Remembering Paris

Its great to be a kid again. That's how I felt when I walked through the gates of Disneyland. Like a little girl, ready to experience the joys of childhood in that wondrous place. I never went to Disneyland as a child. The first time my husband and I went to Disneyland was in California as newlyweds. I don't remember being nearly as excited about that as I was about seeing Disneyland Paris with my children! We made a beeline for Space Mountain and were ecstatic to see there was hardly any line at all! We got right on and could have rode again, but instead we went to Honey, I Shrunk The Audience, one of those 3-D shows. Both of our boys were enchanted with the place the whole day long. The weather was warm, but not hot. There were only long lines at a couple of the rides, and those were only 30-45 minutes long.

We stayed at a hostel near Disneyland, which means we were about 30 minutes outside of Paris. The hostel was very basic but clean and cheap. Unfortunately, it was in a bad location and required a 20 minute walk to the nearest bus/train station, then a 30-45 minute journey into Paris. We got used to this set-up, and it was mostly only a pain when we first arrived and had to drag our luggage (thank goodness for wheeled luggage!) there, and again when we had to drag our luggage back!

We visited the Eiffel Tower, taking the elevator to the very top and enjoying a panoramic view of the city of Paris. I didn't realize how small Stockholm was until I saw how big Paris was!



We also enjoyed seeing the Arc de Triomphe, the world's largest triumphal arch, commisioned by Napoleon. It truly was magnificent, more grand than I had envisioned. We saw the gleaming white Basilica Sacre Coeur and the crazy Gothic gargoyles of Notre Dame. Both were mind boggling and beautiful. Our last day in Paris we went to the Louvre, where we thronged around the Mona Lisa with other admirers. ~N~ and ~D~ were mystified by her constant gaze. Her eyes followed them no matter which angle they looked at her! ~N~ kept saying "I can't believe I'm seeing the REAL Mona Lisa!!!" The Louvre is a monstrously huge art museum that would take days to see everything. We took in as much as we could. There were so many fabulous paintings, beautifully rich in details and colors.

I'll save Rome for another entry. If Paris is romantic, I'd say Rome is ALIVE. Very different cities. Both wonderful!!

Rejoicing,
to be back in my own bed
but grateful for the memories,

Marla