Disneyland Paris

As our last hurrah  we headed off to Disneyland Paris, about an hour from where we are staying.  It was a cold but clear and sunny day.  We arrived to find that the park charges 15 euros for parking the car!!! That was an early introduction to the rampant over charging and money making exercise that is Disney!!

There were not too many people at the park, we were able to move around easily and the longest line was 15-20 minutes to wait for a ride which was excellent.

The park is beautiful there is no doubt about it.  It was decorated for christmas too which was just amazing.  each land is perfectly decorated to theme and the attention to detail is very good.  We worked our way around, going on the most stomach turning rides before lunch!!  Mark and Liam loved Space Mountain but I found it a bit too sickening.

Lunch was very quick and basic.  Just a hot dog each, 2 packets of fries and 2 drinks between us was 35 euros.  You cant take a picnic into Disneyland - they scan all bags through an x ray machine to make sure so you are pretty well stuck with eating what they have at the park.

The park was really awesome, its well laid out, easy to get around and there are things everywhere for the kids to look at.  There is a really good mix of hair raising rides and slower family rides which are still fun.  Probably the biggest disappointment for us was that there were no characters wandering around.  There was a Winnie the Pooh but you had to line up for a photo with him.  Apart form that there were no other characters around the park.

The parade was great, the floats were tall enough to be able to see them without crushing to the front.  At dark they lit the christmas tree which was beautiful.  It was freezing cold, we left about 6 and it was -4.  We just couldnt stay for the fireworks at 7.30 it was just freezing and we had an hours drive ahead of us.  There were people everywhere though, the park was probably busiest between 430-6!

Below are photos of the park, some rides and attractions and the parade.

 

the top of the Eiffel Tower

As our last activity in Paris we caught the lift to the summit of the Tour Eiffel.  We bought the tickets on line which meant we had to nominate a time to arrive for the lift but it meant we went straight in, no queuing except to go through the obligatory metal detector -at all attractions in Paris now!

The lift is enormous, its actually 2 storeys and carries about 50 people or more per trip.  We catch the lift to the 2nd floor then change lifts to a glass one up to the summit.

It was really really cold and windy but it was a clear afternoon and the view was amazing.  I had a champagne on the summit - as you do!!

We could also see Mr Eiffel's office which has been re created with was models by Mme Taussauds.

we then caught the lift down to the 2nd level which has two levels within it one with shops and a cafe.  the views are still awesome from there.

This attraction is absolutely worth the money.  This is the first time we have been up and it was amazing i am so glad we did it. The kids absolutely loved it, a great way to end the trip to Paris.

Musee D'Orsay

On our last day in Paris we visited the Musee d'Orsay.  Housed in the old d'Orsay train station which was renovated to hold the gallery, it is magnificent.

The museum holds the largest number of publicly held impressionist paintings in France, including at least a dozen Monets.  There are also Manet, Gaugin, Van Gogh, Seurat, Picasso and many many others.  As well as statues by Rodin. It was absolutely awesome, these are among my favourite paintings and to see them in the flesh was just remarkable.

unfortunately the museum has a very strict no photos policy.  I was able to grab a few of the museum itself but absolutely no photos of the art.

The museum is directly across the river from the Louvre and the views from the large windows and through the clock face window are amazing.

I have to say this is my favourite museum in Paris.

The Louvre

Today was wet and grey, although not all that cold.  We headed to the Musee D'Orsay but of course, because this is France, it was closed - it is Monday after all!  So we took a punt on the Louvre instead - turned out to be a good choice.

One great thing in France is that children under 18 dont pay to get into any State Museum.  So the admission to the Louvre was only 22 euros for the 4 of us - good value I think.

It is a huge museum with 3 wings of 4 floors each to cover.  Of course we did all the 'must dos' the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, The Winged Victory of Samothrace, the wedding feast at Cana etc etc. For the first time we also visited the Napoleon III apartments - they are just amazing!! I think even more luxurious and beautiful than some of the rooms in Versailles.  The French Crown Jewels are also there.

There were artists there painting reproductions in front of the paintings they were reproducing, it was great for the kids to watch them.  There werent too many people so we were able to get around quite well, although quite large parts of the museum were closed making it hard to navigate and a couple of times we had to go up 2 floors and come down 1 to move between floors which was a bit hard on the very tired old legs!!

All in all it was a good experience, we didnt eat there, but we did check coats which was fairly painless, and free. Liam found it hard going by the end, he had pretty much had enough but Lily loved it right through which made it easier.  There were young kids on school trips everywhere having a great time which was just fabulous to see, I do wonder though if they will ever grow up to know how lucky they are!!