Paris

I think that if you were exposed to Gene Kelly and the great oldies at all as a child; especially a female, your thoughts about your first trip to Paris are probably a little skewed.  That’s not to say that there aren’t all kinds of romantic happenings for young couples, but for myself, never having been to Paris before, I didn’t think it would be on a shoe-string budget with a rambunctious toddler in-toe.  That said, we had an AMAZING weekend that ranks somewhere in my top 5 of all time!

We left at 6am on Friday morning in order to avoid weekday rush hour traffic and arrived at Le Parc de Paris around 11:30am.  We ate lunch and were to the local RER station by 12:30.  We arrived in Paris by 1pm and promptly found the tourist office.  We travel fairly frequently, but have rarely made use of local tourist offices preferring the do-it-yourself approach instead.  We made good use of the Paris tourism site as it allows you to book lodging and attraction tickets at discount prices.  We picked up our bus & boat tour tickets as well as our Disney tickets without incident, were given a map, and sent on our way.  Staff was friendly, attentive, and well organized.  Each staff member wears a name tag that clearly denotes which languages they speak (sort of like the Apple store).  Maps and information are available in a variety of languages.  Streets and RER stations are also clearly marked, although these are only in French.  

Friday afternoon we spent taking a bus & boat tour of Paris.  We went with Foxity for the bus portion of our tour for two reasons really - it was the cheapest and the shortest.  With a three year old in tow you want high quality, efficient, and cheap.  Foxity’s bus was clean, comfortable, and the tour was informative without being too bogged down with facts and figures as to keep it enjoyable.  We chose to have some free time to walk, explore, and eat dinner on the Champs-Élysées before doing our nighttime river boat cruise with Bateaux-Mouches.  I highly recommend taking your cruise at night to truly experience the magic of the “City of Lights” - in a word... AMAZING!


Saturday we had decided to devote to Disneyland.  We had been thinking about taking Mairin to Disney since her second birthday, but due to financial strains and schedules it just hasn’t happened.  I was also skeptical at the ability of a two year old to be able to take full advantage of a theme park.  At three, and knowing at least Mickey Mouse and the main characters now, I figured it was time.  After a look on the Disneyland Paris website I decided we were doing this for three reasons - it’s cheaper than the American parks, it’s smaller, and well it’s Paris.  So we embarked, not knowing what to expect, and all I can say is, it was UNBELIEVABLE.  It was truly an emotional experience to watch your child get excited to meet and greet her rock stars of the moment.  

My only two complaints about our Paris experience are this - Paris is full of Parisians and Disneyland should have more characters walking around for picture opportunities.  The second is self-explanatory, the first, however, needs to be explained.  For years now I have been hearing about how the French hate Americans, and beware if you travel to France because it will be a horrible experience.  After our weekend, I say this - yes, Parisians are not overtly friendly (much in the same way New Yorkers are not known for their friendly smiles, but rather their rude hand gestures), but in the end, no one hassled us for being Americans.  All those we came in contact with were friendly and polite.  So, Vivre la France!