From Marie to Minnie...Our Paris and DLP adventure.. completed 7/10

LovesTimone

Christmas Day 2017
Joined
Apr 29, 2009
Hi everyone.... and welcome...

We just got back on Saturday(5/5) well really just after midnight on Sunday Morning ...

So here's the practical info... It was just the 2 of us DH and I... celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary, and this was our first trip to Europe... We have been all over the Caribbean so this was our jumping off point for Europe. We now have been bitten by the travel bug even more. We spent 5 nights in Paris at the Renaissance Arc de Triomphe, and 3 nights at DLP at Newport Bay, Compass club level...

So what I thought I would do is discuss the trip and break it up into sections, more than a daily style diary....

I will add that I am not able to link picture for some reason at this moment...but I will try to figure it out later and add them in... ugh... DH was working on some work project and now I can't seem to get anything to work right...
 
Last edited:
I will start with the Flights over...

It was a nightmare, I got notice that Air France cancelled our flight ( They decided to add another strike day that was not expected) from JFK to CDG... So I spent 2 hours Tuesday night from 10pm to midnight, trying to get things sorted out...no-one had any idea on what was going on. The next day I spent 8 hours on the phone... We ended up having to leave on a earlier flight and go to Detroit. The flight from Orlando to Detroit was great, we flew 1st class, and it was a really nice flight.. Our connection which was on a Delta plane... Was were the nightmare began they down graded us, on cabin class and told it was premium economy, and no there would not be a refund...for the down grade...I was told by the rep... you should be grateful your even on a flight!!! And you might have to pay for your bags... Thankful that did not happen we were not charged for our baggage... Well our seats were in the last row of what they said was premium economy, they did not even lean back a little...and we were stuck in the middle of the 2-4-2 row...in the middle of the 4... the guy on the aisle kept his lap top open the whole time and bumped me with his elbow all night... then acted put out when I had to get out to go to the restroom...Honestly.... I was so grateful when we landed... Since we were sky priority they funneled us into a que to get through immigration and customs quickly which was a blessing as there were around about 800 to 1000 people in the other lines...Tip-If you are flying Delta or Air France watch for the Sky Priority signs if you are a sky priority. Then on to baggage claim...which was a bit tricky they had 3 international flights sharing one luggage carousel, also our luggage was marked sky priority which did help.. and we only waited about 15 minutes for our luggage...Tip- mark you bags with something bright and colorful so you can see it coming and quickly identify them.


The return flights

What a complete difference... it was wonderful flying with Air France and Delta on the way home... the whole experience was just great. I will say that getting your baggage checked proved to be a experience.... one in which I was glad once we found the Air France and Delta Sky priority counters after that it was smooth sailing... Its between 6 and 7, in the terminal. Make sure when you ask for directions or help... you state that you are sky priority or you will be running back and forth through mass chaos... Again we were sent to a priority area to go through customs and immigration... and then we were on our way... The Air France terminal is just beautiful, and clean... I mean really clean...There are stores, and duty free shops and restaurants. We did spend the last of our euros on Macaroons...No shame here... I love how they que you to board the plane... its like the que's at the parks... Sky Priority 1st class and business, then Sky Priority Premium Economy, then Economy lines... No gathering/herding up trying to get on when its not your section... Simply wonderful... Once in the air the service was stellar... Once we landed in Boston... here's a big tip.... give your self enough time to go back through customs/immigration and pick up your bags and then you have to recheck them.. We started out with a 3 hour lay over in Boston but with all the changes we ended up with only a hour and 40 minutes.... and we were running... to get through everything... from the time we exited the plane and rechecked our bags it was right at 1 hour... then we had to walk to the other end of the airport, which was 20 mins...If we would not have been in the front of the plane and been able to exit quickly there was no way we could have made it through all that and made our connection on time... The gate was disgusting and filthy.... cups, trash, half eaten food, under the seats, I had to wipe off our seats they were so gross thankful I had some Lysol wipes in my bag, and the floor looked as if it had not been vacuumed in months.... Once on the Delta Flight it was great good service, and a smooth flight.... once on the ground, picking up our bags was easy only about a 10 minute wait, then out to catch uber and home... Another tip is keep your passport and ticket handy as you will needed it multiple times, they even scanned our ticket when we bought the macaroons....


Overall thoughts...

With the Air France Strike.... in the future I will be more diligent when booking with them, but I will book with them again. What really burned my cookies was how Delta handled the whole situation, they are partners with Air France and knew what could and would happen and should have been more proactive in getting customers on different flight much earlier, and honored what class, seat assignments, and such... instead of the attitude that we should all bow down, and be grateful we are getting to get on the plane at all... What happened to Delta and their customer service... I have logged in a complaint but honestly I don't think I will get any kind of response..

Stay on top of your flight schedule and changes...you will not necessarily get updates... I tried to go on weekly and there seemed to be some type of change every week... I would check on Sunday morning... It seems that they do schedule changes on Saturdays....



 
so great you are doing a trip report :) Im looking forward to reading a first timers thoughts and views of Europe and DLP Im glad everything worked out for you in the end. I had a nightmare a few years ago when I booked transatlantic flights through a third party. I found the same as you, that airlines are very inflexible when it comes to changes when flights are not booked direct with them. Now I only booked flights direct with airlines and not through any third party website or TA.
 
Following! Glad you were able to get there even though it doesn't seem particularly pleasant on the plane!
 


So in this post I thought I would talk about transportation. There's a lot of info here on what we did and would have done differently. So grab a cup or glass of something cool, maybe even a snack.popcorn::

Transportation:

From the airport (CDG) to our hotel in Paris - We used Ezyshuttle which was a tip from another poster on the DIS. Which I can not say Thank you enough for this tip. John and his drivers did a wonderful job... I highly recommend them if you are going to Paris or DLP. I received a text from the driver letting me know that he was there, and were he was located... sign in hand... he helped us with our bags, which was so much needed as we had been awake for around 26 hours. The drive in was great, and he a very safe driver, even in Paris when the traffic really started to get crazy... Once at the hotel he helped us with our bags and we paid in cash, and did tip him a bit extra as the drive was perfect and he shared some tips, and facts, and land marks along the way. 80 euros plus tip

We also used Ezyshuttle to pick us up at our hotel in Paris and take us to DLP... A different driver picked us up, but the same with a wonderful and safe drive, filled with fun facts, and landmarks... he even got over on the motorway so we could take a snap shot from the car of the DLP sign... I can not say enough good things about Ezyshuttle, John and his drivers... they are just wonderful....We had many issue's with our flight times, and he handled the changes without any problem... Every time I emailed him, I got a response back very quickly, even with the time change.... this company was on point. We will use them again when we head to Paris... 80 euros plus tip.

Hop on Hop off Bus -

We used the Open Tour Paris or La Open tour Paris... its the same company... We purchased our bus passes with the concierge's desk in the hotel...They printed out a voucher, and we showed it to the driver, and he gave us the tickets, map and coupon book, The concierge also had given us a map. We went with a 3 day bus pass, cost was 42 euros each... with that said the days are consecutive days, not 3 days of your choosing. So plan accordingly... If you are going to do private tours that include transportation away from Paris, take that into consideration when planning, no need to pay for extra days, or pay for something that you can use.. We had plans already for Friday and Saturday, so we waited and bought the tickets on Sunday which covered Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and took us up the day before our departure day for DLP was on Wednesday morning. Open Tours has 4 bus lines routes... color coded, Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow and there are many stops within each route. They ran about every 15 to 20 minutes. We were there during the train strike and demonstrations and it took us almost 2 and 1/2 hours to get to Notre Dame one day, due to the demonstrations going on around some of the stops, and several were closed for safety reason for the tourist and public and even the public buses were not going into the area. Tip - Make sure you look at your map, so you have some idea of where you are going, ask the concierge's desk to show you which stop to get off at, and then every time you board the bus ask the driver where to get off and the best way to get to your destination, they are in the know of what's going on... Also another Tip is pay attention to the stops there is not a intercom system that tells you what stop your at, or even one of those rolling signs. Buses stop running at around 8:00, but this is Paris and not all closing times are adhered to so you might want keep in mind you might have to grab a cab or use Uber to get back to your hotel. We were talking to another couple in the lobby one morning... and the buses had stopped running at 7:00, but showed running till 8:00 and they where at the catacombs, she said that it was a wait for a cab to come along. So be prepared for a back up plan. We did use it quite a bit, and felt the price and value we got was good... I would use their service again when we return to Paris.


Taxi


We did use taxi's several times in the evening to get back to our hotel... The most we paid was 10 euros plus a few euro's for tips. I did ask each time before getting in, parlez vous anglais, S'il vous plait ( do you speak English Please).... or combine S'il vous plait ( how much, please) and showed them the address... most of the driver do speak some English, and we really did not have any problem with communication with any of the taxi drivers. TIP - We pulled up our hotel on my phone and took a picture of the address and information. Which made it easy for the driver to understand which hotel, as some of the hotels have the same name with different locations in Paris. When we were trying to get a taxi one night after a tour. when I asked him if he spoke English and showed him where we were going, he said 37.00 euros which is 3 times what it should have been, he said its because its a holiday... I can't write what I told him, and it was in French so I know he understood me... and we walked down a couple of steps and hailed another cab, and it was 7.70 eruos, plus tip, when we told him what happened... he said he was a "rouge' driver, and not licensed... then showed us a sticker on the side of the window and said if a cab doesn't have this do not get in. The taxi's we rode in where clean, and nice...like Uber,. I would use taxi's again, but you have to be aware, and ask questions before you get in the car..

Magical Shuttle:


We used this service on the way back to airport (CDG) - This is not something that we would use again...It was not magical at all... Cost 27 euro's each ( I think).... the bus was late by about 10 minutes, the driver got out and took the paper for our tickets, then proceed to walk away to talk to 2 other bus drivers, then came back and said why did not put your bags in the hold, .... Well... because the doors are locked... Oh.. so he opens the door, and we stowed our bags. Once we got on the bus, the seat are so close to the one in front and for some reason they recline so the person in front of you, should just be laying in your lap... the bus was so hot, one passenger got up and told the driver his wife was going to get sick and pass out due to the heat, so then the driver turned on the air-conditioning. There was a accident on the motorway, luckily he did know a back way to the airport, we did manage to arrive on time at the airport. But he parked us in the worst possible spot, and opened the hold doors, and just got back on the bus.
Overview or my opinion on Magical Shuttle - DH and I were okay stowing our own bags, but one couple a older man and his wife could not do it, so DH put their bags in the hold for them, there was also a mom with 3 kids, lots of luggage, 2 strollers, backpacks/ diaper bags. So she is trying to hold the baby around 18 to 20 months, and push the bags in the hold, so DH and I and another man jumped in and helped her. With this is service you are on your own, no help from Disney hotel or the driver. Her Husband came running out with another little one, who had an emergency potty moment. He thanked us and the other man several times. This is not directly a Disney product, so you don't get the same Disney service. If you need assistance with baggage, this is not a service I could recommend. DH and I both said, we should have just spent the extra 26 euros and used Ezyshuttle...Which is what we will do next trip, Until Disney takes over and puts their magic into this option... Its not worth the hassle.

Overall thoughts on Transportation:


I think that for us we made good choices on transportation, while we were in Paris. Except for using Magical shuttle... Thank you for the tip with Ezyshuttle it was a great experience, and one that I can feel good about suggesting other DIS'er to use. We did not use the metro or trains at all due to the strikes, different days, different lines and in different areas.. and I found it good that the hotel suggested that it might not be a good idea for us to use at the time we were visiting. Being aware and asking the taxi driver how much and knowing what you are paying up front is important. I was very concerned about transportation, but with some research, and tips from everyone here, I think we did great.


 
Last edited:
So for this post I am going share what we experienced in Paris with food and dinning......then later I will talk about DLP dinning in another post...

So on arrival day we grabbed a early quick lunch at McDonalds which I know isn't the way you want to start out your Paris food journey, but we were absolutely starving, and my sugar level was getting really low and I had to use a glucose tablet to bring it back up.... What I needed was lots of carbs and coke. Which they delivered quickly... we ordered from the large screen it was pretty simple, you can choose your language to read the menu in, the terminology is a bit different, once you choose your meal or items, look down at the bottom to see if this is really what you want, select choice of payment we paid at the counter, as we wanted some smaller euros... When they say they do not put ice in anything it's really that, after a few try's back and forth we scored a large cup of ice...yippie... this would be our last fountain drink for a few day....( refills are not free and I believe they are full price, or close to it. I will say that the burger meat did taste a lot better, more like hamburgers that you would make at home, fries were hot and not greasy or overly salty... It was pretty dang good.. now we had been up for almost 30 hours so...and starving so not sure if it was really good or just the hunger and sleep deprivation setting in....

Later on after we took a 4 hour nap we were up and ready to go...

Our first real meal in Paris... Our concierges suggested a spot right around the corner from the hotel... We asked for somewhere for a true French meal and experience... Our concierges made dinner reservation and we were off... Thankful I had read up on what to expect, and proper etiquette. The French enjoy their manners and expect everyone else to adhere to this behavior, which is a good thing. It was a very relaxed atmosphere, but traditional manners and proper etiquette is followed... For dinner expect 2 hours at least leaning more toward the 3 hour mark... which here in the US, people would/and will absolutely freak out over a 2 to 3 hour meals, and we sorta started to but then DH and I decided to sit back and enjoy the meal and experience, when in France do as the French... relax and enjoy....Once we settled in and down... Eye contact is very important, I made eye contact with the server, and with a slight nod he would come to the table, and when clearing plates each time the asked if we were done, or okay to take before removing the plates, glasses and such. It was an amazing meal, food, wine and most of all the company... DH and I sat and talked and talked, laughed and held hands at the table... I asked DH what do you see that is missing.... He looked around the room?.... can you guess?... Yep ... no cell phones, they are not laying out on the table nor was anyone's nose stuck to the screen... People were doing something that here in US is fading into the ether of our society...Talking..... Yes I said Talking to each other at the table. Really? Yes really.... I saw one lady check her phone, she pulled it out of her bag, for only a moment, and checked it, it never was pulled out so other people could see it, then she apologized for checking it. Once dessert was finished... we enjoy being able to sit and finish our wine... then you must ask for the bill...

L'addition s'il vous plait ( the bill Please) this is an important phrase that you will need when dinning out, anywhere in France. It is considered rude to bring bill, so you must ask for it.. Every dinner meal followed this manner of dinning. We absolute loved it...

Even lunch is enjoyed in much the same way...not as long as dinner but much longer that what we here in the states are use to... again you must ask for the bill.

Breakfast, We did have some trouble with breakfast, if something more that pastries, and café (coffee) is wanted... You will need to look around for a more American style meal... We did find a few spots that offered a "menu" which included, a hot "Boisson" (drink), Café, hot chocolate, or tea, as well as fresh squeezed orange juice, 2 eggs fried, bacon, and a croissant.. for around 14 to 17 euros... If the menu say ham and cheese omelet that what you will get, no sides... just the Ham and cheese omelet.... like here when we head to Cracker barrel, Denny's, I hop, or your local diner, you get potatoes, meat and some type of bread... there its not the case... Due to the fact I have issue with bottoming out with my sugar levels I need something more than café and pastries for breakfast...this was challenging but we did manage to find 2 spots that offered the "menu " and this is where we grabbed breakfast each morning...

When ordering a coke they come in glass bottles... we would get a smile every time they brought them to the table... One server asked have you not ever seen these, then we explained, of course we have seen them, but in the US, fountain drinks, cans and plastic 2 liter bottles are mostly found...he was like why? I was like that just the way it is... he just shook his head...which of course made DH and I laugh...

There are not free refill so if you want another coke, it will cost you the same price... Oh here's something for you diet coke drinkers... Coke light is what is offered no diet coke...

What we found worked for us, is ordering a large bottle of water for the table( depending on what you order anywhere from 5 to 10 euros), then savoring our coke. Also another thought on the water, they will ask you with or without gas...meaning bubbles... I laughed when they asked my DH with gas... his face was priceless....

Another thing that we noticed was the noise level in restaurants is much quieter than here in the US. There was one table in a restaurant that was quite loud and the manager asked them to quite down, or leave... they started up a few minutes later, and the bill was given and they were made to leave( the waiters gathered around the table and made it clear to them they were leaving... Absolutely no nonsense... We asked our server does that happen often, she responded " Yes of course... this behavior is non-sense and rude... This type of attitude and behavior is never acceptable". The manager came by and offered apologies for the interruption of our meal...

We found that once you got to the dessert course the servers would talk to you more, ask you were your from, and ask questions and tell you a little about them and their families, we even had a few servers that showed us pictures of their families, and even one shared pictures of his garden at home... We were given lots of good tips on where to go, and a lot on where not to go... They talked about the strikes, and why it was happening... We did have one server, said English? then... what do you want, and basically threw the utensil on the table and walked away... which we just looked at each other and said waffle house... and laughed.... its just part of the experience... so roll with it...

You must sit outside of a café and watch Paris go by, head into a bakery for snack and take some extra's for a late night snack...

Walk through the market... It was one of the many highlights of our trip... the food is absolutely beautiful... The produce was so perfect, at first I did not think it was real... Fish so fresh and no smell as you normally get when walking into a fish market... prawns bigger than my hand... the cheese shop was just sinful... People buying fresh flowers, they to were so perfect and smelled so wonderful... for just a moment you wondered if the were real. When walking into a shop, make sure to address the person with "Bonjour Monsieur, Madame, or Mademoiselle" and when leaving the shop make sure to thank them, "Merci". Also ask if they speak English... in French Parlez vous anglais S'il vous plait (do you speak English please)

We found what would be a grocery store of sorts.. Monoprix - here we bought a 10 pack of cokes and 6 pack of water for the room, and we stopped in the night before we headed to DLP for some items for our room there. We did walk around and check everything out. So different from our stores.

Overall thoughts

The food was absolutely amazing, the food is not over done... its cooked to showcase the ingredients... so you can taste each item on its own merit, then add in other ingredients to create another experience working toward the perfect bites.... prepared simply but with passion... The thing that I took away is the French have created the art of savoring the meal, not only the food but the entire meal, making it about family or friends, and being present in the moments...So when you visit and its time to eat...just stop... put down your maps, phones, and be there... be present, leaning back into your chair, and looking forward to meal... do not rush... enjoy... this is what traveling is all about...














 
This is sooo helpful! I think we will be booking Ezyshuttle for our trips to/from airport!
 


Thanks for all of the helpful information! We'll be leaving for Paris in July and I'm pretty nervous. It'll be our first time ever leaving the country and we'll definitely be out of our comfort zone. This is very reassuring though!

How was it getting around with the strike going on? We're supposed to take the RER to DLP and taking the Eurostar into London, so I'm a little worried about that.
 
Thanks for all of the helpful information! We'll be leaving for Paris in July and I'm pretty nervous. It'll be our first time ever leaving the country and we'll definitely be out of our comfort zone. This is very reassuring though!

How was it getting around with the strike going on? We're supposed to take the RER to DLP and taking the Eurostar into London, so I'm a little worried about that.

From what I understand the strikes should be over by the end of June, so you should be okay. With that said, you might want to keep up with what's going on with the rail strike you can Google it, and make a back up plan. We did not use the metro or RER while there due to the strikes, our hotel suggested buses ( "Open tour Paris" was a hop on hop off bus), taxi's or Uber to get around Paris which really worked out well for us. We used a private car service to get from the hotel in Paris to DLP... so totally worth it... Thank you Ezyshuttle!!!

Are you planning on staying at DLP? and if so where? We saw the RER station. Its sorta in between, the Disney Village (their version of our old Downtown Disney) and the security entrance to the Parks. I believe that they offer some type of luggage service to the DLP Hotels when you arrive, this is something that I glanced over but did not drill down on, due to the fact we decided to use the private car route. Not sure on the cost, check the DLP website, I am pretty sure this is where I saw something on it. We saw people rolling their own luggage, but its not a smooth surface, and if you have little ones or younger children along, this might prove challenging. Thinking about it I'm not sure once there if you are not staying at Disneyland Hotel, Newport Bay, Sequoia, or New York Hotel, while these are within walking distance, Newport bay think is the furthest one, it would be quite a haul for a family especially if you have younger kiddo's/ strollers with you... If you are staying at one of the other hotels... not sure on how you would get there....


If you are planning on just going for the day, you need to be make sure you know when the last train leaves for Paris. As well it doesn't get dark until around 10:00 to 11:00 during this time of year and if you are planning on staying for the Castle show and fireworks, this will make a very long day, as I believe its about a hour back into Paris, then you might have to switch trains depending on where you are staying in Paris. So this will add quite a bit of time to the end of your day. We went into the McDonalds after the park closed one night to get a fountain coke with ice...and there was a family that had missed the last train. There were told it would be about a hour before a taxi or Uber could pick them up and take them back into Paris... so being prepared would be the way to go.

DH and I have been all over the Caribbean before we decided to make the leap to Europe. This was our first trip to Europe and I was a nervous as well...For me its all about planning, and researching everything, check out youtube, I got a lot of great info from "Wolter's World Paris", he discusses at length what to do and not to do and the different cities and cites to see, as well Rick Steve's book was really helpful... learn some basic phrase in French, again hit up Youtube, and google translate is another source, type in some basic phrases and hit the speaker button and it will repeat it in French to you, practice... practice and practice more... You are going to have a amazing time... If you have any other questions I will be happy to help....
 
From what I understand the strikes should be over by the end of June, so you should be okay. With that said, you might want to keep up with what's going on with the rail strike you can Google it, and make a back up plan. We did not use the metro or RER while there due to the strikes, our hotel suggested buses ( "Open tour Paris" was a hop on hop off bus), taxi's or Uber to get around Paris which really worked out well for us. We used a private car service to get from the hotel in Paris to DLP... so totally worth it... Thank you Ezyshuttle!!!

Are you planning on staying at DLP? and if so where? We saw the RER station. Its sorta in between, the Disney Village (their version of our old Downtown Disney) and the security entrance to the Parks. I believe that they offer some type of luggage service to the DLP Hotels when you arrive, this is something that I glanced over but did not drill down on, due to the fact we decided to use the private car route. Not sure on the cost, check the DLP website, I am pretty sure this is where I saw something on it. We saw people rolling their own luggage, but its not a smooth surface, and if you have little ones or younger children along, this might prove challenging. Thinking about it I'm not sure once there if you are not staying at Disneyland Hotel, Newport Bay, Sequoia, or New York Hotel, while these are within walking distance, Newport bay think is the furthest one, it would be quite a haul for a family especially if you have younger kiddo's/ strollers with you... If you are staying at one of the other hotels... not sure on how you would get there....


If you are planning on just going for the day, you need to be make sure you know when the last train leaves for Paris. As well it doesn't get dark until around 10:00 to 11:00 during this time of year and if you are planning on staying for the Castle show and fireworks, this will make a very long day, as I believe its about a hour back into Paris, then you might have to switch trains depending on where you are staying in Paris. So this will add quite a bit of time to the end of your day. We went into the McDonalds after the park closed one night to get a fountain coke with ice...and there was a family that had missed the last train. There were told it would be about a hour before a taxi or Uber could pick them up and take them back into Paris... so being prepared would be the way to go.

DH and I have been all over the Caribbean before we decided to make the leap to Europe. This was our first trip to Europe and I was a nervous as well...For me its all about planning, and researching everything, check out youtube, I got a lot of great info from "Wolter's World Paris", he discusses at length what to do and not to do and the different cities and cites to see, as well Rick Steve's book was really helpful... learn some basic phrase in French, again hit up Youtube, and google translate is another source, type in some basic phrases and hit the speaker button and it will repeat it in French to you, practice... practice and practice more... You are going to have a amazing time... If you have any other questions I will be happy to help....

We will actually be traveling without our children. (For the first time ever!) My husband is taking me for my 40th birthday! We will be flying into Paris and staying near the Eiffel tower 6 nights. We plan on taking an Uber to our hotel. We also bought the Paris pass which includes Metro passes and the Hop On/off bus for 1 day. Then we'll go to DLP for 3 nights. We won't be staying on property but at one of their partner hotels. ((Elysee' Val d' Europe)) To my understanding it's a 5 minute bus ride and right next to an RER station. Then we'll be taking the Eurostar into London, stay there for 6 nights, then head back home from Gatwick.

I have been watching a LOT of youtube, but I'll check out "Wolters World Paris" Thanks again. :)
 
We will actually be traveling without our children. (For the first time ever!) My husband is taking me for my 40th birthday! We will be flying into Paris and staying near the Eiffel tower 6 nights. We plan on taking an Uber to our hotel. We also bought the Paris pass which includes Metro passes and the Hop On/off bus for 1 day. Then we'll go to DLP for 3 nights. We won't be staying on property but at one of their partner hotels. ((Elysee' Val d' Europe)) To my understanding it's a 5 minute bus ride and right next to an RER station. Then we'll be taking the Eurostar into London, stay there for 6 nights, then head back home from Gatwick.

I have been watching a LOT of youtube, but I'll check out "Wolters World Paris" Thanks again. :)

What an amazing trip you guys have planned...I hope you will write a trip report...

We did the Museum pass, and hop on hop off bus, due to the fact that the trains were on strike.... so no train service.

Not sure if you have booked Elysee'Val'd Europe, yet, but when staying on Disney property the tickets are included in the packages and some offers include different dinning options... Also check out some of the other sites, like Disneyland Paris UK is which site we booked through, For what we budgeted for this part of the trip, booking through the UK site allowed us to upgrade to club level at Newport Bay, compass club level, half board plus, and 1 fast pass for each of us each day, Plus breakfast ( American Style breakfast) in the compass room which was really good, as well as tea time from 4 to around 6 each day, with a buffet that was very good, plus access during the day to soft drinks, bottled water, as well as hot drinks..

With "Wolter's World" you can check out London as well he has so many place with good tips, I even think that there is one on the Eurostar...
 
We have already booked our hotel and our Disney Tickets. :(

I'm sorta doing a double PTR with my Paris trip and our WDW vacation next year. LOL. Not that I don't already have a lot of other things to do.

Did you by any chance use Google Translate while you were there? I just found that app and I'm super excited to use it and think it will really be helpful. We're trying to learn the basics though.
 
We have already booked our hotel and our Disney Tickets. :(

I'm sorta doing a double PTR with my Paris trip and our WDW vacation next year. LOL. Not that I don't already have a lot of other things to do.

Did you by any chance use Google Translate while you were there? I just found that app and I'm super excited to use it and think it will really be helpful. We're trying to learn the basics though.

Yes we did use it... But honestly not as much as I would have thought ...it was very helpful, especially on the bus with a couple of the drivers... and us with very limited French... it helped make sure we got off at the right stops. I thought it was a good tool...
 
Last edited:
Well I was going to start with all the sites we visited and tours... I might have to break this up over 2 post as I have tons of stuff to do today... But we will see...Again I will post about DLP separately.

Frist tip... Good walking shoes...my ankle boots worked really great as well as my converse style shoes... something with grip... You need something that it not to stiff or to soft ... Most of the ground, has lots of loose gravel, pavers, brick, or just uneven pavement ... and when raining it become quite slippery.... really slippery.


Versailles - The concierge set this tour site up for us. We did a small group private tour ( 8 people), I think that the tour company was called "Local Paris Tours" with pick up and drop off at our hotel, it included a guided tour of Versailles, our tickets ( skip the line), and they gave us the head set so that we could hear her... Cost around 70 euros plus tip.. .She was the driver as well as the guide... It was around 5 1/2 hours ( half day) from pick up to leaving Versailles... Expect to have your bag check, once at the main gate and then again when entering the Palace, as well as only certain size bags. Our guide did warn us of pick pockets on the way, and again several times while we were touring. As for the tour itself it was amazing... and not enough time for us to even really get to the gardens. I can not put into words... some of the rooms will just take your breath away...each one better than the room before... and the palace intrigue that went along with it... Look up the ceiling are incredible, artistry like that does not exist today, the workmanship and craftsmanship is unbelievable, I love history.. and turning the corner to the hall of mirrors was just breathtaking, I will admit it brought tears to my eyes. Knowing you were walking where the Kings, and Queens walked... this has been a dream of mine since I was in the 8th grade sitting in history class hanging on every word that my history teacher said, she made it all come to life... We went through the Kings quarters the Queen were closed as they are adding air-conditioning... our tour guide said that during the summer people faint all the time because of the heat. Tips - Be considerate of your tour mates, be on time for pick up and meet back on time for departures... We did have one couple that decided that they were above the meeting times, and did end up running to the tour van as we were pulling out of the parking lot. 25 minutes late....not cool.... the guide is on a time line, as well other tour mates have plans as well. I can not wait to return...

The Louvre - We used the hop on hop off bus to get to our destination, we used the museum pass for front of the line entry. Tip- look around for the signs that show front of the line, or ask the guards, just don't follow the crowd... More security, so be ready to have your bags scanned, as well as they only allow certain size bags into the sites, and they will stop you. It is absolutely a huge building... DH and I had talked about what we wanted to do, and we don't ever go commando when we tour, the Mona Lisa was top priority for us. We were there for 5 hours and only saw around half of the wing were the Mona is on display. Beware of pick pockets here, there are signs and guards that will remind you to be aware. We did a achieve our objective, and did get to see her... She is quite something, the picture is not large, but worth pushing in to see her. There is no crowd control really people are pushing and shoving. We did some pixie dust here, one of the museum guards, opened the rope for Myself and DH and then closed it behind us, and we were right up front so we just kept moving to right until we were in front of her and took a few quick picture then the guard open the front rope and let us out, I will say they were not putting up with people staying and staying in the front, they made whole group get out of line, that was refusing to move, trying to take selfie, and absolutely no selfie sticks, they were telling people to put them away, and if they did not put them away they just took them. I will say that a man rubbed his hand across my butt, and jerked around and looked at him, then DH step around the back of me... and he was like "pardon" "accident" I think he was trying to pick my pocket but I did not have anything it them...I did notice him moving backwards in the crowd instead of forward to see the painting. So basically they know the pick pockets are there, and warn you... Its up to you to keep your items safe.


I will pick up tomorrow...





 
Last edited:
Following.... we did a similar trip last year, 4 days in London first then 4 days in Paris and 2 at DLP for our 25th anniversary. Reliving our trip through your posts!
 
Last edited:
OP Here... finally I'm back...

Well I left off with the sites and tours so I am going to jump right back in...

Notre Dame Cathedral & Archaeological Crypt/ Saint Chapelle /Conciergerie - We rode the hop on hop off bus over. This is the day that they had a huge demonstration going on and had to re-route the buses it took around 2 hours to get there, we had to ride one bus... then get off, walk around 6 to 8 blocks, to find out that the bus stop was not picking up( there was a tiny sign that said no pick up today due to the strikes, then we walked down and over a block then around 6 more block to the next stop, and get on another bus.. and finally we arrived.Notre Dame - We only waited around 5 minutes to enter the Cathedral, it was so beautiful. DH and I commented on how it felt being there, for us it was very moving. We both said a prayer and lit candles for our loved one's that are no longer with us. This is a real working church and should be treated as such given the respect and honor it is due. I will say for the most part for the throng of people that were in there it was fairly quite, and people did act with reverence. We did make the loop twice around as there is so much to see. We also paid (5 euros each) to enter the area were they keep the some of the artifacts of value. We decided not to climb the tower as it was raining, and the line was quite long. We had intend to visit the Archaeological crypt, and it is under some construction. Saint Chapelle.. is a quick walk, there is security going in and if you have the museum pass look for the separate line, so you don't have to wait, we went straight in. The chapel is under going restoration... the bottom floor is sparse but there are very narrow spiral staircase to the second floor, and worth the climb. It will take your breath away the stained glass is amazing...We stood stunned for a few moments at the beauty and artisan workmanship and craftsmanship it took to build it. There is a video showing the restoration that is going on. I will say at first we were not going to go visit but with the Crypt closed, we decided to check it out. It was so worth it, so if you are debating on visiting, I vote yes... The Conciergerie - Unfortunately we did not get to tour, as they closed up early. It was posted 6:00 pm but at 4:15 they closed it. When we asked why, we were told due to the strikes... So this goes back on our list for our next trip...


Eiffel Tower - We decided to go the tour route for this, the hotel concierge made the arrangements. We decided on a night visit 9:00pm, It was a group tour. We took the bus to the area very early to find the spot we were to meet at. It was on a side street in front of a shop. I think the tour was about 35 euro's each. Then we went to dinner. Then walked back, they had multiple tours meeting so we had to pay attention to who our guide was. Then we walked over as far as the tour it was pretty basic, it included our tickets, and some history on the tower, as well access to the whole tower, which was fine... It was raining that night so it was limited viewing, but we did have champagne at the top... It was a bit pricey 36 euro's for 2 glasses. But even with the rain drinking champagne with my DH was quite romantic. So this goes back on our list for our next trip.

Arc de Triomphe - We were only staying about 2 blocks away, so this is something that we did visit a couple of times. There is a under ground walk through, if you have a museum pass and want to climb to the top it will cover it. We did not make the climb to the top... the day we were going to they had a event going on, the next time we were just to tired, to even think about doing, then the last try it was raining. So this goes back on our list for our next trip.

Well it looks like I am not going to finish today... I will most certainly try to finish this segment tomorrow... And start into DLP...



 
I remember loving Saint Chapelle, so that is a must-do. I don't think we'll get to the Notre Dame archaeological crypt - right now ND fits best on a Monday, and the crypt isn't open then, so we'd have to backtrack on a different day!

I'm crossing my fingers for good weather - right now it looks like thunder/lightning storms plus >80 degrees.. guess I need to get used to humidity!
 
OP, can you let me know if you hear from air France or delta about your flight issues? (I work for KLM, so also a bit for AF ) And I am curious.

Thanks for all of the helpful information! We'll be leaving for Paris in July and I'm pretty nervous. It'll be our first time ever leaving the country and we'll definitely be out of our comfort zone. This is very reassuring though!

How was it getting around with the strike going on? We're supposed to take the RER to DLP and taking the Eurostar into London, so I'm a little worried about that.

Just keep in mind that strikes happen quite often in France, they are not very happy at the moment. Today air traffic control was in strike again and all you can do is to keep an eye on the websites of the public transport and services.
Eurostar and other international trains are usually not part of the strikes.
 
OP, can you let me know if you hear from air France or delta about your flight issues? (I work for KLM, so also a bit for AF ) And I am curious.



Just keep in mind that strikes happen quite often in France, they are not very happy at the moment. Today air traffic control was in strike again and all you can do is to keep an eye on the websites of the public transport and services.
Eurostar and other international trains are usually not part of the strikes.


As of right this moment I have not heard from Delta, Air France or Expedia who we booked with. I really don't think that I will get any type of satisfaction in any form. Delta stance was its all Air France is fault due to the strikes, and basically they are unreasonable in the demands and while we partner with them we don't agree and your lucky that you are getting on a plane at all and no we had to do all this extra work so no refund. Expedia put it on Delta, and Air France...and they basically washed their hands of the situation. The main issue that I have is that all of these companies knew about the strike and did nothing, even when I called and questioned it several times I was reassured that everything would be okay, and they were set to fly that day. Then I get a 30 hours notice and basically at this time you are at the mercy of the airline... I wanted to change my flight plans several weeks before... no can do or I could at an outrageous price. If everyone know that the strike is going on, they should not sell flights that more than likely are not going to happen, or at least some type of notice when booking should be available, that way you can make a informed decision.

I was under the impression that the strikes should be about over by this time...? Will they continue much longer?
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts

Top