Globetrotting: to Disneyland Paris and back with TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Exactly my point, if he doesn't start building and protecting his brand that other Norm might swoop in and start using his best stuff! Businesses are built on products, empires are built on brands, and legacies upon the success or ruination of those brands... leave a legacy (and no, I don't mean get your face engraved on a "tombstone" in front of DJD at Epcot!) (and no, this is not a drunk-post! It's 9am on a Weds for crying out loud!) LOL

 

It's 5 o'clock somewhere!

 

Cheers!

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

As much as I'm sure we would all like to move on, I have some more Disneyland Paris photos to share from our last morning in the park.

 

I had the rental car until 2 pm, and we had three day park passes, so we had to go in for one final visit, even though neither of us was particularly interested in visiting another day.  I've never felt that way about a Disney park, but that's how we felt today.

 

We parked in the guest lot, and began the long march to the entrance.

 

Traveling to Europe enlightened me on the fact that there are stupid and inconsiderate people all over the world.  Europeans gather in mobs and block moving sidewalks just like Americans:

 

 

Look at what they use for police dogs in France:

 

 

Here we are at the entrance to Parc Disneyland.  The sign looks pretty old. I don't think anyone calls it Parc Disneyland anymore:

 

 

Both my DD and I wanted to buy Disneyland Paris t-shirts, but the selection was awful.  I've already said there was no Davy Crockett Ranch themed merchandise.  There wasn't much Disneyland Paris stuff either. Most of what they had you could buy in the US, and then there was stuff like this:

 

 

All of it was expensive, but obviously was poor quality.  And the sizes were tiny.  The odd thing is that America does not have the market cornered on large citizens.  There were plenty of large Europeans everywhere we looked.  But, there wasn't a men's t-shirt I saw that would be above an American size large.  So, we didn't get any DLP t-shirts.  Fine with me.  Saved me a bunch of money.

 

The DLP Main Street still has alleys on both sides, so the shops are not one continuous gift shop like at the MK:

 

 

 

Here's another castle shot.  It was 11:22 am when I took this photo.  Again, there are a lot less people here than you would expect to see in the US parks at this time of day:

 

 

When we spoke to Twin #1 on the phone the night before, she asked us what Adventureland was like in Paris, as she hadn't paid very much attention to it when she visited last year. Since then, she spent five months working in Adventureland at WDW, and is hoping to do the same at Disneyland California later this year.  So, she has a new appreciation for Adventureland.  We told her that we would go there today and get a lot of photos for her.

 

We hadn't gone through the main Adventureland entrance yet, and it wasn't going to happen today either:

 

 

 

We had to go around via Frontierland:

 

 

I'm not sure if you can see it, but there's a Genie and Iago weathervane above the Adventureland entrance:

 

 

I am not sure what the snake from Jungle Book and Zazu are doing in the same scene, but here they are:

 

 

I didn't realize it yesterday, but there are a lot of islands in Adventureland and Frontierland.  Here's a bridge to the island that the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse is on:

 

 

It seems like there are many more restaurants at DLP than there are in the US parks.  They are everywhere.  Here's one now in Adventureland:

 

 

I guess this is a quick serve place as the menu is very limited- note they have a souvenir mug here and a Magnum bar on a stick, but no Mickey bars:

 

 

The landscaping around Adventureland, just like it is around the rest of the park, is very nice.  There's the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse on the left:

 

 

Just a few steps from that snack place is another restaurant- this one is called Hakuna Matata.  The sign out front says they serve tasty dishes with a touch of spice, such as African beef stew and mildly spicy chicken strips- sounds like it could be good:

 

 

I guess the place was open, but nobody was going in.  I think the French must eat their meals at different times than we are used to in the states, as a place like this would be swarmed by this time of day in the US parks:

 

 

There's the bridge to Adventure Isle:

 

 

Here's the view from the bridge.  Those African looking huts across the way are seating areas for guests to use while eating their snacks from that quick serve place we just looked at.  Seems like a lot of seating.  And no one was using it.  Also, if you look down in the water, you can see that there was a whirlpool feature in it, which I thought was pretty cool:

 

 

This sign showed us the way to Ben Gunn's cave.  That's a character from the book Treasure Island.  I'm not sure why his cave is here:

 

 

Here we are at the Treehouse:

 

 

The Treehouse, and the area around it, is very nice.  Check out this nice waterfall:

 

 

I figured that as long as we were here, we ought to climb the Treehouse and see what we could see.  What we couldn't see was the entrance.  This sign directed us to Le Vente de la Terre.  That didn't sound like the entrance, but we headed in there anyway.  Google Translate tells me that the sign means "The Belly of the Earth.":

 

 

It turns out that we were under the tree, and this was part of the attraction:

 

 

This feature was kind of cool. Here's the view looking up- there are people walking up the tree up there:

 

 

There was a little room they called the root cellar down here:

 

 

We ended up walking out the other side of the tree, and found a path that wound around the base of the tree.  Out there in the water, for no apparent reason, Carl and Russell from UP! were in a boat:

 

 

Finally, we found the entrance to La Cabane des Robinson:

 

 

For anyone who doesn't know why there is a huge fake tree here, the sign at the entrance explained things in both French and English:

 

 

So far, the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse here in Disneyland Paris was much nicer than either of the US ones.  That under the tree part was cool, and the whole area around the tree was very nice.  From what I gather, this tree and the stuff around it, was a big part of the original Adventureland plan here.

 

Next, we will see a few Treehouse photos, and then we'll move on to some other things in Adventureland.

 

TCD

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

Everything is interesting and I like looking at the pictures but I don't think I need to visit Disneyland Paris now that I have read your report.  On the other hand I do want to visit Disneyland in California because of your other report. :)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Everything is interesting and I like looking at the pictures but I don't think I need to visit Disneyland Paris now that I have read your report.  On the other hand I do want to visit Disneyland in California because of your other report. :)

 

Good decision.

 

TCD

[Dalspot ... Karen 21]

Ditto on what Brandy said!
 

Everything is interesting and I like looking at the pictures but I don't think I need to visit Disneyland Paris now that I have read your report.  On the other hand I do want to visit Disneyland in California because of your other report. :)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I think we've all had enough Disneyland Paris photos, so I'm happy to let you know that this is the last batch of photos I have from there.

 

After this, we are getting on the train, and moving on to real Paris.

 

We left off at the base of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.  We headed up, and this part of it looked just like all the other Swiss Family Robinson Treehouses I've seen.  I guess that old saying is true:  If you've seen one Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, you've seen them all:

 

 

Look, they even have the same plastic fruit.  Ooooh.  Ahhhh. :

 

 

The view from higher up wasn't bad.  You can see the big pirate ship play structure over there- and you can also see there are green construction walls up blocking access to it.  Now we know why there weren't any kids playing on it:

 

 

Plastic leaves, just like we have at home:

 

 

They do have a nice waterfall, though:

 

 

Yup, that pirate ship is off limits.  This wasn't listed on the list of closed attractions:

 

 

With the pirate ship closed, I am not sure there was much adventure to be had on Adventure Isle:

 

 

The pirate ship being closed wasn't all bad.  At least there's not a million bratty euro kids crawling all over it in this photo:

 

 

Proof that European parents are just as cruel as Americans.  Look at that poor unfortunate kid being forced to dress up like that stupid snowman with no bones and no skull.  If I knew the number, I would have called the French DCF so they could help that kid and bring him some smokes:

 

 

We walked thought Fantasyland and headed toward the castle.  We checked a few gift shops for last minute purchases on the way out.  This scene was inside the gift shop next to the Snow White ride:

 

 

I knew I hadn't gotten any decent photos of the dragon beneath the castle, so we headed in to that cave, and I got these two photos.  The dragon under the castle is cool:

 

 

 

And the castle is really nice:

 

 

Since we were heading out soon, I made sure to get photos of all the topiaries.   I think you've already seen all of these, but just in case I missed one, here they are again:

 

 

 

 

 

You may have noticed that last photo is from up near the front of the park.

 

What about Discoveryland?

 

We skipped it.

 

I wanted to at least pop in there to see it and maybe ride the Star Tours ride.

 

But DD pointed out that it would be a colossal waste of time as that ride is the same thing they used to have at DHS before the upgrade they did a few years back.  The only other attractions open in that land were the racecars and Buzz Lightyear.  We can do those at MK if we ever feel the need.  So, we skipped Discoveryland.  If I ever go back, it will give me something to do.

 

It was past lunchtime by now, and we had that train to catch.

 

But, we figured we should eat now while we had a chance, because who knows how long our trip to Paris would really take.

 

We decided to hit up Earl Of Sandwich again.  That free Wi-Fi was important to us.

 

Oh, here's something- our bags from the stores at WDW and Disneyland just say Disney Parks, but the bags at Disneyland Paris say Disneyland Paris:

 

 

It was 12:15 when we were at EOS, and we were the only ones having lunch:

 

 

More support for my theory that DLP's target customers are the British:

 

 

Look, they serve French's mustard in France.  Classy:

 

 

On the way out of the Disney Village after lunch, we looked in the big Disney store they had there.  This photo could have been taken at your local mall:

 

 

There were some props set up around the village related to the Swing into Spring promotion that was going on, but we never saw any activities going on.  They gave the kids something to play on:

 

 

 

We walked by the train station on our way out to get the car.  We would be coming right back here, but I needed to turn the car in.  There's a street vendor selling crappy stuffed animals, and the guy on the left is harassing Disney guests about buying selfie sticks:

 

 

So long to you as well:

 

 

Conveniently, there was a gas station right on the property kind of where the Car Care Center is at WDW, and I was able to fill the Panda there before returning it.  I really enjoyed driving this little Fiat.  I didn't pay attention to how many liters of gas I needed, but I know the total charge to top off the tank in American dollars was $11-ish:

 

 

They have a convenience store here too, with all kinds of stuff ala a Hess Express:

 

 

To return the car, I retraced the path we took out of the parking garage when we arrived.  I wasn't sure if that was right, but luckily it was, and returning the car was no problem.  We were right in the train station, so all we had to do was find the right platform, and we were good to go.

 

Speaking of going, we figured we ought to make a final pit stop just in case.  We went in here, and found an attendant charging 2 Euros a piece to use the facilities:

 

 

That was pretty bad- over two bucks just to use the toilet?  In a train station? 

 

This map told us where we needed to go.  We were at the station listed up top, and we needed to go to the one called Chatelet-Les Halles, and transfer to a Metro line there.  Seemed pretty simple:

 

 

We are going to head out next.

 

But first, I will share my final thoughts on what we paid, Disneyland Paris, and Davy Crockett Ranch.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Looking forward to your final thoughts.  And what's the story about the dragon under the castle?

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Yeah I'm interested to hear you DLP conclusion.

 

That map reminds me that I really liked the Paris Metro, BUT I did mess it up once and got on heading the wrong direction.  Whoops, that made CP a little nervous.

 

WBI

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

OK, let's get to my final thoughts about Disneyland Paris so we can move on and finish up with this trip.

 

First, let's talk money.

 

As I mentioned earlier,  I could not find a price for two nights below $1000 on the official Disneyland Paris site, nor could Jason, our travel agent extraordinaire.  It was out of desperation that I looked at Travelocity, and found a deal for two nights with park tickets and a half board meal plan for $875.56, and that's what I booked.  I assume Travelocity makes money on this deal somehow, so how they can offer that price while Disney itself wouldn't, I can't explain.

 

So, our two nights at Disneyland Paris cost us $437.78 a night.

 

That's a lot.

 

But let's look at what I got with that.

 

First, I got the Half Board meal plan.

 

That included a snack, dinner and breakfast for each of us for two days.

 

The receipt for the snack told me that the out of pocket cost for that for two was 10.98 EUR:

 

 

The receipt from our dinner at the Plaza told me that the out of pocket cost for two was 54.00 EUR:

 

 

The signs and printed material advertising the take away breakfast told me that the cost for two of those was 18 EUR.

 

So that's:

 

10.98 + 54.00 + 18.00 = 82.98

 

82.98 x 2 = 165.96

 

Using today's exchange rate, that's about $189.17 in food for two days.  That sounds about right for Disney.  WDW would probably be more.

 

For park tickets, this document told me that the face price for our three day park hoppers was 174 EUR each:

 

 

That works out to $198.33 a piece or $396.66 for the face value of the tickets.

 

Subtracting those figures from the total I paid to Travelocity yields this result:

 

$875.56 - $189.17 - $396.66 = $289.73

 

Divide that by two, and you get $144.87 for the price for night for just the cabin.

 

That is a lot less than what they charge for cabins at Fort Wilderness.

 

Looking at it this way, I don't feel like the price I paid was excessive.  Two nights in a Fort Wilderness cabin with a meal plan and three day park hoppers would undoubtedly be a lot more than that.  Of course, at Disney World I'd also have park transportation, activities at the Fort, and four parks to visit instead of two.

 

Now, let's talk about Davy Crockett Ranch.  Everyone has figured out by now that it was a huge disappointment.  I was really excited to go there, and I really wanted to like it.  But, I really didn't.  To me, it's a lot like when I first began to visit Fort Wilderness in the mid-90's.  There was evidence of many things that used to exist, but no longer did.  Like the railroad tracks for the FWRR.  Back then, the Fort was kind of run down, with a lot of things like the comfort stations, Trading Posts and the Wilderness Homes being in bad need of being refurbished.  To the Fort management's credit, they did end up refurbishing a lot of things, and the Fort has been kept up.  Yes, they could have done a better job, but the Fort is still a nice place to visit with a lot of fun things for guests to enjoy.  You can't say the same about Davy Crockett Ranch.  And that's just sad.

 

The same with the Disneyland Paris parks.  I really wanted to like them.  They both have some very nice things.  But, they are clearly suffering from neglect as well, and feel dated and boring.  It's like they started off OK, and then have been on cruise control ever since.  It's not enough.  They need to get their act together.  The thing is that after this much time, I doubt they ever will.

 

I guess that's all I have to say about that.

 

Now, on to the City of Lights!

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That map reminds me that I really liked the Paris Metro, BUT I did mess it up once and got on heading the wrong direction.  Whoops, that made CP a little nervous.

 

 

Soon you will hear the story that will explain why we ended up hating the Metro.  The Tube in London, we loved, but we hated the Metro.  And for good reason.

 

LOL about getting on the wrong train.  I was so paranoid about that every time we got on a train. It can get really confusing, and I found it much more so in France, since they were speaking French there. The guidebooks I read got me worked up too, as the ways they explained Paris' trains was much more complicated than it needed to be.

 

On a similar note, I was always concerned about missing the exit for Davy Crockett Ranch when driving back from the parks and ending up on a French interstate.  Before Google maps and GPS's I used to do a pretty good job getting lost, and I didn't have those aids on this trip.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Okay, looking at your breakdown of costs, I have to agree that the cost was not too excessive.  However, I do feel that we get a much better value for our dollars at WDW.

 

Looking forward to your Paris pictures!

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

I agree, when you break down your cost like that it doesn't seem too bad.  I think that's probably what you would pay for a 3-star European hotel anyway.

 

About Travelocity I've seen where they offer rooms cheaper than Disneyworld does on their own website sometimes.  Years ago I used them to book a room at AKL and got a super deal on two different trips.

 

Oh and I forgot to comment on the pay restrooms in the train station, I think that's nuts, I thought they were free in train stations!   And while we're on the topic of bathrooms, why does Europe use those crappy toilets?  I know they say they conserve water, but don't like them.  Why can't they use toilets like we do in the states, they are way better.

 

 

WBI

[red...Susan 37]

Thank you for the information. Using this and looking at their rehab calendar we are moving our trip to 2017.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

If you had to pay to use the bathroom, did the urinals at least have the little fly target to aim for?  Europeans apparently like to make peeing into a game of target practice.  

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Okay, looking at your breakdown of costs, I have to agree that the cost was not too excessive.  However, I do feel that we get a much better value for our dollars at WDW.

 

Looking forward to your Paris pictures!

 

I absolutely agree with that.  You get much more bang for your buck at WDW.  But, for a family who has to fly to WDW, going to Disneyland Paris would not be much more expensive than a trip to WDW.  I thought it would be way more expensive, but it isn't. If the exchange rate for the Euro continues its current trend, this would be the time to go.

 

I agree, when you break down your cost like that it doesn't seem too bad.  I think that's probably what you would pay for a 3-star European hotel anyway.

 

About Travelocity I've seen where they offer rooms cheaper than Disneyworld does on their own website sometimes.  Years ago I used them to book a room at AKL and got a super deal on two different trips.

 

Oh and I forgot to comment on the pay restrooms in the train station, I think that's nuts, I thought they were free in train stations!   And while we're on the topic of bathrooms, why does Europe use those crappy toilets?  I know they say they conserve water, but don't like them.  Why can't they use toilets like we do in the states, they are way better.

 

 

WBI

 

I haven't seen any great WDW deals on Travelocity.  But then again, it's not someplace that I look.

 

It's still odd to me that Disneyland Paris makes no effort to attract visitors from the US.  I think if they dangled the kind of deals that are hidden on Travelocity, there's a large segment of people who would visit just for the sake of seeing it.  The only thing I can think of as to why they don't is that they know their product is inferior to what guests get in the US, and they'd like to keep that quiet.

 

That restroom in the train station was the only public restroom we saw where you had to pay. The whole thing was sketchy, and now that I think about it, it could be the lady acting as the attendant was running a scam.  She was standing behind the counter you see in the photo, but the only sign saying that you had to pay was one printed on computer payment and taped to the counter.  If she was running a scam, she was very bold about it, which is why I thought it was legit.  But now I wonder.

 

Thank you for the information. Using this and looking at their rehab calendar we are moving our trip to 2017.

 

I think that's a wise choice.  If it's true that they're about to spend a bunch of money to fix things up for the 25th anniversary, it would be better to wait for that.  That said, one good reason to go now, though, is that the prices are (relatively) cheap and there are no crowds.  I'd really hate that place if we had to wait in long lines all day.

 

If you had to pay to use the bathroom, did the urinals at least have the little fly target to aim for?  Europeans apparently like to make peeing into a game of target practice.  

 

I left out the part that I didn't have to go that bad, and I decided to hold it rather than fork over the 2 Euros.  It wasn't the money, it was the principle of the thing.  DD did go, and said the toilets were filthy.  Welcome to France.

 

TCD

[The Troll 67]

I'm shocked. I thought you would have paid much more than that. You got a steal! Especially for Europe! I'd go for that price, if I didn't have to endure the agonizing flight.

 

And then this:

 

 

Gotta say you let them off the hook way too easy, Andrew.

Look at that crap. No "Pardon our pixie dust" sign, no "Sorry for the inconvenience" sign, not even a fricking arrow pointing to a different direction to go.

 

Just, "Closed, bitches. Get out of here."

 

Communists.

 

Walt Disney, if he were alive, would issue an Executive Order to close DLP and then personally bulldoze it.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's get to Paris.

 

We left off at the train station.  There was a lot of commotion, as there are trains that head in lots of directions from here.  As far as I could tell, they don't have a reloadable card like they sell in London for train fare.  You get a little paper ticket that has to be scanned through a machine.  From what I understood, each paper ticket is only good for one ride  We followed the signs that directed us to the trains heading to Paris, scanned our tickets, and found our platform.  I wasn't 100% sure we were in the right place, but I thought we were.   A train was sitting in the station, and about to leave.  I still wasn't 100% sure if this was the right train, but it was heading to Paris, so we took it.

 

We didn't have to wait for the train, so we never got to enjoy this seating area.  And look, there was a free baguette there on one of the chairs:

 

 

I believe that there might be trains that go directly to Paris without stopping at the stops along the way, but we weren't on one of those, so we stopped at each stop. I didn't mind, it was interesting to see what they looked like.  This is the first stop after leaving the Disneyland Paris station:

 

 

It looks like people live here, and it doesn't look too bad.  Aside from the graffiti that you can see toward the bottom of the photo:

 

 

We traveled along, stopping at each stop that was listed on that map we looked at earlier.  People would get on and get off the train.  There were quite a few panhandlers, and we had a couple of musicians who got on, played a song, passed their hat, and got off at the next stop.  I guess travelers coming from Disneyland Paris must be good customers for that type of thing.

 

There was one point where the train stopped completely and an announcement was made, first in French and then in English that there would be a traffic delay. 

 

We arrived at the Les Halles station about 40 minutes after we left Disneyland Paris.  I think it would have only taken 30 minutes if we hadn't stopped for the traffic delay:

 

 

The name Les Halles may ring a bell with you.  The quick serve restaurant at the France pavilion in Epcot is called Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie.  Did you ever wonder why? I did, but I never really cared to find out.  I thought Les Halles was a man's name.  You know, like short for Lester Halles?  I figured he was some French guy.  Well, it's not.  Les Halles is a place in Paris.  The name translates to The Halls, and it's a big and well known marketplace in Paris.  Also, I'll bet you don't pronounce the name right.  I always pronounced it like Les (as in short for Lester) Halls.  That isn't even close.  It's pronounced "Lay AL" (like the man's name Al).

 

At Les Halles, we had to transfer to a Metro train that would take us to our next stop, which was called Saint Michael.  I pronounced that like Saint Michael.  But the French say "San Michelle."  We found the right train, took it, and low and behold, we emerged from underground to see this:

 

 

That's Notre Dame Cathedral over there, and I was relieved to see it, as we were staying at a place called Hotel Notre Dame, and I knew it was across the street from there.  And, just like our arrival in London, we were greeted with rain.

 

The sky over that way was blue, though:

 

 

We were getting rained on, and needed to find our hotel, so we headed out a bit onto this bridge so we could get a good look down the street.  The river you see here is the Seine River.  It's a big deal in Paris, and I was expecting something more.  But that's it.  From here, we could see the sign for our hotel there at the end of the block on the right:

 

 

We headed that way, and found our hotel.  This actually was the first hotel that I booked for the trip, and is ranked 183rd out of 1793 hotels in Paris.  It is what we would call a boutique hotel- small and privately owned, and not part of a big chain.  What attracted me to this particular hotel is that the room I booked was supposed to have a view of Notre Dame Cathedral and the Seine. That sounded cool, and I figured there would be transportation available all around there to the other Paris sights.

 

Check it was great.  The lady behind the reception desk was a classy middle-aged French lady.  She was very professional, and friendly for a French person.  She went over the hotel's procedures, and explained that they had a bar and small restaurant, and sent us up to our room.  Of course, the first thing I did was go to the window to see if we really had a view of the cathedral.

 

This is what I saw:

 

 

I thought that was pretty awesome.

 

Our room had great Wi-Fi, and I texted a photo of our view to Mrs. TCD.  She texted back that that was a good joke, and she thought I was lying.

 

But that really was our view.

 

This is the view looking the other way.  If we could have seen just a bit more to left of what is shown in this photo, we would be able to see the Eiffel Tower too:

 

 

Do you see those little green booths along the river in that last photo?

 

They looked familiar to me.

 

Since our return, I took this photo in Epcot, across from the France pavilion.  This is the area that we always stop and eat the food we purchase from the France booth during the Food and Wine Festivals.  I always wondered what the green metal boxes on the wall were there for.  Now I know:

 

 

We spent a bit of time in the room chilling and enjoying the Wi-Fi.  We also formulated our plans for what we would do this afternoon and then tomorrow. There were things that we definitely wanted to see, and things that were possibilities, so we tried to figure out what to do first.  I studied the Metro map, as the plan was to use that as our primary means of transportation around the city.  At the Disneyland Train Station, I had only bought us tickets that were good to get us to the city, but I didn't have regular Metro tickets yet, and I was trying to understand how those worked.

 

At 3:20 pm, I looked out the window and saw blue sky.  It was time for us to see Paris:

 

 

I figured a good trip this afternoon would be for us to take the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe, then walk down the Champs-Élysées, which is a big fancy road with a lot of famous stores on it, and then maybe catch a taxi from there to the Eiffel Tower.  That sounded like something that would be doable for an afternoon.

 

There was a Metro station right across the street from our hotel, so we headed down into to Metro.  There was a place to buy tickets there, so I bought some.  We had been warned repeatedly to watch out for pickpockets in Paris, so we were on guard the whole time.

 

We found the right platform and headed toward the Arch.  There was a lot of commotion on the Paris subway.  At the stops, people kind of pushed and shoved their way on and off the train.  It was much less civilized than the Tube in London.

 

We arrived at our stop, and dealt with the people pushing and shoving their way off the train.

 

Then we followed our way up the stairs to where the Arch was supposed to be.

 

And there it was:

 

 

It was raining again.

 

I knew that there was a pedestrian walkway to get out to the center of the circle where the arch is, and that you can climb it if you want to.  I wasn't sure where to go to do that, so I took off my backpack to dig out my Paris map.

 

When I took my backpack off, I was surprised to find the top zipper unzipped.  That was odd.  I was sure I had zipped my wallet back into the top compartment which was now unzipped when I bought our Metro tickets.

 

Then it stuck me.

 

My wallet was gone.

 

I had been pickpocketed!

 

I couldn't believe it.

 

How did that happen.

 

I had carefully zipped my wallet in my backpack thinking it would be safer there than in my pocket.  Nobody would be able to get to it without me knowing.  Especially since that zipper always stuck, and I always have to use two hands to unzip it.

 

Then I remembered something.

 

When we went to get off the train at our stop here, we moved to the area near the door and waited for it to open.  I was surprised to feel a woman push me in the back and say "excuse-moi."  I remember turning to look at her, and gesturing that we were getting off at the next stop, and she didn't need to push ahead.  Oh well, I figured, she was in a hurry and wanted to make sure that she got off the train at the next stop.  Then, I felt another push and another "excuse-moi."  This time it was an older gentleman.  These French people were sure impatient, I thought.  But, at least they're polite.  Well, the joke was on me- those two were the pickpockets.  One unzipped my backpack, the other took my wallet.

 

I was shocked.

 

I wasn't sure what to do.

 

Thoughts were racing in my head.  What did they take?  What was I going to do?

 

The good news was that all that was missing was my wallet.  In that same pocket, there were two envelopes of cash -one with Euros and one with American dollars.  All together, that was a couple hundred dollars worth of cash.  They didn't get it. There was no cash in my wallet.  Ha. Ha. But, they did get my driver's license and my credit card, and a bunch of other stuff like my library card, AAA card, voter's ID, and Disney Annual Pass.  There was only one credit card in that wallet, as I had decided to use only one card on this trip.  It would be easier for me to keep track of things that way.  But now that card was gone. 

 

No worries though.  I'm an Eagle Scout.  I was prepared.  Before this trip, I made sure DD had a credit card, and that she had money in her account tied to it that we could access in case of emergency.  Plus I had some more cash.  And, it was good that I had prepaid for our hotel room in Paris, and there were no more large charges that would need to be made on this trip.

 

The biggest blessing was that the pickpockets did not get our passports.  That would have been a problem.  And, they were in that same backpack.  But, they only took my wallet.  I am thankful for that.

 

It took just a few minutes after I realized I had been pickpocketed to come to terms with it, and I decided that it wasn't going to ruin our day or our trip.  Fortunately, It didn't cause us any problems.  I knew that I needed to call my credit card company ASAP, but I didn't want to rush back to the hotel room to do that.  We just went on about our business.

 

We walked down the Champs-Élysées, and saw a lot of very rich looking people going into stores that we had no business going in, so we didn't.

 

We did find a store selling macarons, and this was the same company that we had visited when we were in Harrods.  DD loves her some macrons, so we got some:

 

 

All the people you see in that photo were behind the counter helping customers.  There was a line that we joined, but there were several people who showed up after us who butted in line.  There was also pushing and shoving in here.  For some lousy macarons.  We were slowly realizing that people lack manners in Paris.  In fact, the only time I head anyone say excuse moi was when those polite pickpockets were robbing me on the train.

 

We walked down the street some more until we came to a taxi stand.  We hopped in a taxi and asked the driver to take us to the Eiffel Tower.  We weren't far from there, and in just a few minutes we were here:

 

 

We were at the base of the bridge on one side or the tower. The Seine river flows by here, and is much wider than it was up by Notre Dame:

 

 

We spied this little booth off to the side and saw that they were selling hot dogs.  One of the favorite foods Twin #1 had in Paris was what she called a Paris hot dog, and she told us we needed to be sure to have one. It was getting near dinner time, so I suggested we have a Paris hot dog in Twin #1's honor:

 

 

You can see that they also made crepes to order here.  I would have had a crepe, but Twin #1 had made such a big deal about the hot dogs, that I wanted to try that first:

 

 

They had a small carousel here, which I thought was odd.  I wonder if they get much business:

 

 

 

And here I am with my Paris hot dog:

 

 

Check this baby out:

 

 

What you have there is a fresh baguette with a few small hot dogs, cheese, some tomatoes and lettuce, and some really spicy mustard.

 

Cheese!

 

Why don't we put cheese on our hot dogs like that?

 

We have cheeseburgers.

 

Why don't we have cheese hot dogs?

 

These French people are pretty smart.

 

We decided to take our hot dogs and head to a grassy area on the other side of the tower to eat them.

 

We walked right under the tower:

 

 

And we sat in this grass and enjoyed the view and our hot dogs:

 

 

But check this out.

 

Let's zoom in on that last photo.

 

Do you see those guys with the little Eiffel Tower models?  They were everywhere.   All around the Eiffel Tower.  They were trying to sell these crappy Chinese Eiffel Tower models or Selfie Sticks.  And they were relentless.  It was really annoying:

 

 

Speaking of selfie sticks, there's one poking in at the left of this photo of the Eiffel Tower:

 

 

We hung out here for a while, then headed back:

 

 

There was something going on beneath the tower- they were putting together this big sphere.  We couldn't figure out why:

 

 

 

If you are wondering what the deal is with that big metal sphere, I'll solve that mystery in the next update.

 

In the meantime, feel free to guess what you think they're doing.

 

One thing that struck me was how big the Eiffel tower actually is:

 

 

You know the Eiffel Tower in Epcot?

 

That's only 1/10th the actual size.

 

So the real thing is 10 times bigger than that puny little Eiffel Tower.

 

I was more impressed by it than I thought I would be.

 

At this point, we hadn't made arrangements to go up the Eiffel Tower, and we had heard that the waits to go up were long.  It didn't seem real busy to me, but we didn't make any inquiries about it now.  I wanted to get back to the hotel so I could deal with my missing credit card.

 

We found the Metro station and took it back to the Notre Dame area.  I now was looking at everyone as a potential thief, and we stayed clear of all the jostling and pushing at our station.

 

We headed back up to our room, and enjoyed the view:

 

 

I was able to email my credit card company and report that my card was stolen.  I am pleased to report that those pickpockets hadn't even tried to make any charges.  So they got nothing from me. 

 

I win.

 

Next, our first night in Paris.

 

They call it the City of Lights, you know.  We were going to see about that.

 

TCD

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I believe the Seine looked small from your window because you were only seeing part of it.  Notre Dame is on and island.

 

Boo on pickpockets.  Glad they got nothing from you.

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

That's an awesome hotel view!

 

And great job picking an area to stay in, my first time it was suggested to stay in the Latin Quarter, and I really liked this area on the edge of it.  Matter of fact check out this picture showing your hotel.  When I took CP to Paris we stayed in the Hotel Europe Saint Severin which you can see in the bottom left of this picture.  We really liked that area!

 

Oh your hotel was also real close to Shakespeare and Co, did you go in?

 

 

Oh man that sucks TCD!  Sorry you got pick pocketed?

 

Question though, why did you have your passports with you?  I always left those in the hotel. 

 

We also got away without carrying a bag, so my wallet was in my front pocket where I could feel it and I tried not to carry much cash with me at one time.

 

I'm glad you ended up ok and they didn't get anything to big from you.

 

WBI

[dvccamper 32]

That stinks about your wallet but happy you didn't have all your cash in it, that could have been so much worse.

I have a friend who traveled to Rome and a woman kept insisting that my friend admire her baby that she was holding. She kept pressing against my friend while holding her baby and then my friend realized one of her hands was going into her purse! Thankfully she pulled away in time but the woman took off.

You just never know.

[The Troll 67]

Yep. Every time we've been to Europe the pickpockets were a problem. They target us Americans. We've learned to carry money deep in a double-tough backpack with a padlock on it.

 

Never let the schmucks help you with your luggage on the trains, either. They're thieves. And the European police are merely for decoration, apparently.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Happy to hear the pickpocketing incident didn't mar your vacation!

 

If anyone is going to an area where theft can be a problem, Pac Safe makes some excellent products:  http://www.pacsafe.com/

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

Oh man, bummer on getting your wallet stolen.  

 

What a great view from your room!  Looking forward to more. :)

[Seals 111]

 

 

At Les Halles, we had to transfer to a Metro train that would take us to our next stop, which was called Saint Michael.  I pronounced that like Saint Michael.  But the French say "San Michelle."  

 

"I was in Paris about two months ago. And let me give you a warning if you're going over there; here's an example: chapo means hat. Ooof means egg. It's like those French have a different word for everything. You never appreciate your language until you go to a foreign country that doesn't have the courtesy to speak English."  -- Steve Martin

 

 

 

 

 

What a gorgeous view!

 

 

 

 

 

I was able to email my credit card company and report that my card was stolen.  I am pleased to report that those pickpockets hadn't even tried to make any charges.  So they got nothing from me. 

 

Um - you said they got your library card. Better check your overdue book fines.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I'm shocked. I thought you would have paid much more than that. You got a steal! Especially for Europe! I'd go for that price, if I didn't have to endure the agonizing flight.

 

And then this:

 

 

Gotta say you let them off the hook way too easy, Andrew.

Look at that crap. No "Pardon our pixie dust" sign, no "Sorry for the inconvenience" sign, not even a fricking arrow pointing to a different direction to go.

 

Just, "Closed, bitches. Get out of here."

 

Communists.

 

Walt Disney, if he were alive, would issue an Executive Order to close DLP and then personally bulldoze it.

 

 

That's a good observation.  This was the kind of stuff that had us asking each other if this was really a Disney park. Time and time again we saw and experienced things that would never fly at WDW.  They just don't seem to care.

 

 

I believe the Seine loked smal from your window because you were only seeing part of it.  Notre Dame is on and island.

 

Boo on pickpockets.  Glad they got nothing from you.

 

You are correct, Notre Dame sits on an island smack dab in the middle of Paris.  This is the area that was first settled, and the city grew up around it.

 

That's an awesome hotel view!

 

And great job picking an area to stay in, my first time it was suggested to stay in the Latin Quarter, and I really liked this area on the edge of it.  Matter of fact check out this picture showing your hotel.  When I took CP to Paris we stayed in the Hotel Europe Saint Severin which you can see in the bottom left of this picture.  We really liked that area!

 

Oh your hotel was also real close to Shakespeare and Co, did you go in?

 

 

Oh man that sucks TCD!  Sorry you got pick pocketed?

 

Question though, why did you have your passports with you?  I always left those in the hotel. 

 

We also got away without carrying a bag, so my wallet was in my front pocket where I could feel it and I tried not to carry much cash with me at one time.

 

I'm glad you ended up ok and they didn't get anything to big from you.

 

WBI

 

 

Yes, I really lucked in to that location.  I had read about the Latin Quarter in my guidebooks, but I wasn't real interested in visiting it.  Since we were right there, we spent quite a bit of time walking around there, and really ended up liking the location a lot.  It's amazing how many little bars and restaurants are crammed in that area.

 

As for Shakespeare and Company, yes we visited there.  DD loves bookstores.  There are some really cool ones in Auburn, and she likes to spend time in them.  It's a college kid thing.  Plus, we had done the Globe Theater tour in London, so it was only right that we should visit this bookstore too.  I'll have photos of this in the next update.

 

I had our passports with me because for some reason I had it in my head that I was supposed to have it on my person at all times.  I guess I've watched too many movies.  I had this vision that at some point I would be stopped by "the authorities" and asked to show "my papers."   After the pickpocketing incident, though, I did lock our passports in the safe in our hotel room.  I didn't want to risk not being able to leave.  Of course, then I worried that I'd forget to get them out of the safe, and we'd show up at the airport without them and miss our flight.

 

In a way, it was good that I got pickpocketed, because it taught me a lesson.  I promise you that it will never happen again.

 

That stinks about your wallet but happy you didn't have all your cash in it, that could have been so much worse.

I have a friend who traveled to Rome and a woman kept insisting that my friend admire her baby that she was holding. She kept pressing against my friend while holding her baby and then my friend realized one of her hands was going into her purse! Thankfully she pulled away in time but the woman took off.

You just never know.

 

I heard about the baby trick.  There's one where they walk up to you and hand you the baby to hold.  You're distracted, your hands are full, and they take your stuff and then take the baby back.  Can you imagine what kind of awful people these are that use babies to assist them with crimes?

 

Yep. Every time we've been to Europe the pickpockets were a problem. They target us Americans. We've learned to carry money deep in a double-tough backpack with a padlock on it.

 

Never let the schmucks help you with your luggage on the trains, either. They're thieves. And the European police are merely for decoration, apparently.

 

There were a couple of times after this that we were approached by people looking for help.  There was one scumbag in particular who came up to me and asked me how to get to museum, which was right around the corner.  This was in a crowded situation, where there were a lot of people he could have asked, but he chose me, the obvious clueless American to try to engage.  I told him I didn't know about any museum, sorry.  Then the guy just walks off and didn't ask anyone else.  He wasn't looking for the museum.  He was up to no good.

 

These are schmucks.  They know that Americans are polite and eager to help,  And they take advantage of those traits.

 

Scumbags.

 

And you're right about the police.  I had this impression from watching Les Miserables that they'd be tough.  And, I'm all for that now.  But, the police I saw were standing around doing nothing.  Maybe they get kickbacks?

 

Happy to hear the pickpocketing incident didn't mar your vacation!

 

If anyone is going to an area where theft can be a problem, Pac Safe makes some excellent products:  http://www.pacsafe.com/

 

Thanks for the link.  Twin #1 actually insisted that I buy those pouches that go around your neck and under your shirt for both of us to take on the trip.  By the time we got to Paris, nothing had happened and I figured those pouches weren't necessary.  Now Twin #1 gets to tell me "I told you so."

 

Oh man, bummer on getting your wallet stolen.  

 

What a great view from your room!  Looking forward to more. :)

 

It was a bummer, but it didn't affect our trip in the slightest.  It was a pain when I got back replacing my driver's license, but not too bad.

 

I was in Paris about two months ago. And let me give you a warning if you're going over there; here's an example: chapo means hat. Ooof means egg. It's like those French have a different word for everything. You never appreciate your language until you go to a foreign country that doesn't have the courtesy to speak English."  -- Steve Martin

LOL. Steve is absolutely right. I would have enjoyed Paris more if they would get rid of all that French stuff and their weird pronunciations.

 

Um - you said they got your library card. Better check your overdue book fines.

LOL. It's been so long since I used that library card, I'm sure some kind of red flag would go up if some French dude showed up and tried to check out books with it.  I guess I had better look out on election day too -they got my Voter ID.

TCD