happy life. So our trip begins this September for the Adults Only trek as well. We fly in two days early so that I could do everything Shakespeare since that's not on the itinerary. And then are running the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon after. Yeah I'm gunna be hurting after all this.
 
My Husband and I are also really enjoying reading these reports. He was a little skeptical about this choice of countries for our first ABD as he has been hearing go to Italy. But as the saying goes Happy wife happy life. So our trip begins this September for the Adults Only trek as well. We fly in two days early so that I could do everything Shakespeare since that's not on the itinerary. And then are running the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon after. Yeah I'm gunna be hurting after all this.

This will be our 3rd ABD (we've done Alaska and Backstage Magic). We'll arrive a day early and haven't made any definite plans yet, just hope to poke around and get the lay of the land. I thought about doing the DLP 5K, but I think I'd rather not abandon DH since we'll be there such a short time.
 
Day 6 (Le Marais)



Today was a great day on the trip for several reasons. First off, we did not have to meet until 9:30. The extra time in the morning was much appreciated. We were also a little tired of breakfast buffets so DH and I headed out to the Starbucks next door while we let the kids have even more sleep. Starbucks was also greatly appreciated after a week of the hotel espresso machine. I was disappointed that this location did not have the Starbucks Paris mug that I was looking to add to my collection – the hunt would need to continue.


The group met up in the lobby at 9:30, and we actually stood around for a while waiting for the three guides who would be joining us for our walking tour. Adam had a special treat for each family – a freshly baked baguette. We ended up loading onto the coach and heading out. It was a Saturday morning so we did not have any traffic issues. We got off the bus in Le Marais district which was full of shops of all kinds and lots of people out doing their weekend shopping and enjoying the beautiful day. The food tour was a brand-new activity for this trip and since this was one of the first departures of the year, it was the first time doing this activity for Frankie and Adam. We met in a lovely courtyard and were divided into three groups. Frankie, Adam, and Cecile (our local guide) each went with a group and each group was led by a local guide who specialized in this tour.


The plan of attack for the morning was walking through the district with stops at three different shops (the groups all went to the same shops but in a different order) where we would meet with the shopkeepers and sample their products. We would end up at Le Marche des Enfants Rouges for one final shop and tasting and then a small bit of free time to explore all the stalls of the market. As we walked through Le Marais there were so many amazing looking food shops. I could have spent all day here.

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My family loves food so we were all fired up for this day. Our first stop was an olive oil shop where we tasted several different oils and a few spreads (one olive, one eggplant on baguettes). At all of our stops, we had the opportunity to make purchases. Here I purchased a three pack of flavored olive oils (in tins which was much better for packing). Next up was a chocolate shop. This one had bins and bins of chocolates that were sold by the weight in mix and match bags. It was overwhelming. I can’t even remember what we tasted here. I just remember filling bags with chocolates and caramels and buying the cutest little jar of caramel with an attached spoon.

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I figured we would be running late due to all the chocolate purchases being made, but we arrived at our next stop before the other adventurers were finished. We filled the time waiting outside staring at the éclair shop and taking crazy group photos. We finally were able to walk into the most amazing chocolate shop. This one was much more “boutique-y” with a chocolate fountain on the wall and all the little chocolate truffles in a case. After an overview of this shop’s chocolate making process, we sampled various “darknesses” of chocolate to get a sense of the differences. Then we were allowed to pick one truffle from the case each.

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We left this shop and headed through the neighborhood passing tons of cute shops with stops in two different gardens for pictures. We arrived at Le Marche des Enfants Rouges and our guide gave us a brief overview of the market. Think of a smaller version of a Pike’s Place market or a permanent farmer’s market. The displays of all of the different shops were just picture perfect: flowers, fresh fruit, vegetables, a fish market, a cheese market and several different stands with take-away foods. Our group went over to the cheese stall where we sampled three different cheeses along with a nice white wine (apple juice for kids and those that did not want to have wine). Again, there was plenty to eat for those us that wanted to keep sampling. We then had about twenty minutes to explore on our own. A few of our group purchased lunch items, but we were too full from all of the sampling. I just wandered the market taking in all of the sights. I love a good farmer’s market and was in heaven for this. If you couldn’t tell, this was probably my favorite activity of the tour. Not just sampling all the food but getting to walk through a neighborhood on the weekend and sample a bit of local life. At the closing dinner, this morning was named by several of us as our favorite thing.

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Day 6 (Le Marias) continued

More pictures from Le Marche des Enfants Rouges

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We boarded the bus again at about 1:00 and were told that we had the rest of the day and night free. The bus would be making a stop along the Champs Elysee near L’Arc de Triomphe for those that wanted to see hop off before returning to the hotel. The guides were happy to give lots of suggestions of things to do. This was a nice big block of time so it is your best opportunity to do things not on the itinerary. We heard of others booking evening bike tours and visits to museums. We hopped off the coach and walked over (actually under the road and back up) to L’Arc. We just walked around it and took photos rather than waiting in line to climb to the top. It was too hot for us and the line was too long. We then headed along the Champs Elysee with the goal to stop in at the Disney Store to see if they had any Paris specific merchandise (they had a couple of things, but no Paris specific TsumTsums) and find a place for a crepe. We picked up a few things at the Disney Store including a Stitch with its eyes closed (which according to my son, he had never seen anywhere else and which he ultimately forgot at DLP when we had our early wake up call) and a couple of t-shirts. We found a café and ordered a couple of desserts and Oranginas. It was nothing special as I barely remember it and was not the super tasty crepe from a street vendor that I had been hoping for. Frankie had recommended a place near Place de la Concorde, but we saw that it was closed as we drove by.

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We caught a cab back and had a good several hours of rest before our evening plans. We just hung out in the room – kids rested, napped, watched NetFlix and I did a bit of work and tried to stay awake. That night we were meeting a friend and former co-worker of mine who lives in Paris for dinner. We had not seen each other in a few years and it had been many years since she last saw the kids so it was something we all had been looking forward to. She had made reservations at 7pm (although she said that we did not need them at 7 because no one in Paris eats that early, and she was right) at a restaurant called Le Mini Palais at the Grand Palais. The Grand Palais is a grand building that hosts rotating art exhibits. Le Mini Palais is basically its “museum restaurant.” A large part of the restaurant is a lush patio on the Grand Palais’s side facing the boulevards. It was an elegant but not stuffy restaurant. My son was perfectly fine wearing nice shorts and a polo. As the evening wore on and the restaurant filled up, we saw all types of dress ranging up to fairly fancy dresses down to what we wore which I would classify as resort casual. It was such a lovely evening – we spent our time catching up and ordered several courses and even digestifs to stretch out our time together. My friend insisted that my son who had been studying French for all of one year order our drinks and made the waiter keep coming back until he was ready. She wouldn’t let him get out of it with shyness. The staff was very attentive and the food very good (not Michelin starred, but certainly what I would expect of a very nice restaurant). Everyone enjoyed their entrees including my daughter and her salmon and my son with his beef tartare. Dessert was also great – I can’t remember what I had, but I did not share.

The Grand Palais from outside - this is the main entrance not the restaurant entrance:

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Seated at our table in Le Mini Palais - this was the outdoor covered patio. It was an incredible place to dine on a warm summer evening.
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Fish entree, beef tartare, and the fraise des boise dessert (which our friend said are only available for a short time each summer)

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After dinner, we walked with K back in the direction of the Hilton through a park and past the US Embassy enjoying the sites at sunset at 10pm. Oddly, when we left the Hilton to take a cab to dinner the doorman had to go through several cabs to find one that would take us since we were a group of four. “K” made sure we found a cab to take us back although at this point we were really close to the hotel and we could have walked but it was now past 10:30 and she insisted. Exhausted but what a great day!place de la concorde.jpg
 
Hilary - you are getting me so excited for our September trip! We too have friends who live in Paris and now I know when we can tell them we're free to get together. Thanks so much for your detailed report and great photos!
 
Thank you - glad you are enjoying it. Yes, food tour day is a great chance to do your own thing, however sometimes things get switched around due to expected crowd levels etc. My advice would be to make your tentative plans and then on the first day when you meet the guides check in with them to confirm the schedule. Just let them know you are planning something in your free time and they will be great about helping. It worked out really well for us that the day with the big block of time was a Saturday - yours may not fall on Saturday since this trip has several different start days during the week.
 


Oh, my! This *does* sound like an excellent day! I wish the food tour had been a part of our trip! :)

Sayhello
 
Thank you - glad you are enjoying it. Yes, food tour day is a great chance to do your own thing, however sometimes things get switched around due to expected crowd levels etc. My advice would be to make your tentative plans and then on the first day when you meet the guides check in with them to confirm the schedule. Just let them know you are planning something in your free time and they will be great about helping. It worked out really well for us that the day with the big block of time was a Saturday - yours may not fall on Saturday since this trip has several different start days during the week.

Great advice. I've told our friends that we will confirm once we've checked on the itinerary with our guides. I hope we'll have a nice chunk of time like you did to meet up with them!
 
This is a tour I really have wanted to do...now it has made my ABD bucket list!! Cant wait to hear the rest.
 
Day 7 (Notre Dame and the Louvre)

Today was the last full day of our adventure and while we were excited for the things we would get to see, there was definitely a bit of sadness that the amazing time with our guides and fellow adventurers was coming to an end. We had a slightly later start again today which was great as we were all tiring out. The drive from our hotel to Notre Dame took longer, and was a lot more complicated than normal, due to a 10k running race through the center of the city. The bus ended up letting us off a little ways away from Notre Dame and we all walked across a bridge towards the cathedral. The guides gave us an overview of the area and Cecile our local guide told us a few facts about the cathedral and the architecture of it. We were free to wait in line to go into the cathedral, wait to go with the guides into the towers, or wander the square on our own. We were given a couple hours (I think) to explore and then go get lunch on our own before meeting up again.

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Probably about half of our group decided to do the climb to the bell towers. Here we were able to experience some of the ABD line cutting magic. Frankie and Adam took us into a shorter line to begin our climb. I was very nervous about this as I hate steep staircases and especially spiral staircases. I kept myself to the back of the group and took my time. Knowing that I would have two different points where I could check out the view and then bail out helped too. Frankie is such a sweetheart that he hung back and made sure that I made it all the way to the top. A big plus was that I was able to get tips from him on all the cool picture spots. I am really glad that I did the climb and going up was not as bad as I thought it would be. Coming down was more of a constant spiral and I did get a bit dizzy but I just took my time.

View from the top:view from Notre Dame.jpg

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Frankie brought props for pictures:
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My family and a few others and Frankie and Adam got into the line to enter the Cathedral. It moved really quickly. We knew this was going to be the hottest temperature day of the trip and I was worried about whether it would be appropriate to wear shorts today because of the Cathedral (and it was a Sunday), but the guides assured me that it was completely fine and it was. Because it was a Sunday, we were able to hear a portion of a service and it just happened to be the one in English. Very beautiful and moving.

My family then headed across the river into a shopping district that had many tourist shops and restaurants. We hit up Shakespeare’s Bookstore where we all got a book and where my son (following Frankie and Adam’s warnings) was able to thwart a pick-pocket! We had lunch at a small café nearby where I think half of our group ended up. We still had a bit of time left so DH and DD headed back to an ice cream stand by the Cathedral while my son and I headed off in search of my Starbucks souvenir mug. Both of the locations near the hotel were sold out, but I was able to walk about three blocks away from this main tourist area and find a Starbucks that had plenty of them. Here is a picture since I know we have a few collectors on this board.
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Our group met up and slowly made our way to the water taxi stop which would take us to the Louvre. We had been a little slow to gather so the taxi we had intended to take was pulling away as we got there. We ended up having a 15 or 20 minute wait for the next one. I am not sure if this ended up eating into our time at the Louvre, but it did make it seem like we had a lot of waiting around time. As I mentioned, it was really hot this day and the water taxi was not the most pleasant ride because we were all out in the sun or in the glassed in viewing area. This was not a private water taxi it was the regular taxi and was filled with other tourists – there were plenty of seats though. Our group disembarked at the Louvre stop. We all stopped in the large courtyard taking lots of group and family photos of the pyramid.

The whole process of getting into the Louvre and getting organized seemed to not be the most time efficient. Once we were inside in the large shopping area just outside the museum entrance we paused for a 15 minute bathroom/snack break before breaking into our smaller groups. I think we broke into two groups of adults and then the kids went off with the guides. We went through security and then paused again so that people could check large bags Once we finally started our tour we learned that we would only spend about an hour and 15 minutes touring the Louvre. I knew that this tour was a “just the highlights” tour, but I was shocked that it was this short. Definitely keep this in mind if exploring the Louvre is high on your list of must-do’s. The free time on the afternoon of the previous day would be a great time to do a more thorough exploration. For me, it is just a reason to plan another visit. Our guide did a very good job of taking us through the crowds to see some of the most famous pieces in the museum and gave a bit of an art history lesson about them. I loved my art history class in high school, so it was painful to just walk past so many other beautiful pieces that I recognized. I hung back/wandered off a bit so that I could see a bit more, but made sure to always stay within ear/eye shot of the group so that I did not get separated.

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The kids saw basically all the same pieces of artwork that we did but did it in scavenger hunt format. They must have gone at warp speed because they were done before us and the guides took them all to Starbucks for treats. They had a great time and even learned something – when we did the backlot tour at DLP there was a prop area with lots of replica statues. My son excitedly pointed out one of them and said “look Lauren there is the “ ……” statue that we saw at the Louvre. Of course, getting to go to Starbucks with the crazy uncles was a big memory too.

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Everyone was exhausted from this busy day but we only had a short amount of time until our farewell dinner (I think it was about an hour).

Our farewell dinner was being held at a Lauduree outpost that was closed for the evening. We had the whole place to ourselves and we did get an opportunity to do a little shopping before dinner. As we entered we were given a champagne cocktail and a few appetizers to nibble. Seating was divided up into tables of various sizes and was not assigned. Many of the kids sat together and we sat with some of our new friends. This was another meal that we had ordered on the first day so I had completely forgotten what I had picked out. Everyone seemed very happy with their selections. This farewell dinner followed the typical formula and included all the regular “surprises” and everyone sharing their favorite memories from the trip. The bond that the kids shared with Adam and Frankie really came through as they all presented a special rap ala Hamilton that the kids prepared together with the guides. As compared to our other two trips, this one had more time where the kids went of the guides and the kids all adored them. This was also the most emotional farewell dinner – my daughter was in tears and I think one of our guides was close to it.

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The kids all brought their "mascots" to join with Teddy.
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We headed back to the hotel and many of us lingered around the lobby chatting with each other and the guides. Finally I could not avoid the fact that we needed to go pack as we still had our two post days to come.
 
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I've been looking forward to your next installment, Hilary, because we leave for our trip two weeks from today!!

Day 7 (Notre Dame and the Louvre)
...I headed off in search of my Starbucks souvenir mug. Both of the locations near the hotel were sold out, but I was able to walk about three blocks away from this main tourist area and find a Starbucks that had plenty of them. Here is a picture since I know we have a few collectors on this board.

I collect the Starbucks mugs, too. I hope I'll be able to find them in London and Paris (but you didn't insert the photo).

... we needed to go pack as we still had our two post days to come.

We're doing 3 post-trip days at DLP, so I'll be extra interested in reading your next installment!

Kathy
 
I've been looking forward to your next installment, Hilary, because we leave for our trip two weeks from today!!



I collect the Starbucks mugs, too. I hope I'll be able to find them in London and Paris (but you didn't insert the photo).



We're doing 3 post-trip days at DLP, so I'll be extra interested in reading your next installment!

Kathy

Thanks Kathy.

Oops. Here is the photo. I really like both of these mugs. Love how they are adding more color.

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I am going to do my very best to do the next (last) installment this weekend.
 
I loved that farewell dinner. It is still one of my all time favorites! Thanks for bringing back the memories.
 
Two Qs: did you tour the Sacre Coeur? And was The EifFel tower tour Behind the Scenes?
I did the Sacre Coeur during our OYO time in Paris. It was very easy to get to on the Metro. The Guides gave me a map and instructions, and the only real issue I had getting there was figuring out how to use the kiosk to purchase a Metro ticket on a machine that was all in French! :) It's a beautiful Basilica, and the views of Paris from up there are spectacular.

Sayhello
 

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