Friday (April 4th): I woke up at 4:30 to get ready for the day! We had a bit of a long trip ahead of us. We left around 5:30 on the 24 tram for the Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof, and caught an earlier-than-planned train to Mannheim so we'd have more transfer time. We caught a 7am train via the ICE (Inter-City Express) train to Paris. Pulled in to Gare de l'Est and walked to our hotel (Hotel Terrage, kind of a dive) close by, checked into our rooms and immediately hit the town!
First stop was the Louvre, which cost 12 euros to get in; we could not get through enough of it in time, so we just saw most of the basics: La Joconde (Mona Lisa), Venus de Milo (Aphrodite), and so on. We spent at least 2.5 hours there and only got through half of a wing, maybe one or two floors? That place is HUGE. Anyway, here's me and Lisa just chilling.
After that, we had a late lunch in the Café Musée, which was a very yummy hot baguette-sandwich thing. Then looked at a nearby church, and the group got separated. Somehow though, we met up again at a random flower/post card shop! We all headed then to the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was very stunning! We stayed there for a while, after *someone* kept wandering away... not name-dropping though :P I cried inside the church, it was so beautiful. After that visit, we got macarons (which are not as good as I expected, kind of disappointing) and found our way to the "best ice cream in the world, or Paris, or something like that." Berthillon had expensive scoops, but I got a mind-blowing vanilla. So tasty. The rest of the day was a bit of an unwinder, where we walked back to the hotel and had food. I had deep discussions with Michelle, then it was time for bed.
Saturday, aka the most surreal day of my life: DISNEYLAND PARIS!!!! (Yes, it had to be done, otherwise I would have regretted it.)
I woke up around 7:20am and I got ready: black shirt, red pants, yellow earrings (couldn't find yellow shoes in time), little hidden mickey in eyeliner on my eyelid - I basically did a lazy Mickey Disneybound :) Sam, Sara, Hector, and I left around 8:30am from the lobby, and somehow navigated the Metro/RER trains to get to 'Parcs Disneyland' - after about 1.25 hours of travel, we were literally dropped off in Disney Village! There was a little scare about our debit cards not working (to buy tickets), but a quick Starbucks trip quelled those fears :) We waited in the lines for tickets for about an hour, then at 11:15, we went into the park!!!!! Like I said, surreal. The castle was one of the highlights of the day; it grew on my the more I looked at it. It was sooo tall (especially compared to Anaheim's castle)!
This is my 'I can't believe this is happening' face.
Our first ride was Space Mountain, which had us in shock once we got off. It was so different than the one in California, but a nice change. Upon exiting, we stumbled across a Mary Poppins Spring-themed parade. The dancers came pouring out from Main Street as well as the castle, and I got so happily overwhelmed I cried (this weekend sounds like a crying weekend overall! Haha). So I had my moment, then once the show ended we headed off to Big Thunder! We got fastpasses, then passed the time with Pirates! That ride was basically the reverse of the original, but it had bigger drops and seemed to go faster. Then back to Big Thunder, which still took a while with the fastpass line so long, but it was worth it! It was a very, very large ride. The final dip underground at the end was quite exhilarating.
We then took a trek to Walt Disney Studios, which is in bad need of repair/remodel, to be honest. It felt depressing, we didn't stay for long. There we rode Tower of Terror (which was identical to the one in DCA), RC Racer in Toy Story Land, the Rockin' Rollercoaster, the tour starring Disney's live-action flops that no one watched/remembered, and Aladdin's carpets. Overall, underwhelming. We went right back to the main park as soon as we could.
The first thing we saw back in Disneyland Paris was yet another parade! I observed that the park was extremely spacious, very much unlike Anaheim's crowded and cramped summer days. It could also have been that fewer people visit the Paris location (someone shared with me that French people enjoy more passive entertainment, like going to a museum, rather than interactive entertainment like going on rides. I believe it). We ate dinner in the Lion King-themed Hakuna Matata restaurant and sang along to the instrumental tracks it played while we ate. The railroad station we found had just said goodbye to its train for about 45 minutes, but we stayed for at least fifteen minutes to chill and enjoy the calm and serenity one rarely finds at Disneyland. We explored the second level of Aurora's castle, then Fantasyland too! The teacups went quite fast, Sam and I discovered.
Then we returned to Frontierland and discovered the Phantom Manor, which is like Haunted Mansion but with a(n American) Western theme. I LOVED it, and the little graveyard next to it was cute to explore too. We got to watch the sunset from the top of the hill where the Manor was situated. After that, we reserved seats for the fireworks show! But of course, it got cancelled :( So, we went souvenir shopping (and by "we" I mean everyone else but me, I was trying to find a place to sit where I wouldn't get separated from the group. It was semi-stressful) for the final couple hours before midnight, before taking the RER train back to our hostel.
Sunday: Today, we rode the Metro to visit the Eiffel Tower! Some Chinese tourists were there the same time we were, to take "far away" pictures with the tower, and one man in the tour group wanted a picture with me in front of the tower! We took it, and he said 谢谢 ("Xie Xie," which is thank you in Mandarin), then "thanks" (with an "s" sound instead of the "th") and I thought it was really neat. He was very nice. Our group bought €13,50 tickets to ride up to the very top of the tower, and waited in a rather long line. I was on my feet for too long during the day; it was just as unpleasant as one would imagine. After we finished our tour of the "tour" (tower in French, haaa), we ate at a café, the name of which I can't recall. I got spaghetti carbonara, which would have been fantastic if it wasn't mixed with a raw egg in front of me. I do not like eggs, especially raw, and especially if they are in my food. I ate most of it anyway because nutrition was more important than being squicked out by it, and when we left the place we witnessed at least three hundred roller skaters go by in the street; was it some sort of derby? We may never know. Then, we traveled by foot to the French Opera House! Tragically, it wasn't open for tours on Sunday :'( We tried to sneak a peek, but it wasn't meant to be. To get back to the hotel, I walked with Michelle and Jonathan while Sara, Hector and Sam took the Metro. We saw some interesting sights! I wish I'd video-taped more things, but I guess the memories will have to do.
After a couple hours of rest at the hotel, we headed back out on the town at 9:30 or so, in order to see the Tower at night. After dark, every hour on the hour, it sparkled!!! What a surprise. We walked around to find a café and settled on Le Wilson. I had a French original: Crème brûlée! It was the best thing I'd ever tasted in a looong time, it was wonderful. We all went back to the hotel happy, seeing all that we could see of Paris at the time :)
Monday was our return day, which meant we woke up quite early for the 6:50 train from Gare de l'Est. I said it once, and I'll say it again: thank goodness for the close proximity between hotel and train station!
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