Que Vive la France!

With my son Christopher's request in mind, in August 2005 we went to Paris to visit the Louvre Museum and Disneyland Paris. The kids had already been in the Magic Kingdom before, but I think they were too small then, and Goofy only made my son cry! This time they were older and more interested in visiting museums and going on scary rides, like Space Mountain!

I found there is no real Disneyland Paris website, but the most useful information I found was in Wikipedia, especially the part about transportation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_Resort_Paris

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

We took the Metro to Paris and got off in the Marcel Sembat station, which was the one recommended by the Sorel Hotel we had booked on the Internet, http://www.france-hotel-guide.com/h92100sorel.htm. We had to do a lot of walking, but people were helpful when we asked directions. When we thought we still had a way to go, we were surprised to find we were standing almost right outside it! It turned out to be a nice little two-star hotel, with only 20 rooms, but very cosy and familiar! I noticed the owner of the hotel liked to embroider and I could see some of her work in the lobby and bedrooms. Nice touch, I thought! I also met another woman, her name was Claudia and she was from Mauritius. The hotel was also strategically situated in relation to the Metro and shops.

Afterwards we went to the Eiffel Tower and the city fascinated both kids! They prefer to go to big cities for holidays, rather than to islands all the time, they commented! There is a very good Internet site: www.tour-eiffel.fr/ in French, but they also have versions in other languages. This site has 500 pages of information, 1,000 illustrations, 360° and 3-D virtual visits, as well as videos of the millennium sparkling lights and fireworks display.

They realised things were more expensive in Paris when we had to pay €7.50 for a Sprite and from then on ordered water in restaurants and bought mineral water in the Metro, as it was cheaper!

Everybody woke up early the next day to go to Disneyland, but I found they returned relatively early, which surprised me. In the afternoon we sat in a café close to Notre Dame with an English bookshop next door. Chris found a book he liked about the Industrial Revolution in Rural France and wanted to buy it, but I talked him out of it luckily! We then took the train to Montmartre and enjoyed watching the little shops and restaurants on the way, as well as the countless painters once we got there. Gisela was most impressed, as she likes to draw and paint herself.

After Montmartre we found a nice restaurant near Moulin Rouge for dinner. Both my husband and son ordered lamb chops, but one was overcooked, even though he had ordered rare and the other was nearly burnt, so they returned them both and got new dishes!

We went to the Louvre and I was surprised by the number of armed guards around! A sign of the times, I guess. I was impressed about the entrance, so much light despite it being underground! We got to see Mona Lisa finally, but I thought it was a pity it had to be protected by glass. We also saw some sculptures, and the Venus de Milo. The place is huge, but we only got to see a small part. Afterwards we had a snack and Chris was just as impressed with his chocolate muffin!

This is what SearchEngineWatch.com had to say June 21, 2005:

"The Louvre's New Masterpiece. The Louvre's web site has long been a treasure trove for art lovers, but the site's recent relaunch has moved the museum's online presence into a class of its own."

The site address is: http://www.louvre.fr/

It is really a masterpiece and by watching images of their video I could just about relive my visit to the museum a few months ago, especially its entrance!

La Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie is one of the world's largest science museums and it is a masterwork of modern architecture. The museum now occupies what used to be the Paris slaughterhouse building. It is situated on an impressive green area in northeastern Paris and constitutes an area of culture and leisure, which offers a variety of exhibitions and shows. There are many parks around and also playgrounds for children.

The web addresses are:

http://www.paris.org/Musees/Cite/
http://www.cite-sciences.fr/english/indexFLASH.htm

Both sites in English

It took a while to get there but the next morning we went to the Science Museum. It was modern, efficient, and very educational, I found. The kids were interested in the exhibits, but also in the souvenir shop at the end! I particularly liked their books section, as they seemed to have reading matter about just everything!

After lunch we went for a boat tour, which was most relaxing and informative, as one could listen to explanations in different languages! We had ice-creams after the ride, the kids opting for machine dispensed ones instead of paying €4 per cone!