Day 1 of 6 at sea

Don Ducky Williams




Saturday August 25, 2007
The first day of six days at sea. A lot of people were discussing the facts we had been on board for seven days, on other cruises it would be the day to disembark, and nervous about crossing the Atlantic.

We turn the clock back an hour four or five times this sailing. I can’t keep up. In either case, each time we turn the clock back I seem to go to bed earlier and get up earlier. I can’t read the hands on the clock in the stateroom. The hour and minute hand almost are identical and the alarm hand isn’t a distinctive color. I woke up at a time I thought read 7:20am. I started my morning routine and grabbed my book, thinking I would let Victoria sleep until 8am. I looked at my watch and it said 5:50am! It wasn’t 7:20am when I woke up, it was 5:40am! Sheesh!

I read my book for a little while longer. I woke Victoria up with a bribe of allowing her to choose any spot for breakfast. Of course this meant Topsiders on deck 9. She likes to eat outside. Our plan was to attend the Don Ducky Williams presentation in the Walt Disney Theater at 9:30am.

We finished breakfast quickly and walked around the ship. We got to the theater at 9am, where several people were already lined up. They opened the doors soon thereafter. Victoria was happy because Dominique and Baby Faith joined with their parents. Victoria got to hold five month old Faith and was comparing her to her cousin Xavier.

Don Ducky Williams is the senior character artist who works for the marketing department for Disney. He told us the story of how he came to work for Disney. He used to work as a banker in Springfield, Massachusetts and moved down to Florida when he was in his thirties. While he tells his stories, he sketches characters. Each person was given a raffle ticket upon entrance and the sketchers are raffled off at the end. We didn’t win one. After the presentation we supervised the girls while they went swimming.

Later in the day we attended another presentation with Don Williams where he walks the group, step by step, to draw Mickey Mouse. The kids were getting pretty frustrated with themselves but overall it was a good time. Later Victoria would buy an instructional kit from the store which provides more assistance in drawing the Mickey character.

Sandy, Mary and Victoria had a good time taking pictures together in the atrium area before dinner. After dinner we watched the show of the evening, Twice Charmed, in the Walt Disney Theater. This is a good show and one I would probably go to each time I cruised. I could skip some of the other shows, like the Golden Mickeys but Twice Charmed is a keeper.

Our plan was to watch the movie, Pirates of the Carribean at World’s End in the Buena Vista Theater. It was chilly in the theater and I was snoozing by 10pm. I woke up at around 11pm and watched the rest of the movie. The pirate movies all seem unnecessary long to me. After the movie we went to bed!

Tenerife

Friday, August 24, 2007
Tenerife

I should really have a prescription for Xanax. Honestly, I don't know how I live without it. This was the day 48 people who had pre-paid would take a privately arranged jeep tour of the island. I had contacted the company and wired them money months ago. There was a waiting list of people who wanted to attend. I woke up hour on the hour worried I would oversleep. I was afraid they would not show up. After all, they had half our money and I had not read many reviews from previous cruisers.

The plan was to meet out on the dock at 9:15am for a 9:30am pick up. The weather was great! Everyone was out at the dock by 9:10am. I didn't need the whistle I brought but I blew it anyway. All the fools were on time and ready! The Disney arranged jeep excursions were waiting just outside of the ship. At exactly 9:15am our jeeps rounded the corner, 8 jeeps deep! Another woman had ordered two jeeps and she agreed it was difficult contacting them. All 48 of us boarded the jeeps and went out for our adventure. Our driver was originally from Manchester, England and called all women 'love'. The road to Mount Teide was closed and it took us a bit to find a route to hit the mountain. We stopped at several interesting places but the best part of the day was driving up to high altitudes on winding roads through forests and the smell of pine and eucalyptus. We got out at the top, the base of Teide, and took some pictures. We also stopped for lunch and more photo opportunities. It was a really great day.

Thursday, August 23, 2007
Sea day

I like sea days. We were up by 8am and to Topsiders for breakfast. Victoria went in the goofy pool right after breakfast and pretty much had the pool to herself. We had left notes on Lynn and Darlene's doors so it wasn't long before Victoria's friends Sandy and Mary joined her. We wandered around the ship for awhile taking pictures of spots normally occupied by crowds. We did a bit of shopping in the stores and found some treasures for some folks at home. We met up with the Fools for lunch at Lumiere's. It was nice chatting with a smaller group of folks.

Martini Tasting was scheduled for 2pm. I was actually scheduled to be in the other tasting, but I heard through the grapevine some Fools might be too hung over to attend, so I went along with some other folks. We were served four martinis: a dry martini to which olive juice was added later to make it a dirty one, appletini, lemoncello one and a chocolate one. I liked these better than the previous tastings. People were very silly during the tasting and the giggles were passed on to the presenters who couldn't really finish a sentence without laughter. This tasting definitely packs a punch and I finished up by 3pm to dash up to deck 10 for high tea at Palo.

http://sdhanna.150m.com/August_2007_general/martini/martini.jpg

My parents met us there for tea. Rather than feeling refined and ready for some polite tea, I was feeling a little too fine and used those scones and tea biscuits as munchies. We had a nice conversation anyway and enjoyed the view. Tea was over at about 4pm and we found the girls and gathered them up. I don’t know if it was the alcohol or the ship was rocking, but I felt a bit queasy.

After dinner the show of the evening was the ART OF THE STORY. We had not seen this show before. We sat in the front row on the left side. Sitting in the theater when I feel queasy/seasicky never works well for me. Maybe because my eyes want to focus on the stage and it appears to sway, I feel sick? I don’t know but when the show started I realized I would feel better in some fresh air. Sitting in the front row as the show starts is a lousy time to come to this realization.

The show began and several monk-like characters in robes walked in front of the stage directly in front of us. I was already apprehensive about leaving the theater and having to walk the length of the theater, disturbing people during the show. When I realized I would be walking on the TOES of the monk-like characters, I became nervous I was going to be sick on the monks and then REALLY ruin the show. I have never gotten sick on the ship so this wasn’t really a rational concern, but you couldn’t talk me out of it at that point.

I left the theater and went outside for fresh air. I immediately felt better. I watched the rest of the show from the back of the theater. When the show was over, my group said they were concerned because they didn’t know where I went. Sorry folks.

We strolled the deck of awhile and went up to open deck 9 while the kids played ping pong and just enjoyed each others company.

Cadiz

Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Cadiz

We cancelled our all day excursion to see Seville. We had a leisurely breakfast in Lumiere's. I love the eggs benedict in this sit down restaurant. After breakfast I took Victoria to the kids’ lab so she could learn to make towel animals. She was looking forward to this. I finished my book, the Memory Keeper's Daughter. My reading has slowed down quite a bit. I thought the book was alright but not worthy of all of the hype I've seen it receive. I picked up Victoria at 10:45am and we prepared to walk around the town of Cadiz. We were told the town shuts down between the hours of 1 and 4pm for siesta. We would find out later much of the town remained open that day.

Cadiz is often the launching point to visit Seville. Seville takes a little over an hour and a half to get there. We opted to explore the town and I'm glad we did. It's a very cute seaside town. My father told me later it was the oldest continuous inhabited European town. We bumped into Nancy and family as we were getting off and we joined them. Victoria was thrilled to tour the town with the girls Meagan and Emma. Emma is 4 years old and Meagan is 10. We visited several museums including one which included Roman ruins, Casa del Obispo . The museum was all glass floors and stairs to see the exhibits below us. The girls were a little scared to walk. As hot as it was outside, each time we stepped out of a museum it seemed refreshing to get out of the indoors.

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In this town it was difficult to spot younger people. Plenty of senior citizens were sitting in sidewalk cafes, chatting the day away. I found out later there are less young people in town because the jobs are sparce. We visited the cathedral, the center of town and had a quick lunch in the square. Nancy and I bought the girls a fan from a sidewalk vendor. Our attempts at bargaining were met with, "No puedo." The girls had a good time being drama queens with the fans.

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Our final stop was the Cadiz museum. By 4pm we were hot, tired and had walked all over town. It was fun touring with Nancy and her family. We got back to the ship at 4:30pm, grabbed some drinks and got ready for dinner.

Dinner was in Parrot Cay and was a bit rushed because we had plans to see the Flamenco dancing in town. Our servers insisted we dine in the room and that they would hurry dinner along. They did as promised and we were meeting our group off of the ship at 7pm. My mother opted to stay on the ship and my father came along. We walked ten minutes into town to the bar. The bar was empty when we arrived and our group quickly filled all available 70 spots. We were served green olives and one drink came with our admission. The sangria was good, the olives delicious! We ordered a few pitchers of sangria for the table. The adults really enjoyed the flamenco dancers but the kids thought they were too loud. One guitar player, one singer, one percussionist, and a male and female dancer entertained us for two hours. It was so intense in that intimate setting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H3XRe0-KOQ

We walked back to the ship. We were to leave at 10pm so we were cutting it fairly close. We went up to deck 9 and decompressed for a bit. We went to bed at 11pm but since we set the clocks back, it's actually 10pm. We looked forward to a sea day.

Gibraltar

Tuesday, August 21, 2007


Lynn and I had talked a bit about this port before the trip. We agreed to skip DCL excursions and plan our own. I had read the taxis were regulated and prices fixed for tours. A tour by taxi did not include the cable car to the top of the mountain but it did mean less walking. We agreed to meet in the lobby at 11am. We woke up at 8:30am with our Mickey wake up call. We went to Parrot Cay for a breakfast buffet. Victoria pretty much eats the same thing for breakfast each morning on a cruise: hash brown, bacon, doughnut, and fruit. She usually eats all of the fruit and a bite of everything else. After breakfast we walked along deck four and looked out at Gibraltar. Lynn, Peter, Mary and my mother met in the lobby at 11am. My father chose to stay behind. We wandered off the ship and we met a taxi driver just off the ship and asked for the official Rock Tour. We took another family of three with us in the mini van and we agreed on the price: 30 euros per adult and 15 for children.

We went to a scenic spot and saw a ship sinking. The story we were told was the ship had been fueling up and tried to sneak away, running into trouble and sinking slowly since last Sunday. On one side we could see Spain and on the other the coast of Africa. Next stop was St. Michael's caves. Concerts and dances take place inside the caves. They are beautiful. I had never visited caves before. We spent about twenty minutes there and then moved on to the next stop to see the apes. We stopped at a site where our driver picked out a smaller ape and had him jump on Peter, Lynn, Mary and Victoria. We had been warned about carrying food and aggressive apes. We saw no such drama and the girls would have stayed there all day visiting the apes. We moved on to the tunnels of siege. I'd skip this part of the tour because you have to double back. There are figures of soldiers, cannons and war like boring stuff. At one point you hear a soldier's voice, "Halt, who goes there!" The next thing I heard was Victoria saying, "Halt, you go there!"

The view was spectacular. We could spot the border of Gibraltar and Spain as well as the runway of the small airport. The runway crosses a street and all traffic stops when a plane takes off.

We walked through the cute little town back to the ship. We grabbed some fast food and the girls went swimming while my mother watched them. Lynn and I poked around and went to Cove Cafe, a coffee shop tucked away in the adult’s only pool area. I had a moccachino and we had some cookies. We chatted with a few fools and then grabbed the kids before heading down to prepare for dinner. Dinner was in Animator’s and the color show took place. It was the first time my parents had seen the show. They seemed to enjoy it. Everyone, including the cast members, wanted to watch the ship sail away along the coast of Africa and Gibraltar. We all stepped outside after dinner and watched the sun set and the coastlines as we sailed by. After dinner the girls wanted to do High School Musical karaoke. Five girls sang together on stage. They had a good time. The boys, Andrew and Steven, did not sing along but offered moral support.

http://travel.webshots.com/video/3092846930071365359wyfMaJ

After singing we did a little shopping and headed to bed by 11pm.

First Sea Day

Monday, August 20, 2007
First Sea Day

The ship was pretty quiet when we left our staterooms for breakfast at 9:15am. A lot of people slept late. We went to the Fools Faffle drawing, which was moved to a hallway because the Promenade Lounge was being used. We didn’t win any of Irv’s fabulous prizes. The girls in the group were to meet at Scoops at 11am. Poor Joanne, Hammy, it was her first Disney cruise and we didn’t realilze Scoops is now called Goofy’s Galley. The ice cream machine was broken and the girls decided to change into their swim gear. They splashed around in the Mickey pool while the grownups chatted.

After lunch Victoria changed quickly, bought Sandy a little gift and went to Sandy’s room (with a porch) for a Nintendo DS party and birthday cake for Sandy. I went to the DVC presentation with Carol and kids went to the Kid’s Lab. Victoria had been on board for more than two days and still did not spend any time in the Lab. The presentation started late, the DVD was acting up, and ended twenty minutes late. It was ten of five pm when I picked up Victoria and we rushed to prepare for formal night in Lumiere’s.

Dinner was surprisingly bland. After a good start, the choices seemed limited. Of course that did not stop any of us from eating a five course meal. We attended the Golden Mickey's Show and yet more family karaoke. In bed by 11pm.

Sunday, August 19, 2007
The wake up call came at 6:45am. We were tired and my head was pounding. We got up for breakfast and watched a violent thunderstorm while eating breakfast on deck two. We were scheduled to see Montserrat for a half day excursion. Given how tired we were, headaches, and rotten weather I went to the excursion desk to inquire about cancelling. I have had excursions cancelled before, so I figured it wouldn’t be a problem. The man at the excursion desk informed me they would not know if they were going to cancel until 8am. It was 7:30am and I was eager to get on with my day. I persisted a bit about being unable to cancel, citing examples of how DCL has cancelled on me last minute before (Accupulco 2005). He said you need 48 hours notice to cancel. I cancelled my all day Seville tour right there, not wanting to give Disney any more of my excursion budget. The man told me I could go to the medical office to get a note. I don’t need to read that I have a headache, I already know what my head feels like.

We arrived at the Rocking Bar D at 8:15am to meet with our excursion. They handed out rain ponchos to everyone. There were quite a few people we knew and liked on this excursion. Victoria was with Addison, Stephen and Andrew so she was happy. We boarded the bus and went on an hour and fifteen minute bus ride up windy roads to get to the mountain. The tour guide was not a DCL cast member and stumbled over her English. I heard other people say they had fabulous tour guides but our was not so good.

We got off at a train station to take a scenic ride up the mountain. There wasn’t much to see because it was so foggy. Our tour guide told us several times Monserrat means: Serrated Mountain. There is a monestary there carved into the mountains along with the Black Madonna which everyone wanted to see. The tour guide was talking softly as we walked around the area. We saw a hotel and a building where only the monks reside. There were quite a bit of older people here not on our tour. It was busy due to DCL’s excursions.

When we got to the church, it was 10:45am. Our guide told us there is no flash photography in the church when the service begins. The service was scheduled to begin at 11am. Seeing this as a helpful hint, we went into the church and took non-flash pictures. The bells signaling the beginning of mass were beautiful. We exited the church and went to the entrance where you can see the famous black Madonna. We got to the door and it was closed for visitors until 12:15pm. We were to meet our bus back at 12:15pm so we had missed our opportunity to see the Black Madonna. I was fuming. Everything this tour was known for was becoming impossible: the view and the black Madonna.

We walked across to the area which said: No entrance, exit only, and went to where people were lighting candles. This was the exit path from seeing the black Madonna. We walked down the corridor and snuck in to see the figure. It was behind glass, with a small portion sticking out. We were squished with other people, no longer able to exit. After exiting, Carol and I agreed we were relieved to have been able to spend a small amount of time because it was a big reason for the excursion. This was not Disney’s best plan.

After having our limonade drink and a little shopping, we headed back to the bus at 12:15pm. We went back to the ship and went immediately to deck 9 for some lunch. We ate a delicious lunch at Topsiders which included a beef medallion close to mignon quality. The kids wanted to watch High School Musical 2 on the outdoor screen by the pool and we did so under cover in the rain. We went to the Fools met at Preludes at 3:30pm. We were the only fools there until 4:30pm. The sail away party started at 4:30pm and was moved indoors to the atrium. We stayed, drinking our drinks of the day the Bonvoyage, until a little after 5pm. We went back our rooms to change for dinner and a quick shower.

The boat sailed away at about 5:30pm. The captain later reported there was a lot of traffic in port and the Disney Magic did not have priority. Dinner at Parrot Cay was another fabulous meal with our fabulous serving team. I had the chef’s recommendations for dinner, something like tilapia which was good. After dinner we went to the show. The illusionist from Paris was so-so. I wasn’t impressed but other people seemed to be. It was too easy to spot his tricks and while I don’t expect magic, I don’t expect the tricks to be so obvious.

After dinner we went to NAME THAT TUNE family activity. We did eh. The girls were excited to do the family karaoke which was next. Victoria signed up to do the Cheetah Girls, Cinderella song. I was surprised she did it but she had said to me earlier, "Mama, since I made it into the chorus, I think I’ll sing." She had a good time. Her friend Sandy signed up and did a lovely Spoonful of sugar song. She had a nice pitch.
We went to bed after all that singing.

Saturday August 18, 2007
The internet on the ship is horrible. It's so slow it's not worth signing on. It can't even download my mail it's so slow.

We woke up early, all of us excited about the big day! We finished packing, ate breakfast and dragged down all of our luggage to the street. I was sick of the luggage at this point. My father and Victoria walked over to the hotel area and spoke with one of the taxi drivers waiting at the taxi stand. The driver drove down to where we were standing with the luggage. He looked at us and said, "Maybe you need two." We shook our heads and loaded the back of the cab and took off for ORLY airport.

About a half an hour later we arrived and dragged our luggage into the airport. The airport seemed unorganized and hard to find your way. We were fifteen minutes early for the check in allowance. We waited until the desk opened and we slung our cases over. After obtaining boarding passes, we headed out. This airline allows one carry on bag and 44 lbs max. per person. We were very careful about luggage. As it turns out, our friend Carol had no problems adding an extra case or two.

We waited almost three hours until we boarded our plane. The plane was one hour late. Once we got onto the plane, it was wonderful. The flight attendants spoke several languages smoothly and easily. The changed languages on a dime. The flight to Barcelona was smooth. We spotted Disney Cruiseline by the luggage area. After getting all of our luggage, we hoofed it over to DCL. The people working the area seemed to be people from the Barelona area. They definitely lacked the typical Disney cast member personality. After following a tiny woman holding a sign not much taller than 5’ tall, we boarded the bus. We waited about twenty minutes then left for the ship.

Arriving at the Barcelona terminal was exciting. We got off the bus and headed into the terminal. We went through security yet again, dragged out our paperwork, and checked in. No upgrades available, and I was still one of the (few) Fools who was in a category 12. We hopped on the elevator and went to our cabins on deck two.

I sent Victoria down the hall to place a door magnet on my parents door. The door magnets are festive and help folks recognize their room. When Victoria came back to the stateroom, she brought a few Fools with her. We sat around in the cabin catching up. BusBoyBob, Amanda, Addison, Lynn and company, and Mock had a lovely chat. Our luggage arrived and we unpacked a bit. The lifeboat drill was at 5:30pm. We were assigned to the theater rather than a lifeboat station on deck. It was nice sitting in the air conditioned theater rather than standing on deck in the sun near the lifeboats, but in the event of a real emergency, I want to be near the lifeboats, not in a theater.

We rushed back to our rooms and grabbed our meal tickets for dinner. We have tables one and three in the dining rooms. We do not have one big table as planned, but the eight adults are sitting at one table and the five children at the table next to us. The kids seemed happy to get together. Our servers Ramen and company (still haven’t remembered their names) are the best. The welcome aboard dinner was fabulous. I had grilled scallops as an appetizer and a salad before dinner. I think I had lobster over fetticine alfredo-like dish. It was yummy. Dessert was crème brulee.

After dinner we went to the Walt Disney Theater for the Welcome Aboard show. We saw a great dance team from Barelona, along with the usual acts. Michael Harrison, ventriloquist, seemed to be able to entertain the kids still. I’d like to see a new act from him if DCL insists on continuing to use him. We went to bed after the show. We were tired. A good first day.

Orsay

We headed out to see the Orsay at about noon. Finally confident in the metro system, we used up the last of our tickets from the carnets I bought. My father decided to 'take the day off' and he stayed in the apartment. I suppose if you have a tendency to hang out in your spot, an apartment may be a good idea.

We arrived at the stop and proceeded to follow the signs to the Museum, which pretty much took us in a circle. We saw Renoir, Degas, and all those impressionist folks. My mother enjoyed it, and Victoria tried to enjoy it. This musuem has a lot of areas to sit and admire the paintings. We spent several hours in the museum until fatigue took over. We arrived back at the apartment at 5pm and we packed for the next day. I weighed the luggage and struggled to achieve the balance I had when we arrived. This next flight we have has a 44 pound per person allowance.

Last night in the apartment and we ate what was there. I had prosciutto of course. It was delicious with cheese (I've had so many types of cheese, I don't remember any of the names) on French bread.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I98l98GHTvY

Final Day

This is our final full day. I have just read through some of the other blogs and it sounds like most people are having fun. If I was to do Paris again, I would definitely stay more central Paris where the sites are closer together. Where we are staying isn't inconvenient, but by the time we get anywhere we have already walked a mile or so between metros and whatnot. It takes a toll on people, especially when your traveling companions are a mix of ages. I think if we stayed in a hotel room, we would have felt forced to leave the room and be more of a part of Paris. You can sit in the apartment and watch the boats go by on the river, look at ET, and soak in all of the noise.

I once shared an office with a woman who moved to Paris for a short time. She didn't stay long because she was homesick and her cat jumped out of the window. The poor cat had traveled with her all the way from the States. I never really could picture it in my head until this week. All of the high rise buildings have windows which slide across, rather than up and down. None of these windows have screens. My father was amazed there are no screens, why aren't there any bugs? They have rats, isn't that enough? There are bars/glass in front of the windows which prevent you from falling out but it would not stop a cat from going out the window. It all makes sense now.

In the elevator yesterday a man bonjour'd us and we bonjour'd him back. When he heard us talking to each other, he asked if we were Americans. We nodded and he gave us a thumbs up. He said GO AMERICA, GO BUSH! Immediately, my father, me and Victoria said, "No Bush!" I keep wondering if he was teasing us or serious about liking Bush.

I do find myself looking forward to being on the ship. It took such an effort to get here, I just want to stop packing/unpacking/taxis/luggage stuff altogether. When we get on the ship, all I have to do is show up. We are looking forward to seeing everyone on board as well. Lynn and her family arrive in Barcelona Saturday and will not be at dinner the first night. We will miss most people on board the first day because we arrive in the afternoon.

I just read Jason's blog, who we will catch up with on board, and he indicated the travel scale he bought may not have been perfect and he had so slide around a pound of luggage from check in to carry on. I will be mindful of that as we pack up the suitcases tonight.

The Louvre

Everyone slept late this morning after enjoying the evenings late festivities. Everyone was up, showered and dressed by noon. My mother decided her legs were bothering her and she did not go. We were familiar with the transportation needed as we did the same route as last night. We arrived at the museum at about 1:30pm. The crowds were manageable and we went through the pyramid entrance with no problems.

We headed straight to see Mona. There was a crowd of people there to see her but it wasn't difficult to get up to the front for a view. There were signs everywhere not to use your cameras but no one seemed to pay attention to them, and the employees made no motions to ask people to stop. I explained to Victoria she would be seeing this picture in books, classes and whatnot and she should respond to her experiences in ways other than "I saw that and you didn't." She practiced a bit while we walked around. She did very very well and was interested in the art. Ten years old seems to be a good age to bring your child to Europe.

We viewed Venus de Milo, the Ancient Eypt room, Italian art, Greek antiques and a few other spots. There are a lot of stairs and walking required in the museum. We shopped a little and found nothing. We haven't really seen much of anything to purchase for souveniers here. I think you could visit this museum for a month and miss half of its contents. It's truly magnificent. I think touring the museum on your own would be the best way, at your own pace and admiring pieces you like rather than being hurried along. The truth is, all of us could only stand for so long and you have to be mindful of it otherwise you might spend an hour at Mona and another hour at Venus and be tired after only looking at two pieces!

We got back to the apartment after 6pm. All of a sudden my father became interested in the cruise. Some of his questions included, "Will we sit for dinner? We all sit at the same time? What time can I eat once we get on the ship? Why do we change restaurants if we are sitting with the same people? What do I have to wear to dinner?" Dad, why didn't you ask all of these questions before now, you can't really prepare differently now that we are packed! "I would have forgotten if I asked any earlier."

CNN is one of the few stations you can watch in English. I don't know why Victoria keeps watching Nickolodean in French with the volume up high. You won't understand it any better if it's louder. It's been a nice break from television. I finished the book Moira sent me: Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen. It's a pretty easy read, good for summer reading.

I like the people watching on the metro. I am still puzzled as to where all of the senior citizens are hiding. I haven't seen any real Parisian style of dress except to say their nails are impecceable. I haven't seen any crazy long nails that curl. There were not a lot of white sneakers being worn by people, but there were enough to feel comfortable wearing them. The weather was great temperature-wise but it did rain a bit each day we were here. My parents report all of the seniors are all in the supermarket. I think we have been to the store at least once a day since we got here. Tomorrow our plan is to visit Musee d Orsay. It would have been nice to have done more, but I have enjoyed soaking in the scenery, people and life in this residential neighborhood.

We have one more full day here and we leave Saturday morning for Barcelona. I uploaded my father's pictures and you may find them under Carl's Paris trip. I have done quite well using my Canon point and shoot. I have to spend a little more effort focusing and keeping things in perspective but I haven't taken out the SLR yet.

Paris Tour

We slept in pretty late on Wednesday. Traveling really seems to have caught up with us. Even after getting up my father and Victoria took afternoon naps. I studied the metro maps online, offline, maps etc trying to figure out where we were going. We did postcards, laundry, bought sundries and generally took it easy while looking out at the river.

At 5:15pm we headed out. We walked to the train station. At the window I bonjour'd the woman and asked her if she parlevou'd English. She waved her hands as if to say "eh". Who knew I'd see a Canadian in Paris? I bought two carnets (packets of 10 tickets) and she thought I was nuts. At this point I was trying to be as prepared as possible. We navigated both trains fairly easily.

We got off at the Louve museum and had a bit of a hard time reading street signs, as in there seem to be very few street signs. After asking people on the street, a bus driver, and the tourist office, we found our spot. We saw Carol Sherman and her two boys! Victoria was thrilled. They would not provide Carol or our family with tickets because our organizer was not there yet. We grew concerned, both of us having a difficult time finding the office. Renee and her family and Bob were to arrive on Wednesday and we knew their schedule was tight. We watched the bus fill, and at 7:15pm we went to speak to the clerk.

The clerk was very nice but insisted he could not help us because we owed 18 euros per person and we did not have a voucher. We discussed the possibility of Renee not arriving within the next fifteen minutes. When the clerk understood they were staying in Disneyland Paris, he too indicated it was not likely she was going to make it. Carol asked to speak to the manager. The manager was a nice man who understood English if spoken slowly. He begged Carol to slow down and he did it in such a way the tension was gone.

Just then Renee came in! Hurrah! They had taken a taxi with a driver who drove fast. She said she had called the company who indicated they would hold the bus for us. Hold the bus? Why didn't anyone in the office say anything about this? The tour guide asked Carol to follow him to which she replied, "I'll follow you anywhere!" He was quite good looking and we suspect Italian. The tour guides all wore black leather jackets. He could have been from East Haven with his look.

Finally we boarded the bus and we went directly to the Seine for a boat tour. There was interpretation in many languages. The kids all had a good time and the adults enjoyed the relaxed feeling. We boarded the bus and drove all over Paris city. We wore head phones for a narration of the tour. The families who had just arrived were falling asleep in the bus. We drove by all the major sites. Paris really is beautiful at night. The outdoor cafes were all full at 10:30pm.

The tour ended at the office at 11:30pm. The last metro leaves at 12:30am so we walked quickly back to the station. We hopped on the train and transfereed at 12:15 over to our train. We got home at 12:40am. I didn't like walking back to the apartment so late.

Victoria is relieved to hear her crabs and her bird are doing well.

Disneyland Paris

I woke up at 6am. Our plans for the day included Disneyland Paris. I had used a source on the net to map out our transportation options. I had a hard time sleeping knowing I had to take three trains to get there. Three! What type of ticket is that? What if the ticket person doesn't understand me? What if I get off at the wrong stop?

We dressed and had some breakfast in the apartment and was out the door by 8am. I completely chickened out and went next door to the hotel's concierge and asked for help. He sent me down the street (not across the river) to the station and to transfer to one train (not two more). Feeling a little more confident, we walked to the metro station we had passed the day before. The ticket woman was a delight and gave me a ticket for Victoria good for all day because a child's all day transportation ticket is cheaper than the other way.

We managed to get on the train and transferred. My father was not feeling well. He got off the train and had an adventure in a college town before taking a taxi back to the apartment. I had the key to the apartment, and most of the train tickets. My mother had cash on her, one train ticket, and American cash along with one credit card. We had quickly decided we did not all need to exit the train, and I would meet my mother on the hour in front of the castle at its center most point.

Victoria played on the train with a pretty little girl from Italy. They spoke a little English. We got off at the last stop, went up the stairs to the entrance of Disneyland Paris. We already had tickets from my Marriott rewards which was great because the lines were long. The Disneyland Hotel is beautiful and at the entrance of the park. We entered the park to a familiar looking Main Street and familiar music. We grabbed a map and an event listing. The park opened at 10am and we arrived at 10:30 to a very crowded park. We strolled up Main Street and took our routine left turn to Adventure Land. We visited the Phantom Manor (see pics) and had a great time. We went over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and grabbed a fast pass. We enjoyed the Pirates of the Carribean ride though not as good without Captain Jack in it. The wait for most rides was 30 - 45 minutes. I did not see nor hear any announcements on flash photography and had the people in front of us set off their flash in my eyes. I did a dramatic "Oh my eyes" to get them to stop. Throughout the day people would be taking flash pictures on the rides.

As we headed to the castle to look for my mother at 12 noon, we passed the costume shop near the castle. It's in the same spot as you would expect. They have the most darling Fairy costumes. Victoria has decided she is too old for costumes this trip, which made me scramble for something to wear on formal night. As she stood in her purple tinkerbelle top (with wings on the back) she considered the costumes but I told her it was too late to add anything to luggage.

We walked around the castle for fifteen minutes looking for my mother. Our fast pass was for 12:25pm so we left at 12:15 and hit the ride. As we were getting on the ride, a woman asked if we speak French. She shouted FRENCH at me when I said no. YAY! someone thought I spoke French!

The ride started off great. It's faster, less time climbing hills, and more thrilling. As we were climbing a hill, the ride came to a stop. For thirty minutes we stopped. A cast member came out speaking both French and English and tried to keep us entertained. We chatted with a father & son in front of us from England. The ride is very good, when not at a stand-still on a hill. I was really surprised when we got off the ride to find no apologies, no fast pass, nothing for our trouble. In the past, when I was stuck on a ride, we were offered fast passes for the same ride or another of my choice.

After the ride, we dashed over to the castle to meet my mother. She was there! She had no Euros, and did not have a ticket to get back on the train because she escorted my father out of the station. She stayed behind someone, risking arrest! She stood in line for a long long time. She arrived at the park at 11:45am, but did not get inside the park until 12:30pm. She was stressed and we took her to the Blue Lagoon for lunch. She was tired, had a headache and we thought this was a good spot. This ride, like California, is built within the Pirates of the Carribean ride and most tables can see the boats pass by in the darkened eatery.

After lunch we waited longer for the Pirates of the Carribean. All the rides had long waits, you just had to pick your poison and deal with it. After Pirates of the Carribean we went to It's a Small World. The ride was great, and not as long a wait as posted. We could not get into the Lion King at 4pm and Buzz Lightyear was over an hour wait. Fastpasses after 1pm were for 6pm and later. We were losing steam and had a beverage before shopping. We all thought the park was very pretty and well done. The colors are rich with more sophistication than in Florida. The crowds were unbearable but the weather was great. I would compare it to a Florida October time. I thought about what it would be like in DisneyWorld in August with these crowds and realized it would be unbearable but still, the people would probably smell better. We left at 5pm and navigated the trains with a little more confidence.

On the trains, people would enter with cards detailing their sorrows and asking for money. They would exit the train at the next stop. On the way home, a man sang an entire song and walked around with a bowl for tips. Victoria was facinated with poor people singing for their dinner money. Down by the river, we spotted a few tents behind the bushes and under the walkways.

We walked a few blocks, in the rain, back to the apartment. My father was feeling better by this point. When he has asked for another key, a woman at the reception area stated the building is strictly prohibited from renting to people less than six months at a time. We may be kicked out soon!

It's pouring rain out at 9pm. We have plans to take a tour of Paris and the Seine tomorrow. This will require more trains no doubt. Victoria and my father are playing poker, betting with grapes. Victoria knew enough to grab her visor before playing. I keep hearing the word "knucklehead" coming from the room.

I finished my book, The Summer House, by Jude Deveraux. I liked it, a good summer read!

Comments on food so far: We haven't really experienced fine dining in France but so far: in New Haven we have excellent pastries and bread. I like good Italian bread over baquettes. I prefer Italian pastry to French.

I dragged out the pull out couch and we went to bed at 9pm. Victoria went to sleep fairly quickly. I stayed awake waiting for the light show on the Eiffel Tower. There is a better view from the bedroom, but the living room offers decent ambiance. It got dark at about 9:30pm, so I was going to bed while it was still light out.

I slept decently by the open window. No air conditioning needed, it's very nice weather here. I was up at 6am but I dozed until 8am. We were all up and dressed by 9am. We wandered over the Novotel hotel next door for breakfast. We were hungry and lacked ambition. Victoria's breakfast was free, but it totaled 60 euros for the three of us. We went to the market, and immediately we were struck by an odor. Paris has a lot of odors. There was clothing and whanot on the second floor, but down the escalator was a supermarket. We got some must-haves.

My father is the most ambitious one with the language. He just shouts out a word and is right 50% of the time. All along the way, not one person has approached us and spoken in French. Everyone who has initiated a conversation has done so in English.

After bringing back the groceries, we head out to explore the neighborhood. We walked along the Seine River and down to the Eiffel Tower. We took some pictures and people-watched. Several times, a gypsy girl would disconnect from her group and approach people asking, "Do you speak English" and would show a card which said, "please help me, my husband is dead and I have no where to live..." something like that. After our first encounter, we just said No after being asked.

After a few hours of walking around, we headed back to the apartment. My father and Victoria went out to explore the neighborhood some more and came back with postcards. They had a heck of a time, despite having a dictionary, getting people to understand postcards. They also found French pastries in the neighborhood, a worthwhile trip.

We have arrived!

Wow, what a long journey!


We left my parents house at 2:45pm as planned. We made it over the state line in an hour and fifteen minutes. We spent the next hour in traffic getting to JFK. This was my first flight out of JFK. Wow, it's big!

I dropped the group off at 5:30pm and returned the car. There are signs everywhere but it felt like I drove forever off the property. It took me some time to take a train back to the terminal where I got lost trying to find the family. Not bad I suppose, I was certain I would get lost long before that point.


We got our boarding passes fairly quickly with a lovely Irish lady helping us. She punched in data into the machine and presented us with all 8 boarding passes - four for each leg of the trip. We stood in a long line to check in our bags. After hoisting the bags onto the machines, we then dragged the checked bags over to an area to drop off. We each have a carryon item which maxes out weight and measurements so dragging around the luggage was challenging.


We spent a year in the security line. We were at the gate at 6:30pm for a 9:30pm flight. The flight sat on the runway for an hour before takeoff. The seats on the plane were small and short. It was the most uncomfortable experience. We arrived in Dublin, only getting a glance of the green country. The airport was very confusing and we double backed several times before getting to our gate for our connecting flight. We went outside and climbed up the stairs to the plane. This plane was very comfortable, all of us dozed on the hour and a half flight. Imagine, flying from Dublin to Paris is equal to me flying to DC.

We got off the plane, feeling like we might actually make it. We rounded up our luggage and lugged everything over to a taxi. One driver took a look at us and waved us off. The official-taxi-French-lady yelled at me to get out of the way. We finally got a taxi, I showed him the address, and we drove off. Our taxi driver was from Vietnam and spoke no English so we bonjour'd him and both of said OK a lot.

We arrived at the apartment and collapsed. We were comatose for about an hour and slowly started putting stuff away. Victoria and my father went out exploring, got caught in a rainstorm, and came back with bread, cheese and other goodies. We enjoyed a picnic-like lunch in our rental with panoramic views. We are just too tired to do much else. We all cat napped here and there over the last 24 hours.

It seems like a long day

I dragged the suitcases downstairs and the kitchen looked like piles and piles. Slowly they were weeded through and things were tucked away in their proper spots. We headed out at 9am to drop the dogs off at the kennel. I picked my father up to help with the process and it was so much easier than standing there, answering questions and signing things with two maniacs on leashes. Suzy does love being in the car, but Sammy is a spaz.

After dropping off the dogs we headed to the Budget rental and easily picked up a Chevy SUV. It's a little bigger than my old Pathfinder, but a van definitely offers the most amount of space. My mother brought the bird to her sister Regina's and picked up my father.

I'll drop the leashes and my credit card off at my office on the way to pick up my parents. Lisa has graciously agreed to pick the dogs up on Saturday. If I don't get the dogs by closing, I won't be able to pick them up until Tuesday. The sign on the kennel said the hours on Saturdays are 9 - 4 but the kennel is until 5pm. What type of kennel closes on Sundays and only stays open until 5 on Saturdays? I like placing the dogs there, it's the most reasonably priced and when they need shots, it's an animal hospital too so everything is done in one visit.

I should travel more often. Maybe I'd feel better prepared for it if only I traveled more frequently. I woke up this morning around 4am. My teeth were clenched, I was freezing and I had an anxious feeling as if overslept. I finally got out of bed at 5am. The dogs know something is up because they won't stop running around the house. Even Suzy, the lazy bassett hound, is in a playful mood.

I added the Disney phone number to our itinerary sheets to put in the luggage. Victoria did not charge her IPOD last night nor did she do much to get ready. I'll be waking her up in a few minutes which will be met with, "Just a few more minutes." She has not aquired my ease of getting up in the mornings.

We leave tomorrow

Hermie and Kermie, the hermit crabs, were dropped off this evening to spend their summer camp at CAMP JOSH. Cousin Joshua has extensive experience with hermit crabs and was carefully chosen from the family clan to provide respite services. As we went into the house Victoria said, "I miss them already." Cousin Danny has also been carefully chosen to cyber-sit the Webkinz pets.

Tomorrow morning the plan is to drop the dogs off at CAMP KENNEL and pick up the rental car. We should have some time for banking and last minute stops. I suspect we will be at the airport extremely early but NYC traffic has me nervous. I'll be glad when the next 24 hours of traveling is over. There are so many steps to do over the next day. I'll be glad when I'm on board, book in hand and hours of nothing-to-do ahead of me.

The Helpful Hints sheet that came with the docs lists 00-800-871-9046-0 as the contact # for travel assistance in Europe.

We are packed! I put most of the clothes in zip locked bags. We have two suitcases, each with a mix of our clothes. I found a small tear in the large suitcase and discarded it because there is no way it will make it through all those handlers we'll be dealing with! The two cases I am using are on the smaller side, but it turned out to be ok because it's damn impossible to overpack when the cases are small! One bag weighs 43 lbs and the other around 40.

We have more allowance for our flight out of JFK but I wanted to be sure and pack for our flight from Paris to Barcelona. We will have a 44lb weight limit per person not including carry-on luggage. My plan is to pack everyone's shoes in the small carry-on case!

I also rented a vehicle from Hartford to home. Two more things done!

Weather Highs
83 here
Paris 70
Barcelona 76

The plan is to rent an apartment I found on vrbo.com. It's a one bedroom apartment with extra sleeping capacity in the living room. The building is the interesting one to the right and center. We'll be real Parisians for six days!

One Week Until Vacation!

One week left of work! We leave for our first European vacation next Saturday. I received word last night our transportation arrangements for JFK fell through. We were to have a driver drive our vehicle to the airport. Last night I received an email informing me they'd be happy to drive their own vehicle. Since they do not seem reliable, we are renting a vehicle to drive one way to the airport.