I found the nearest UPS department and discovered that we couldn’t call them by phone so I hopped on the Metro while Lou and Will stayed at home and Millie went to look around the shops. I arrived not long before 11:00 to find the place shut. It was due to open in 5 minutes so I went for a walk around the block and bought a Frappuccino. I walked back to UPS to find it still shut a quarter of an hour after it was due to open. I gave up and headed back home.
I arrived home and told Lou the news and informed her that I was going to go get a new camera. Will was still asleep so I went to the Galerie Lafayette, an eight storey department store about the size of Harrods. I found the camera I had been wanting for several months – a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ2! This will sound rubbish in several years time, but 6 megapixels, 10x optical zoom and a 28 mm wide lens! Unfortunately, the battery needs to charge so we will have to do without it for the rest of the day.
We decided since the weather wasn’t going to be too great, that we would head to Disneyland Paris (otherwise known as Euro Disney) since Millie had never been and we were keen to see how different it was. After a good hour on the Metro and RER, we arrived at Euro Disney and went for a look around. Once we bought our tickets and went in, it felt like we were back in Anaheim but for a few subtle differences. The park was a bit smaller than its American counterpart and was missing a few regions, but it was so very similar.
We picked up Fastpass tickets for Big Thunder Mountain, and strolled on through to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril where the queues were relatively short. I elected to stay behind with Will (using the Baby Switch as it was called here) while Lou and Millie went for a ride. After they came back, we swapped over and I had my turn. What a ride!
We still had time before Big Thunder Mountain so we decided to go through the ‘It’s a small world’ ride. It was quite similar to the ride in Anaheim, but the singing was in French, it was shorter and had several other minor differences. It was still just as surreal and the song was stuck in the head for the rest of the day.
We picked up Fastpass tickets for Space Mountain: Mission 2 just before heading over to Big Thunder Mountain. Again we did the Baby Switch but we figured out that one of us could go on the ride twice so I suggested Millie go back on. The Fastpass tickets were very quick for Space Mountain so we went straight over. I noticed that it was called Mission 2 but didn’t think much about that fact. However, the ride was quite different from the Anaheim one. Instead of swirling starscapes it had meteors and spiralling red tunnels. What fun!
We took a walk through Les Mysteres du Nautilus which was a recreation of Captain Nemo’s Nautilus being attacked by a giant squid from Jules verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. We walked out to the main square where we were just in time to catch a float parade. There were floats with Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.
We were feeling hungry so we tried to find a good restaurant to eat but all the main restaurants were shut! We must have spent an hour walking around looking for something other than burgers and fries. Eventually we found a place that sold mini pizzas in the shape of Mickey Mouse and unfortunately we spent a lot of money so we could eat enough to feel satisfied.
We picked up Fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast and headed over to Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. We spent some time waitng for the next show and were given very fashionable 3D glasses to wear. We went in and sat down and the show started. It had originally been made in English but it had been overdubbed in French. People who didn’t understand French were given headsets, so we got the original English back. The show starred Eric Idle and Rick Moranis from the original movies. The crazy inventor accidentally uses his shrinking ray on the audience and giant snakes and dogs came out of the screen to terrorise us.
We were just in time for Buzz Lightyear so Lou and Millie took one Star Cruiser while Will and I took the other. Will took control of the steering while I did the blasting. Will really enjoyed the driving, sometimes to the detriment of my shooting!
We found that we had done all of the things we wanted to so we looked at the map and found a few other things. We decided to head over to Phantom Manor, but on the way over, there was another parade. Floats and dancers with HEAPS of lights all over them which we decided that Will would really enjoy. Lou stayed with Will and watched the parade while Millie and I went to Phantom Manor which we walked straight in to since most people were at the parade. It started off in a freaky room that seemed to stretch and then we were on a ride through the old corridors with ghosts and skeletons.
We made it back to Lou and Will as the parade was finishing and we decided we would leave before the fireworks to avoid the likely mass exodus. We jumped on the train back home feeling very tired in the eyes and sore in the feet.
