"She ate human!" A June 2013 TR UPDATE 12/23

[ExpatDisneyLover]

So glad to see more of your trip! Looks like a great beginning - nothing like being a little jet lagged navigating the tube and transferring to the Eurostar - LOL - !! So nice to arrive to a comfy apartment and a helpful host too. Looking forward to more -

 

[tinkerbells mum]

Glad you're a bit closer to Disney Paris! Sounds like a great trip so far xx

 

[kizzabel]

Another great installment. The apartment is fab and I think travel always cause some sort of confusion - its so stressful and I'm always taking a wrong turn, getting off the train in the wrong place or almost forgetting important things but maybe I'm just a bit scatty anyway!
Looking forward to more!

 

[madmish]

I am totally loving this TR..looking forward to the next installment!! Thanks for sharing.x

 

[ZFamily5]

Loving this trip report.
Can not wait to read what you think of DLP .

Thank you so much! Spoiler Alert: We loved it!

So glad to see more of your trip! Looks like a great beginning - nothing like being a little jet lagged navigating the tube and transferring to the Eurostar - LOL - !! So nice to arrive to a comfy apartment and a helpful host too. Looking forward to more -

That perfectly described our day! We were so thankful Malek was so kind! Thank you for reading along!

Glad you're a bit closer to Disney Paris! Sounds like a great trip so far xx

Thank you so much!

Another great installment. The apartment is fab and I think travel always cause some sort of confusion - its so stressful and I'm always taking a wrong turn, getting off the train in the wrong place or almost forgetting important things but maybe I'm just a bit scatty anyway!
Looking forward to more!

Thank you! I agree, traveling is very stressful, especially to unfamiliar places! Thanks for reading along!

I am totally loving this TR..looking forward to the next installment!! Thanks for sharing.x

Thank you so much for reading!

 

[ZFamily5]

June 14th started out pretty early for me. For some reason I woke up at 5 AM and couldn’t fall back asleep. I listened to my iPod for a while and finally dozed back off. I woke up again around 7 AM. While I was getting dressed, Thing2 was downstairs and got her first birthday present. Aunt C, Uncle R and Kay got Thing2 a beret and an umbrella (as they put it, something for your head for both cities!). After Thing3 and I were dressed we gave Thing2 the sunglasses we got her. She loved them and wore them frequently throughout the trip. Mom and Dad also gave Thing2 her present from them, a card that told her she could go get makeup once we were back home.



We all ate breakfast together, some pastries that Dad had gotten at the bakery down the street. My favorite was the miniature chocolate croissant! Mom and Aunt C were still finishing getting ready so Uncle R decided it was a good time to check out the grocery store down the road. I went with him because I didn’t have anything else to do.

The store was called Dia% and during our time there, we did just about everything wrong. We went in through the exit rather than the entrance (not to be rude, we just didn’t realize) and had to go out and go back in again. I particularly enjoyed the grocery baskets with the long handles and wheels that seemed like miniature carts! We used one of them but it was kind of loud on the floor. We mainly got staples like milk, juice, a case of water, eggs, cheese, grapes, apples, toilet paper and some cookies. Our next issue came when it was time to check out. Apparently we were supposed to have weighed the apples and printed a tag before we could pay for them. The cashier let us know of our issue, but in French, which we had trouble understanding. Uncle R went back to weigh the apples while I waited by the cashier. I felt kind of awkward because I couldn’t talk to her or anything, so I just smiled at her.

Uncle R came back and told the cashier the weight of the apples, but he hadn’t printed a tag for them. She tried again to explain it and again, Uncle R went off to figure out the apple situation and I stayed with the groceries. Finally, we figured it out, were able to pay and walk back to the apartment. By this point everyone else was ready, so we headed to the Metro stop.

We walked inside one end of the station, but we found out that we couldn’t buy tickets on that end. Uncle R decided it would be fine to exit out one door, even though some of us thought it looked a little sketchy. We ended up walking through this path in a field to get to the other side of the station. Dad and Aunt C bought the tickets and soon we were on our way!
After about 40 minutes on the RER, we got into the city. We got out of the station and saw this beautiful building.



We walked along the river to Notre Dame. It was very crowded and we had to wait in a long line to go inside. It was so beautiful and we took many pictures, but most didn’t turn out because of the low lighting.













Dad had read about a market in another area of the city we decided to go check out for lunch. The day went downhill for a little bit here because after taking the Metro, we had to walk to the market. Only issue is, we got quite lost and ended up walking for more than an hour in the hot sun.



Just when we were giving up hope, we found the market! There was a lot of delicious looking food, but hardly any seating. There were a few large picnic tables but you could only use them if you ordered food from a certain stall. We were so exhausted, we just decided to order from there so we could sit down. We ordered falafel, pepperoni pizza, beef and chicken. It was all good, although the falafel came with some mysterious side items that none of us could identify.

We decided to spend some time just walking around and taking in the sights.





Kay got an éclair at some point and Thing2 spent some time window shopping at a piano shop. At a different bakery, Thing3 and Kay got macaroons and I got some chocolate mousse. Shortly after, we saw a McDonald’s, so we stopped to get Coke/water/use the bathroom before continuing on. Right after that, some people approached us on the street, giving us some Coca Light and telling us about a promotion event they were having across the street.

We walked over to check it out and it ended up being a fabulous vacation memory. We were just looking from a distance when Kay noticed a shirtless man you could take your picture with. We moved a little closer and found out that he had a temporary tattoo on his chest that said “I love..”. If you went up for a picture, you were able to write your name on his chest, making it a unique photo opportunity. For some reason we decided this was necessary, so Thing2, Kay and I registered and got in line (registration was free, it was basically connecting your social network accounts to the computer). For the rest of the trip, we talked about our new French model friend!



(I'm only including mine for now because Photobucket's editing page isn't working well now and I need to block out the girls' names first)

There was also a photo booth and some other games, but there were lines for those, so we moved on.



Right across the street from the Coke Experience was the monument for the Bastille.



We walked further down by the river for a while, just looking at the boats and relaxing.



Kay and I had a special moment while we were walking along the river. She turned to me and asked, “Is that a mime?” My response? “No, that’s a person!” Dad was behind us and started laughing. I was confused what was so funny until he asked me, “So mimes aren’t people?” It was a moment to remember for sure! We still hadn’t seen the Eiffel Tower by this point so the girls and I were thinking it was just a trick and the Eiffel Tower didn’t really exist. All day we’d been telling our parents we needed to at least get a glimpse or we wouldn’t believe it. Walking down the river, we got our first glimpse of the top of the Eiffel Tower! It was so exciting, even if we were still far away.










We weren’t ready for dinner yet, so we walked down a back street that had lots of shopping. We went into some scarf shops and a couple of souvenir shops before deciding we should stop for gelato. They had some really cool double cones that we really liked! Dad got lime and peach, I got peach, Thing2 got wild strawberry and chocolate, Thing3 got chocolate and salted butter caramel and Uncle R got salted butter caramel and Kay got strawberry. Mom didn’t want any gelato and Aunt C got a sugar crepe down the street.
We crossed a bridge and listened to a lady sing for a little while, just enjoying the view. There was a street café we saw called Esmeralda we decided to stop at. We saw outside since it was so nice out.



Thing2 and I shared a burger and a Nutella crepe. The burger had Thousand Island dressing on it (which wasn’t advertised on the menu). I was fine with this, but Thing2 didn’t care for it. Thing3 got a Nutella and banana crepe and Kay got a sugar crepe. Aunt C and Uncle R shared a three cheese pizza. Mom got a croque madame and Dad got a croque mousier. The food was very good!

While the adults finished eating, I took the girls across the street to a park. There was a spinning disk thing that you could sit or lay on. The girls got on and I started spinning them. Turns out I was turning them a bit fast…Thing2 and Kay fell off! I was freaking out they were hurt, but everything was alright! Our parents walked over from the restaurant and said that we could go see the Eiffel Tower up close! We took the Metro and before we knew it we were there! You all probably already know this, but don’t buy an Eiffel Tower statue from a guy at the top of the Metro steps. He was selling them for 1 Euro each, however closer you could get 12 for 5 Euros.
We were all so impressed and excited to see it, we took tons of photos!







The girls and I wanted to walk up the stairs to the first level, but our parents were tired and said that we couldn’t. We took the train back to the apartment since it was getting late. We spent a while lounging on the couches and uploading pictures onto the iPads and onto Instagram and Facebook. The adults planned some of what we wanted to do other days while Kay and I showered. We were in bed a little before midnight, after a very fun day!

 

[tinkerbells mum]

Glad you actually got to see the Eiffel Tower! Sounds like you had a great day in Paris xx

 

[ILOVEDLP]

This TR is active
Hope you get to DLRP soon.

 

[kizzabel]

Another great installment. Looking forward to your next one

 

[Christieand]

Sounds like fun! We had a similar experience in Paris trying to find the Eiffel Tower...how hard can it be to find something so huge?! Very, apparently!

 

[rosanab1031]

FINALLY joining in! This TR is making me so happy since I will be there next June! WEEEEEE!!!

Glad you got to see the Eiffel Tower so early in your trip. It took us a few days to make it over there last time I was there

Can't wait for your next update!

 

[crmscotland]

Reading along too. Enjoying your writing style.

 

[Disney Lvr of Old]

Following! trying to educate myself on DLP from an American point of view. Great writing style.

 

[ZFamily5]

June 15th:
The next day began early in the morning for us again. Dad woke me up around 6 and asked if I wanted to go to the Disney Marketplace area with Mom and Aunt C to buy museum passes and look around. At first I said yes, but then the full impact of how exhausted I was hit me and I decided I’d rather sleep more. It ended up that I was showering last, so I didn’t get up until around 9. We ate breakfast, got dressed and got our cameras all together again.

Around 10:30, Uncle R, Kay, Dad, the girls and I went to meet Mom and Aunt C at the RER station. We bought huge water bottles there that you’ll see pictures of in this update. They were massive! At some point we switched lines and rode to Anvers to go to Sacré-Coeur. Getting off at the train station, the girls and I were a bit nervous. It was very crowded and there were announcements playing over the intercom to watch out for pickpockets. We just made sure we were always holding hands with someone from our group and everything turned out fine.

As we continued to walk up the street, things just got more crowded. People were trying to sell you things all around you and there were cars driving up streets filled with people. It was something I’d never experienced before. We got up to the church and it was absolutely beautiful! We took quite a few pictures outside, but none were allowed inside the actual building.









When we were done inside the cathedral, Aunt C and Thing3 went to go find a bench while the rest of us climbed to the top of the dome. The lady selling us the tickets didn’t believe I was 16 so we had to show her my driver’s license to prove that I wasn’t older. After that situation was taken care of, we began climbing the 300 some steps to the top. It was really dark in the stairwell and some of us got slightly dizzy walking up and up and up on the spiral staircase.
The view from the top was phenomenal. Some of my favorite pictures from the trip were taken there.








Once we were done, we kept circling around the building to find the exit. For those of you (probably none of you) that don’t speak French, exit in French is “sortie”. Once we finally found the exit and began the dark descent back to the ground, Kay proclaimed “This is sortie scary!”. For some reason that made us all laugh quite a bit and is a very fond memory I have of the trip. Thing2 was having issues on the way down, saying it was much darker than on the way up. The rest of us disagreed with her until she realized she still had her sunglasses on.

At the bottom, we found Aunt C and Thing3 in a little park. We asked a woman to take a group picture of is, which is actually one of the best pictures of all eight of us from the trip. We kept walking around the area after that, just taking in the sights. We saw a lot of caricature artists and just like before, many people would approach you to buy their goods.









We found a restaurant after that. In my notes it says La Bohemé du Tertre, so I’m not entirely sure if that’s the area we ate in or the actual name of the restaurant. Thing3 ordered a ham and cheese omelet which was terrible. The eggs were soupy and not cooked all the way so she didn’t eat hardly any of it. Thing2 had chicken and fries which she demolished, so I’m guessing it wasn’t too bad. Kay had a ham and swiss sandwich, I had French onion soup, Mom and Aunt C had burgers, Uncle R had chicken and fries and Dad had some sort of ham sandwich. Overall the food was okay, but not great.

After lunch we walked to St. Pierre du Montemartre. We went into another church and rubbed St. Peter’s toe for good luck. After that my notes get less specific. We walked around more through a lot of very crowded areas. We started doing some guided walk from the Rick Steve’s guidebook that Uncle R and Aunt C brought. I didn’t particularly enjoy the guided walk. While it did take us to see some fun things, I prefer just to wander and not have to consult a map every 10 minutes to find the next stop.



At some point, Aunt C had to use the bathroom. The only place we could find nearby required you to be a paying customer. That wasn’t really a problem for us as the girls and I decided to share some Nutella crepes.





We continued the guided walk after that. Some highlights were the oldest crepe shop and a garden that was pretty. If you can’t tell from my description, I was so exhausted at this point that things just began to blur together.
As we kept walking, we wandered through this giant party in the street. That’s the best way I can describe it. There was singing and dancing and costumes and we had no idea what was going on. We walked through the festival or whatever it was and found a restaurant possibly called Moulin Café. We were seated right next to a sliding glass door that was open to let air in. My back was facing the door, giving me no view of anyone coming in or out of the door. I was reading the menu to the girls so we could try and decipher what we might want to order. A man came up right behind me and screamed in my ear. It was the most terrifying thing. He didn’t scream anything in particular, just screamed super loudly. I actually started crying because I didn’t know what was happening and it was just scary for me. The waiter came and chased him off so that was nice.

Finally we ordered our meals that were more of a snack. Kay and I ordered fries with mayo, Aunt C, Thing2 and Thing3 all ordered crème brulee, Mom ordered a latte, Dad ordered some sort of sausage plate and Uncle R had tarte tartine. While we were eating the screaming man came and screamed in my ear again. It was not pleasant but that was the last time I saw him.

When we were finished eating, we went to Paul to buy bread for back at the apartment. Kay and Thing3 also got some macaroons while we were there. We walked and saw Moulin Rouge before we went to the metro station. Before we went through the turnstiles, we saw a man attacking a woman. That really scared Kay, Thing2 and I because we’re not accustomed to seeing acts of violence.

After our metro and RER rides, we were back to our station. Uncle R and Aunt C went back to the apartment while the rest of us went to the mall. All of the stores were closing so we went into the giant grocery store. We bought some salami and looked for sweatshirts but didn’t find any we absolutely loved. We did enjoy the big escalator things that you could take your carts on. I’ve seen them in the United States a few times, but not too frequently.

Back at the apartment, we ate salami, bread, brie and some butter cookies we bought somewhere along the way. It was very good! We spent some time sorting and uploading pictures from the day and planning for the next day. Finally, we took showers and went to bed at a relatively early time.

 

[kizzabel]

Another update
Gosh you had quite the day! I'd leap out of my skin too if some strange came up and screamed in my ear and the cheek of him to come back and do it again. I have food envy now! I'd love a crepe!
Looking forward to more

 

[momabaarjo]

I can't believe what a beautiful young lady you are turning into...and your writing style keeps getting better and better!

 

[shezfrombermuda]

I am really enjoying your review. Great pictures!