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Disney is now offering a variety of unique vacation experiences with a little sprinkle of pixie dust, Adventures by Disney. Chris and Beci Mahnken, owners of MouseFanTravel.com are currently experiencing the Adventure of a lifetime… An Adventure By Disney to London & Paris! For more information about upcoming Adventure By Disney itineraries, visit: MouseFanTravel.com.

Day 1, October 6, London
Day 2, October 7, London
Day 3, October 8, London
Day 4, October 9, London to Paris
Day 5, October 10, Paris
Day 6, October 11, Paris
Day 7, October 12, Paris

**********

Day 4 Crumpets to Croissants

Today we make our way from the city of London to the city of lights - Paris. We woke up and prepared our bags for bell services to pick up as we wouldn't have to worry about lugging them around. Disney will have them ready for us at our hotel in Paris. However, we were not quite finished with London. There was still a lot to see!

London is full of hidden gems and the Adventures by Disney guides provide all sorts of opportunities to find them. This morning they offered an optional early morning walk guided by Steve, our local blue badge expert. We gathered in the lobby around 7:30 am to explore for the next hour or so.

Our home in London is just around the corner from Lincoln's Inn Fields, one of the traditional homes of the London legal profession, and also known as the 'Middle Temple' because the space was formerly held by the Templar Knights. It's full of little courtyards which seem to be full of little surprises.

On the left is a law office. Traditional old buildings like this surround the squares. On the right is one of the Temple buildings which date back to the time of Shakespeare. It was in fact used for the premiere of Shakespeare's play King Henry the VIII. Last on the list and in the center was quite a surprise for us, and one Chris recognized as soon as we walked into it's courtyard. The Temple Church. It's actually two different construction projects, the original circular church which you may have seen in the Da Vinci Code, and the newer more traditional part which was added on later. The church was closed when we passed by past, but there were some workmen doing something and we were able to get a peek and this long exposure photo of the inside.

Once we returned from our walk we waived good-bye to our hotel, loaded into the coach again and drove off to a part of London known as Little Venice. So named because of all the canals crossing thru it. There we got to take part in another bit of hidden London, a canal boat ride to Camden Locks. In Little Venice we boarded a classic canal boat and cruised thru some of the lesser seen parts of London, past the London Zoo, and into Camden town.

At Camden we went back to using shanks mare and explored the Camden Market. Camden is an eclectic part of London with actual bargains on some really cool stuff in the market.

From the Market, we got back on our coach, which had been magically transported to Camden, and rode off to the south bank of the Thames and Waterloo station to catch the Eurostar train. In France they call it the TGV. In the USA we know it as the Bullet Train. In the UK they simply call it the Chunnel Train to Paris. The train ride was quite comfortable and before you know it, you're rolling into a new country, a new city, and a new part of your adventure.

Once you enter the terminal and pass through passport control and security, you are considered to be in France, even before the train ride. As we made our way down to our platform Chris asked if we should go looking for Platform 9 & ¾ - umm… wrong station. Anyway…. The arrival here presented a dilemma. Exchange our pounds and dollars for euros now or later. One look at the fee for exchange at the official money exchange spot and we ll agreed, lets wait till we get to Paris.

The Adventure by Disney package included First Class tickets which provided a comfortable car with very comfy seats. The configuration was a single row of seats in pairs facing each other divided by a table, and the other side had two rows with that would seat a party of 4 with a table. The techies in the group immediately reached for various electronic devices as there were conveniently located plugs to power them.

Lunch was served during our approx 3 hour journey. There was a choice of a beef stew or a fish dish and a beverage. They also served champagne as well, all included in the ticket.

The ride through the Chunnel itself was approx 20 minutes and when we emerged on the other side; we were greeted with views of the French countryside. Every few miles you would see a small village with a church in the center reminding us of the history of the area. Our group was al in the same car so instead of getting some trip reports written, we ended up having a great time and sharing conversation with our traveling companions.

When we arrived, we left the station and the differences in architecture were obvious. Our London guide had stated that if London is the masculine of the two, Paris is the feminine and he as right on money. The light beige buildings with the ornate iron work on every balcony was breathtaking. As I looked up I halfway expected to see Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor serenading each other. (ya.. I know … a Moulin Rouge reference really doesn't belong in a Disney report….)

We boarded our private coach and met our local guide for Paris, Helene. She provided a lot of great information and pointed out the sites on the way to our home for the next few days - The Westin Paris. We drove through the heart of Paris through the main square and it was very apparent this city was not designed to handle the number of cars and the size of our motor coach. We wound our way through the narrow streets to the main square near the Arc d' Triumph where 8 lanes of traffic, with no painted lines manage to traverse the round-about. It's quite the introduction to our destination I assure you.

We arrived at the Westin Paris were our guides took care of our check in process and handed each of us our keys.

The Westin is formerly the Intercontinental Paris and we were informed they are still working on the change over. This was evident in some of the décor as the room was nicely decorated and had been fitted with the Heavenly beds Westin is famous for, but there was quite a lot of older chrome and mirror combos that made it appear as through they were left over from the late 70s and they just haven't made it to the replacing the pieces on the to list. The bathrooms were a nice size as well, but be prepared, the bathtubs are narrow and the bottom isn't exactly flat. Just be careful and ensure your footing as you move about. Our room had one issue. The bathroom door put up a fight when you tried to close it. After a few tries we finally figured out that if you lift up and push it closed simultaneously with both hands it cooperates.. I considered it part of the work-out routine.

We unpacked and headed out to walk around a bit as the early evening and dinner was open for us to do with as we wished. Chris and I started walking towards the best view of the city lights at night.

Ah Paris, city of lights. This is where we post a picture of the Eifel Tower, or a lovely shot up the Champs-Élyees. Unfortunately it was seriously foggy on the evening of our arrival, so a picture of Chris in front of a Champs (as the locals call it) street sign is the best you're going to get in this report.

With a free night in front of us we decided to walk from our Hotel up the Champs toward the Arc d' Triumph. We ran into some of our travel mates at a bank machine (ATM yes, cash exchange no).

As we walked we managed to find a familiar site - The Disney Store! It sure was a nice site in a foreign land where just trying to figure out when and where to try and cross the street was still a mystery.

We walked around looking at all the toys and clothes trying to figure out how much we would really be paying in dollars vs euros, etc.
We took some pictures of a few of the French plushies and marveled at Pooh in a beret, Minnie holding French bread, etc.

This is the part of the program where we all get the opportunity to try out our language skills after studying the guides over the past few days. If you ever looked into traveling to Paris, you may have heard it is wise to try and learn a few phrases- Please, Thank You, Good-bye, etc. You will find that if you greet the French people in their own language and demonstrate your willingness to try to communicate, you will get a much more pleasant reply.

We had a very nice walk back to the hotel, passing the historic Hôtel de Crillon and the well guarded American Embassy along the way.

Tomorrow we're on to the Louvre and a nice lunch in the Tulleries Gardens.