Remy, Marie, and Me - DLP PTR June 2018 - TR Link up!

I have been lurking on your reports for a while. I hope you are having a great trip. Your scrap book looks a lot like my pictures from 1993. I have the same angle in the Mont St Michel courtyard, except it was raining in mine. I would love to get back to Normandy someday..... and actually get to see DLP. Safe Travels
 
So, I'm back! Whew, that was a long trip! I think I've decided 3 weeks is too long for a "vacation" for me. Also, while I loved the design of Disneyland Paris with all the details and everything, the majority of the guests were just horrible. Like seriously awful. I had been toying with the idea of cancelling my upcoming cruise to do an Asian trip and see all parks around the world within 12 months, but I don't think I could deal with the Chinese guests this soon after the Europeans!

I'm downloading photos now, but it's looking like I have several thousand, so that may take a while! Then gotta get going on this trip report, so it'll be coming, soon enough!
 


6/20 - Some quick tips

So, it may take a little bit longer than I expected to get the full TR going! I took over 8,500 photos! Yeah... I have issues with the shutter button! I mean a bunch are duplicates (like take 3 shots at once because one will turn out), but still, it's a lot to go through! AND THEN, I have everyone else's photos to check - between 6 adults we had 9 cameras (2 point and shoot - parents, 5 phones - everyone except mom, 2 fancy cameras - Joey and Anthony). I set up an Amazon Prime Photos Family Vault, so we can all upload and share them. Most of the photos I post will be my own, but sometimes we would have just one person take a photo rather than everyone take one... Plus, I have to get caught up on work, personal life (ha, I don't have a personal life), and complete my other TR, plus figure out some planning for other upcoming WDW trips.

Anyways, in the meantime, I thought I'd post a quick recap of our trip with some basic tips/things I learned:

Family Trip:
Accommodations: As a family we did Airbnbs and loved it! Gave us all bedrooms plus a place to gather. We picked only recognized users with plenty of good reviews and limited cancellations, so didn't have any issues that way. Mom and Dad, and then I, stayed at the Sheraton CDG before our departure flights. I would highly highly recommend that. It is a lovely hotel and so convenient (within Terminal 2). It is a bit pricey, but really, for that convenience, so worth it!

Restaurants: We did most of our meals out and had some great experiences. The only bad meals were really at a couple tourist traps by Notre Dame, so we should have known better. Definitely check out reviews, they seem to use TripAdvisor the most (more than Yelp or Google). We didn't have any reservations but also never really had to wait for a table (sometimes just for them to get together a 6-person one). Many places in Paris are pretty small, but there are lots of them, so it's just a matter of finding a place that is open and had good reviews. In Amboise, we did have issues one night with limited availability (but they had a special concert that night we hadn't accounted for), but besides that we were fine.

Tools:

  • Mobile Wifi: GET ONE! OMG, so helpful! I rented one from Travel Wifi, which is especially good if you are just within France. My dad had gotten an international plan, which extended to my brother's phone, but service was pretty abysmal, so we couldn't rely on it. Everyone would connect to my unit whenever we were nearby. And I used it for Google Maps all of the time (figuring out which metro to take and even in the metro, which exit door to go thru). I picked up my unit from a tourist desk in CDG. My original unit had issues which I didn't discover until after we left Paris; I contacted them and they were very responsive so we set up for me to get a replacement when I was stopping at CDG before heading to Disney.
  • Museum Pass: Another highly recommended thing. So much easier than having to get individual museum tickets and let us skip the line in most places. I bought them at the same tourist booth at CDG where I picked up the mobile unit. Check what you want to do and when you want to do it; mom, dad and I got 6-days but we realized later we could have done with 4-days.
  • Mobile power charger: Another thing to make sure you have! I had a 6,000 mAH, which is supposed to charge the iphone 3x completely. When I had issues with the mobile wifi battery, I ended up connecting the charger to the battery, so carried both around with me all the time.
  • USB adapters: Rather than bringing lots of plug adapters, I realized most things I needed to charge/plug in were all via USB, so I got European USB adapters instead. The ones I used had 2 USB connectors, which was helpful when plugs were in short supply. I also should have brought an extension cord (not surge protector, just extension) to connect closer to where I wanted it.
Transportation
  • Metro: Paris metro is actually not too bad and trains come very often. Metro stations are all over, but thats where Google Maps comes in handy, since they have so many lines, so you know where to go. Make sure you know which direction you are going (there are signs which show the direction and which metro stops you will go thru) before you scan your ticket, because sometimes the two directions don't connect together and you'd be wasting a ticket. Also, most stations have very limited escalators/elevators, so be prepared for stairs...lots and lots of stairs!
  • Bus: This actually was also very helpful, since you didn't have the metro stairs issues. And on the bus there are plenty of maps and signage which lets you know where the upcoming stops are.
  • Uber: Near the end of the Paris portion of our trip we used this more often due to exhaustion! If you are a big group that needs a van, you may have to wait longer, but they do have them. Smaller groups won't have any issues!
Miscellaneous
  • Air conditioning is almost nonexistent. We had a lot of very hot and humid days, and even going into a museum or restaurant didn't help.
  • Public restrooms are gross! And even the restrooms in museums/restaurants weren't much better.
  • Pickpocketers: we only had one experience and that was due to my dad's gullibility. Mom, Lauren, and I also all had clips to our bags, so we'd keep it closed and then clip zipper to the handle, so someone couldn't easily unzip it.
  • They have bag checks or X-ray machines at most places, but it really was a joke. Often I'd see the security guards just chilling on their phone not even checking the machine, just waiving everyone through. And if they checked manually they just glanced, no checking pockets or even bottom of the bag. Honestly, Disney security was the best one I saw!
  • Arrive at museums early or late. If we arrived within the first hour of museum opening, it was easy to get in. And the Louvre, which usually has a 1.5 hr security line - we arrived 2 hrs before it closed and there was NO ONE in line! Like literally it was walk right in! Amazing!
  • Other tourists are annoying. Like really annoying. Watch out for the big groups from China - honestly they were some of the worst. And large student groups in the cathedrals - they showed very little respect, even when getting told off by security guards. But, just keep going on, being polite, and the people working will appreciate it!
  • There is A LOT of walking. Like a lot! I was able to keep going day after day and the others were astounded (I'm probably in the worst shape of all of them). When asked how, I responded: Disney World Training! Seriously, if you can handle multiple days in a row at the parks, then you can handle Europe!
  • Accessibility - We didn't have to deal with this, but I cannot imagine how you'd get around with a wheelchair. Places are just not accessible. My hat's off to those of you who are able to make it work!
  • Merchandise people are all over outside every tourist attraction. And they all sell the same stuff. It is pretty cheap, and you can tell most of the people selling it are groups of immigrants. So, if you are looking for a cheap keychain or figure of Eiffel Tower, I'm sure you can get a better deal there than in the junky tourist shops on the street.
Driving/Rental Car
  • We had a rental car for our non-Paris part. Getting a rental car at CDG takes FOREVER! Like seriously, insane wait times! We were lucky that it only took us 90 minutes; I had friends who it took them 3 hrs in line! Ridiculous
  • The major highways are very easy to use and well-maintained. But they are also mostly toll roads and the tolls are significant - it probably cost us 30 euros to drive from Paris to Amboise.
  • Paris drivers are CRAZY! Don't even think about a rental car there!
  • Outside of Paris there are a lot of very very narrow streets. In Normandy, so many little roads which would only be wide enough for 1 car in USA, but were for 2 cars in France (so lots of driving slowly partially on the shoulder).
Some places I visited and some basic thoughts:

Paris:

  • Notre Dame - A classic, and free. If you want to go up the tower, you should pre-reserve the tickets.
  • Sacre Coeur - Gorgeous and only 2 blocks from Notre Dame, so don't miss it.
  • Conciergerie - Right next to Sacre Coeur and pretty quick to get through. If you have time, go for it.
  • Centre Pompidou - Modern art museum, but it has great views from the top floor of Paris.
  • Versailles - There's a reason its one of the top places to visit in France. A real highlight!
  • Musee D'Orsay - Wonderful museum and great collection
  • Tomb of Napoleon - Interesting to see, but not necessarily a must-do
  • Eiffel Tower - Make sure to pre-purchase your tickets; they go on sale 3 months ahead of time and will sell out quickly. Otherwise you will have many many long lines to get up there. I'm not sure if I'd say the Summit is necessary, and the elevator up there is terrifying.
  • Louvre - As mentioned above, go late in the day for no security line.
  • Orangerie - Home of the Water Lillies paintings; wonderful and quick to check it out.
  • Palais Royal - Mostly outdoor and very nice to see
  • Arts et Metiers Museum - Scientific inventions, very interesting and well done museum
  • Curie Museum - Highly recommend; signs are actually in French AND English. Also, only 2 rooms so it doesn't take long and it's free.
  • Pantheon - Surprisingly nice. Gorgeous inside and the crypts underneath are home to the most famous French people
  • Sacre Coeur - Get an Uber to the top - you won't regret it!
  • Seine River Cruise - We did an evening 2-hour version so we could see the Eiffel Tower light show. Very nice!
Loire Valley: We did 4 nights but you could easily do a week or more. We also only saw a few chateaus, but it was a great area to unwind
  • Amboise Chateau: wonderful and historical royal castle
  • Chateau du Clos Luce: where da Vinci lived, and has models of his designs. Awesome!
  • Chenonceaux: The most famous chateau and great to see again
  • Villandry: amazing gardens
Normandy: Another where we did not spend enough time there! So much to see and remember
  • Juno Beach - Where the Canadians came ashore; they have a museum dedicated to the Canadian efforts which was interesting. Also they have a couple German bunkers which they do tours of.
  • Normandy American Cemetery - Very powerful
  • Omaha Beach - I didn't get out here, but there are several memorials.
  • Canadian cemetery - smaller and less "touristy" than the American cemetery. Very peaceful and almost beautiful with flowers planted at all the graves.
  • Giverny - Can be done from Paris easily, and gorgeous! Even I could be a painter with those gardens!

A couple photos (I haven't even started with most of the Disney photos):
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I didnt get a chance to read through this all yet but I'll be back, plus cant wait for your TR! I was really enjoying your photos!

Europe is my big pipe dream trip I want to do next... I went to London in high school for a band trip, and then 3 years ago my bff and I did 2 weeks in London in paris... but there was some poor scheduling (I should have pushed to do more) and we had 2 days in paris, 1 at dlp and 1 to see things but it was the day museums were mostly closed :sad2: Plus there was a lot of back and forth travel, kind of like in my DLR TR from 2016, when I posted the map from our 2015 trip.

Zacks only been out of the country once, to Quebec for work. But unless he can talk his boss into more vacation time, that wont be until th end of next year.
 



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