Paris Disney Dreams Come True! *COMPLETED 10/29*

hi @scrpbookr loving your photos, you got some really good one of Dreams. I would love to read your London experiences. I used to live in London and I love reading peoples trip reports from my former home :)
Here are a few highlights from the trip to London.

A shot of the train station in Paris where we caught the Eurostar to London....
ry%3D480


Documentation....
ry%3D480


Here is a cute one of my mom while we waited to board the Eurostar from Paris to London. While in France you must eat croissants...
ry%3D480


There's our train!
ry%3D480


St. Pancras Station in London....
ry%3D480


Underground signs.... just in case you forget your in LONDON! *pinch me* This was my first visit.... <---excited!
ry%3D480


I was amused by some of the business names...
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


There was a festival with an Asian theme going on in Trafalgar Square....
ry%3D480


This building is on it's own little island...
ry%3D480


A lovely scene along the River Thames....
ry%3D480


London Eye....
ry%3D480


Scrpbookr in London!
ry%3D480


Big Ben!
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


The Dorchester Hotel...
ry%3D480


If I remember correctly Buckingham Palace...
ry%3D480


Horse mounted Guards at Palace...
ry%3D480


Westminster Abbey...
ry%3D480


10 Downing Street - Prime Minister Address....
ry%3D480


This was an adorable store we enjoyed browsing in...
ry%3D480

Look how sweet it is!
ry%3D480


Both Mom and I chose some souvenirs here. The Pot Holder in the top center was one of mine...
ry%3D480


An attractive pub...
ry%3D480


You knew it was coming... You can't leave without a picture of a red phone booth! Cute Mom!
ry%3D480




We were shopping in Covent Garden. I wanted to go to the Disney Store (of course!) Build a Bear was a bonus!
ry%3D480



ry%3D480


ry%3D480


We found a great stationary store where we picked up a few souvenirs as well...
ry%3D480


We had lunch at a pub called The Globe. (Wasn't it nice of this cute car to join the pub for a pic?)

ry%3D480


Fish n Chips for us!
ry%3D480


Dessert at Primrose Bakery....
ry%3D480

London Bridge...
ry%3D480


The Tower of London had a special remembrance ceremony happening with endless poppies...
ry%3D480


A few souvenirs for Reagan from the stationary store I showed earlier...
ry%3D480


I'm at the picture limit for this entry! How's that for a quick tour of London!?!!
 
@scrpbookr
aww, lovely photos, missing London seeing them. Wow you found the Disney Store in Covent Garden, impressed. Most people only know about the one on Oxford Street. And yes the stationary store Paperchase, opposite it, is one of my favourites, I used to shop there.

lol, at your cute car, thats actually a regular London Cab :) They are specially made for the narrow London streets and have special flexibility for tight turns.

I know the area around Big Ben / Westminister well, I used to work in that area :)

Was there a reason you took a photo of The Dorchester, just curious, as its not something I would expect from a first time visitor

How did you get around? Were you on a hop on hop off bus or using one of the regualr buses?
 
@scrpbookr
aww, lovely photos, missing London seeing them. Wow you found the Disney Store in Covent Garden, impressed. Most people only know about the one on Oxford Street. And yes the stationary store Paperchase, opposite it, is one of my favourites, I used to shop there.

lol, at your cute car, thats actually a regular London Cab :) They are specially made for the narrow London streets and have special flexibility for tight turns.

I know the area around Big Ben / Westminister well, I used to work in that area :)

Was there a reason you took a photo of The Dorchester, just curious, as its not something I would expect from a first time visitor

How did you get around? Were you on a hop on hop off bus or using one of the regualr buses?

I think the yellow striped awnings and magenta flowers are what caught my attention about the Dorchester.

We did have a hop on/ hop off double decker bus tour pass for the day as well as a Thames River sightseeing cruise. Both worked well for us.
 


I'd love to hear about your time in Paris! :)

We'll take a quick tour through Paris here. My mom and I both used our air miles for our flights to and from Paris. They were separate programs. She ended up flying in the night before me and staying the night at the airport Sheraton. I came in early the next morning and we began touring. This was a really, really fun way to take advantage of the air miles!

We hired a taxi to take us to our hotel in Paris from the airport. In hind sight we would have been fine using the train. I had picked a hotel in Paris located conveniently near a station but it is hard to know how close you will really be and if there will be a language barrier when trying to find the way from the station to the hotel, etc.

It was still only about 9am when we got the the hotel. We left our luggage and began exploring. We were on foot for a bit and looking for the spot where we could get on to the hop on, hop off bus tour. The sights along the way were beautiful! A church near our hotel... Les Grandes Orgues
ry%3D480


I had read about a great ribbon, trim, notions shop in a guidebook and we happened to be right near it so we popped in...
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


ry%3D480


The cute sidewalk cafes were endless!
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


We found one that advertised crepes and had brunch. This was a learning experience though....
ry%3D480


There are sweet crepes and salty/savory crepes. We were starting with the savory type. One listed said eggs, cheese, sausage so we went with that. When they arrived it turned out the sausage was hot dog. We were cracking up that we came all this way and were eating hot dog crepes. Not our finest moment but it is a fun memory....
ry%3D480


sidewalk view....
ry%3D480


We were right along the Siene River near the Locks of Love bridge.
ry%3D480


I just read a news blurb recently that this is going away ?? *sad face*
ry%3D480


Mom.... full of hot dog crepes on the Locks of Love bridge... *grins*
ry%3D480


Siene River views....
ry%3D480


boat crushes!
ry%3D480


We caught our bus near the Lourve...
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


ry%3D480


A cute tuk tuk type taxi....
ry%3D480


Once on the bus we passed where we grabbed brunch....
ry%3D480


Berthillion Ice Cream was on my Paris to do list. We had some later in the trip....
ry%3D480


We were on a bus like this. There were four or five lines that showed the entire city. A river tour was included as well. This was a good option for us.
ry%3D480


One of the things that amazed me most about Paris is how every building seems to be beautiful and ornate. I knew there would be special architecture. I didn't know it would be constant.
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


We were fortunate to have a really pretty day....
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


ry%3D480


Around these three monuments (2 above, 1 below) we were entering the Champs de Elysee area
ry%3D480


We hopped off the bus tour to check out the Disney store...
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


ry%3D480


ry%3D480


ry%3D480


I grabbed this little souvenir....
ry%3D480


We were soon back on the bus and heading by the arch....
ry%3D480


I will stop here and continue in a separate entry. I'm about at my picture limit here....
 
Getting closer to the Eiffel Tower...
ry%3D480


Carousel near the base of the tower....
ry%3D480


a beautiful, long anticipated sight!
ry%3D480


Unfortunately, I don't even begin to remember the name and purpose of all the different beautiful buildings. We did have nice commentary on the tour but it is hard to remember.... it all runs together....
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


ry%3D480



ry%3D480


ry%3D480


A sweet flower shop....
ry%3D480


And produce stand....
ry%3D480


My mom and I had so many laughs on this trip. The peak of this was when we checked into our hotel. We had left our luggage in the lobby that morning. We were on the 2nd or 3rd floor. So we decided to take our luggage up in the lift. Our first fit of real hysterics was when we went to get in the elevator. It was the bittiest elevator ever! There was barely room for one person to literally squeeze in with one suitcase. That was tight. The staircase was tiny and sort of spiraled up, too. So first we sent mom up with her suitcase and then I came up separately. Our Paris hotel had a tiny boutique feel sort of like you would get in a city where space becomes limited like NYC. So after the elevator incident the tiny room had us laughing, too.
ry%3D480


I took room pics of all the other tiny features. We had a good location in the city though and it was inexpensive.... something like $115 USD a night. I'm not one to get dissappointed about these sort of things and really I liked and appreciated our little room....
ry%3D480


Mom is still laughing....
ry%3D480


A couple of prints I picked up during the day....
ry%3D480


post cards...
ry%3D480


coasters.... I still use these in my office....
ry%3D480


We found a little restaurant near our hotel for dinner. The area where our hotel was is blocked off to vehicle traffic. It is a walking district with shops and restaurants. I thought it was perfect! I've teased my mom about how this next one shows her snooty Paris expression.... Now that I look closer it might be her I'm not sharing the bread look....
ry%3D480


One thing that surprised me about Paris was all the cigarette smoke. I honestly had no idea it was even possible to fill outside air with cigarette smoke but several times during the trip I noticed this. Maybe the cigarette filters are different. So in an outdoor restaurant like this it was common to sit within smoke. We're not use to that in the US anymore since this is more regulated now. This shows we were pretty closely seated together, too.

ry%3D480


Our dinner location...
ry%3D480


Here's our little hotel.... to the right of the Smart Car....
ry%3D480


Not the best pic but we wanted a shot of the tiny elevator....
ry%3D480


back in the room....
ry%3D480


I loved our little balcony!
ry%3D480


We had a good nights sleep and talked more about our plans for the week. We began to work in a trip to London using Paris City Vision and eventually we booked the trip to Belgium with them, too.

The next morning we headed out in the opposite direction from the day before. We were looking for a place for breakfast. There was a shop or two I hoped to pop into and then we planned to do some more touring.
Patisseries like this were common....
ry%3D480


Yummy choices...
ry%3D480


Similar to Italy what is a US type Bar in the evening becomes a coffee type bar in the morning....
ry%3D480


And similar to Italy you get the tiniest, strongest little cups of coffee ever. No cream can cut the strength... I'm a hazelnut coffee / hazelnut creamer girl and there is no finding that abroad....
ry%3D480


This was the strong coffee stop....
ry%3D480


A fun costume shop window....

ry%3D480


We had coffee at this point but were still looking for a bite to eat...
ry%3D480


We shared this beauty!
ry%3D480


And then tried to pick something less sweet....
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


My mom is actually on her way to visit us for a couple of weeks right now. We will meet her at the shore later this evening and then she will come home with us for the couple of weeks before school starts. I plan to make a special sandwich for our beach days that we discovered on this trip. You start with a buttered baguette and then add tiny whole dill pickles along with Italian lunch meats and cheeses. They are very yummy!

Mom sitting and waiting for our quiche...
ry%3D480


We shared this as well....
ry%3D480

More coming....
 
Yay great start to your time in Paris! Thank you for taking the time to write up what you did!! Berthillon is on my to-visit list as well :) Hot dog crèpes made me laugh!
 


Yum the patisserie and quiches look delicious!! I still need to look into Decaf coffee. Being pregnant, I am not drinking caffeine, so not sure about finding a mocha/latte/whatever in decaf form. We'll see. ANyway...thanks for the pics around the Eiffel and the little carousel at the bottom! I'm sure DD will ride that a few times :) Beautiful scenery around the city. Your hotel room looks pretty typical to Europe - we had many of those during our time in Italy. Thankfully our apartment in Paris comes with a "full size" elevator to the 6th floor, phew!
 
Next door to where we had the quiche was one of the shops I wanted to check out. It was a family owned homemade candy shop called A La Mere de Famille.

It was just as quaint as I hoped it would be....
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


ry%3D480


We did both pick out some souvenirs, gifts to bring home, etc while there....

Having accomplishing that mission we headed towards where we could board the bus. We took in more sights along the way....
ry%3D480


The Palace Theatre and Hard Rock Cafe were in the area where we caught the bus....
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


Such a pretty hotel!
ry%3D480


Printemps department store...

ry%3D480


Another pretty day!
ry%3D480


Such a cheery sight!
ry%3D480


The Moulin Rouge..... Originally I thought we'd get off the bus in this area but it was not what I expected. There were a lot of adult shops and businesses, etc....
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


A super cute produce stand!
ry%3D480


The Louvre Hotel....

ry%3D480


We got off the bus near the Louvre and boarded our Siene River boat tour after a short walk...
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


Great boats along the way....
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


Seeing the Eiffel Tower again...
ry%3D480


A nice couple we were visiting with took our picture together...
ry%3D480


Approaching Norte Dame....
ry%3D480


Reagan, who was 7 at the time saw a sketch of Notre Dame on one of the coastersouvenirs I showed earlier. He has seen the Hunchback of Notre Dame once but immediately he said is't that where Quasimodo lives? I was pretty impressed that he remembered some distinct detail about the building that tied it to the story. He's a good Disney detail boy!

We got off the boat in this area and found a place for lunch. Along the way we passed Shakespear and Co....
ry%3D480


Close by was a good place for lunch but we had another silly experience.
ry%3D480

The silly part is we both ordered Diet Cokes. We were asked if we wanted large and both said yes. My mom then got up to use the restroom and while she was gone these flaming, giant Diet Cokes showed up. Here's a picture to prove I couldn't make this stuff up!
ry%3D480


Mom took this pic as she returned and I told her about the drink hoopla...
ry%3D480


Delicious duck salad lunch!
ry%3D480


So do you have any guess how much a large, flaming Diet Coke costs? $18 USD each.... We had $32 USD worth of Coke..... again.... there's no making this stuff up!

We got back on the bus tour to see another section of the city... Along the way we did get a peek of the David / Thinker statue...
ry%3D480


Another glimpse of the Eiffel tower. This is like a Disney castle.... seeing it never gets old!
ry%3D480


Love this river shot....
ry%3D480


Notre Dame again...
ry%3D480


Our Berthillion Ice Cream....
ry%3D480


There is a little island in this section of the city where we found a Berthillion....
ry%3D480


Mom was tired from a long day of walking and tonight she adored our little room and balcony. We had also grabbed an order of crepes and a couple of reasonable priced diet cokes as we returned. All was right in the world!
ry%3D480


What the elevator had in tiny the room key to our hotel made up for in LARGE (and heavy). I guess the idea was you'd leave your key at the front desk as you left but I tossed this thing in my purse and hauled it all over Paris....
ry%3D480


More goodies....
ry%3D480


And that covers the Paris (city) portion of our trip.....
 
LOL to the flaming cokes - what a tourist trap that was!! 18 euro, ugh. Seems like a nice time though overall. No museums? I love seeing the Eiffel tower too, I just can't wait to see it in person!
 
Those window displays are the cutest! And the nighttime show looks wonderful, love your pictures.

Enjoyed seeing a little piece of your London/Paris visits.
 
To truly complete this trip report I'm going to share a bit from our time in Brugge, Belgium. This side trip wasn't planned ahead of time. Once in Paris we decided to "hop over" to Brugge since we were so close. I loved the experience and I'm so glad Mom and I went.

Before leaving I took a pic of our little perch by our balcony in Paris...
ry%3D480


One of our first views when arriving in Brugge...
ry%3D480


Once on foot we had a bit of a walk to get into town. The views along the way were beautiful!
ry%3D480


ry%3D480



There were so many little picturesque spots....
ry%3D480


Horse drawn buggy was a very popular way to tour the city...
ry%3D480


Mom on the move in Brugge....
ry%3D480


This line up of bicycles caught my eye....
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


There were a lot of chocolate shops with some clever creations...
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


ry%3D480


After walking for awhile we took a boat tour...
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


There are canals through the little city a bit like Venice...

ry%3D480


A beautiful old building along the water....
ry%3D480


I must have a thing for bicycles...
ry%3D480


There were many beautiful statues. Those with mother and child always get me....
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


Perfect little windows....
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


One of the horse drawn carriages...
ry%3D480


I did a bit of souvenir shopping in this book store...
ry%3D480


A quaint spot along the way....
ry%3D480


Lace and tapestry are popular here...
ry%3D480


So many pretty spots...
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


ry%3D480


ry%3D480


We found a little sidewalk café to get a light bite....
ry%3D480


Although I'm not typically a beer girl we were in Belgium so we both had a Belgium beer and we shared a shrimp cocktail....
ry%3D480


Mom and I stopped and had delicious Belgium waffles with scoops of ice cream!
ry%3D480


I'm usually just behind the camera but just to prove I was there I had Mom snap this one.
ry%3D480


I picked up these poppy tapestry shopping totes for both mom and I....
ry%3D480


ry%3D480


Awwww... sweet Brugge memories.

Well, I think that officially concludes this trip report. On to the next now.
 
Beautiful pictures! Those waffles look delicious! Thanks for sharing your trip, and as always I look forward to the next report!
 
Great Trip Report! Thanks so much for including all the pictures in your post. They're terrific! Its getting us excited for our upcoming trip in July. I'll look for your other reports too!
 
Wow! Thanks for sharing!!! I am walking the Camino de Santiago from France to Santiago de Compostella, Spain this summer. I plan to fly into Paris and leave from Paris, so after the walk I want to spend a few days in Paris and then head to DLP for a little visit. Your TR was just what I needed to see for a little bit of Paris and a little bit of DLP. Was there a name to the hop on/off bus tour that you did? I may need to do that one, and then just hop off and do what I want. I need to figure out how I'll be getting around, as I'm likely staying at a hostel too, not a hotel.
 
Planning my 50th birthday in Paris. Your trip report is very helpful. Thanks for sharing all the wonderful details.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top