October in Paris...

is wet.

We chose to spend the first week-long vacation of the girls' school year in Paris, not knowing that dh wouldn't be able to get that week off work. So, we combined two vacations into one - spending the weekend w/him at Disneyland Paris and then 4 days w/out him in the City of Lights. I think it worked out to be a great vacation for all of us.

We drove to Disneyland on Friday evening - it took about 5 hours. So, when we arrived at our Disney hotel - the Santa Fe - we just checked into our rooms and went to sleep. We wanted to be ready for a full day of park fun on Saturday.

Both Disneyland and the Walt Disney Studios are much smaller than any of the parks at Walt Disney World in Florida, so we were about to see almost everything we wanted to see in the 2 days we were there. Buzz Lightyear was a big hit w/everyone, as always.

We're a big Disney family. Dh & I went to WDW for our honeymoon and we've been back 4 times w/the kids. We love this stuff and had a great time going on rides and seeing the sights. We've never stayed in an on-sight hotel before - and we won't do it again. They cater to families of 4, so w/5 of us, we had to get 2 rooms. We bought a package that included 2 nights in the rooms, breakfast and the tickets to the park - and it was very expensive. The food wasn't great - either at breakfast or at the so-called Tex-Mex buffet dinner. Next time we go back, and we will, we'll stay somewhere nearby that's cheaper.

Dh left on Sunday evening for the drive back to home and we hopped on the train into Paris. After 2 changes and a walk to our hostel, all the way dragging our luggage, we were beat. The youth hostel was cheap and we certainly didn't get anything we didn't pay for. We had 2 sets of bunk beds, 2 40-watt light bulbs and a sink. The shower & toilet were in the hall. We had to rent sheets and towels and we were locked out the hostel from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. Worst of all for me, our room was 1 floor about the patio, where the other "youth" went to smoke, and talk, at all hours of the night. Breakfast was a sad little affair of bread, butter, jam and juice, with optional cereal - all served in the "cave" under the main floor. But, the location was grand.

We were a few blocks from the Metro stop and not far from the Hotel d'Invalides. We could see the Eiffel tower from the top of our street, although not actually from the hostel. One evening, we got to see the light show as we walked home from dinner.

We bought tickets for a 2 day hop-on/hop-off bus tour that took us to all the major sights. We got off and visited the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc d'Triomphe, the Musee d'Orsay, Notre Dame and Sacre C'oeur. The girls really liked going up the Eiffel Tower, even though it was raining and so foggy and windy at the top we could hardly see anything. The view was somewhat better at the top of the Arc d'Triomphe, and the shopping was fun at the bottom. We all enjoyed the Musee d'Orsay - both in seeing the famous painting they knew and watching art students copying the great masters.

On the next to last day, we took a bus tour out to Versailles, with a guided tour of the aparments and free time to wander the gardens. Of course, it was October, so there was hardly anything in bloom - and lots of construction - but it was still quite impressive. And we were all pleased to find a little cafe hidden in the gardens - me because there was a ladies room w/no line and the girls because I sprung for ice cream and chocolate crepes while we were there.

We did some Christmas shopping and ate some good food while enjoying the sights of Paris. We had Chinese at a tiny little restaurant that we ran to in a downpour. We ate Italian just up the street from our hotel that was excellent. We went to a bar the first night and had great food outside on the sidewalk - in the rain. And we ate at a lot of little French places - where I always got the best tasting food. We were so tired every night, we mostly fell right to sleep. Except the last day, when we had time to watch episodes of the Gilmore Girls on dd#1's laptop.

We boarded a train in Paris for the return trip to Frankfurt and it was a good trip. I had a minor heart attack after our first stop, when the train started going backwards - in the direction we'd come from. I could find no one on the train to ask whether we should have gotten off and changed trains, so I was a nervous wreck for some time. Eventually, we stopped at more stops and I found an English-speaking German man who said we stayed in our seats until Frankfurt. We were disappointed that there was no dining car and the snack trolly only came by once, before we'd even come to the first stop. And I was disappointed that we got into Frankfurt an hour late, and then had to take 2 U-bahn trains to get home - so we were beat when we arrived.

But, it was a great trip. We had a long weekend left to recover before school started on Monday and plenty of time for laundry & groceries. DDs #2&3 got to go trick-or-treating on the US Consulate compound on Saturday and they all went to a Halloween party there on Sunday, so that rounded out a great week's vacation from school. We ended up with three very distinct parts of the vacation - Disney w/Dad, Paris w/Mom, and a "slugfest" at home. A great time was had by all.