Jolly Good Times with Aunt Buh and RS

Warwick CastleStonehenge
Reading Calvin and Hobbes with Uncle Aaron

France, anyone?

When I found out that we had to send the kids back to St. Edward's for another term I was so upset, and as a rebellion, I booked a somewhat last-minute trip to Paris for the half-term break.
Which began last week.

I wanted to go on the Eurostar, which is the high-speed train that goes through the chunnel - a tunnel underneath the channel to mainland Europe.
Half-term break began last Monday, so I booked tickets for late Friday afternoon. Except when I received the Eurostar tickets in the mail, I realized I actually booked the train for 5:25 AM rather than PM. Nice.

So Thursday afternoon we took a taxi to the Cheltenham train station, took a train to Paddington Station, then got a taxi to our "Comfort Inn" near St. Pancras station which is where we catch the Eurostar. I use the term "comfort" in "Comfort Inn" loosely. Its main advantage was that it was about a three minute walk to the train station, and since we had to check-in 30 minutes before our 5:25 AM departure, this was a bonus.At the train station

The train was great, only two hours to get into the heart of Paris! Gillian threw up, of course. However, we always have a stash of hole-less grocery bags in a special throw-up bag pocket of her back-pack.

We stayed about 20 miles outside of Paris, very near Euro Disney, which of course we visited one day.
Let's talk about that day.

Euro Disney - JUST like Orlando's Disney World! Except so much smaller. And fewer rides. And nearly everyone was French. Aside from an occasional British or American accent. And since everyone was French, nearly everyone was dressed in black. And smoking. And yes, I'm making generalisations, but it was definitely stinky.
And I have to say this, too. I'm not trying to be negative and paint the French in a bad light. We have French friends we love and enjoy very much. But in general, they do not know how to queue. And after living in England for almost 18 months, queueing has become part of our lifestyle.
I felt like we were in a herd of cattle just to get into Euro Disney. No ropes, no lines, just a huge crowd of people pushing to get in. And it wasn't unruly, but it was claustrophobic, to be certain. No one seemed to be bothered by anyone invading their personal space.

Other than that, Disney was great. The kids loved it, and I'm glad we did it. One day was enough, though.

We spent one full day just in the city of Paris. The weather was amazing, and we walked - a lot. Patrick and I had been to Paris before, but this was the first time for the children. I am so thankful we were able to show them this incredible city.





Our next visit was to Versailles and Fountainebleau. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that the camera button had accidentally been turned to black and white until about half-way through our visit. But the photos still turned out pretty well!There was a guillotine in the courtyard of Fountainebleau. We are hoping it was just for display, but there was a basket sitting there to catch the head!

All in all a good trip. We are happy to be home, though. I actually felt more homesick being in France than I have felt in England for a long time.

We are looking forward to a wonderful week ahead with Blythe and Aaron now! Woohoo!