Well, we have made it to Barcelona! I am WAY excited. This is my first time in southern Europe.
We spent our last day in Paris oversleeping and nearly missing breakfast, killing time by visiting a mall where I watched the kids in the play area while my wife and niece went shopping (which, for clarity, is different than "buying"), and then taking a van to the train station. Our train left Paris at 8:30 PM. The taxi company wanted to pick us up from the hotel at 7:30. I asked them to make it 7:00 and, when we were still in the car at 8:00, was glad I asked them to make it earlier.
We checked in for our passage and lugged our baggage to our specific coach. That's when I first discovered that traveling by train was not a good idea. Four people, five bags and a stroller make for very tight quarters on a train. The stroller almost didn't fit. I had to use force to get it through the hallway and into our room. Once in the room, there was no place to put the stroller that allowed us to put down all four beds, so we had to get by with three.
Sleep did not come easy if you were over the age of three. My son slept soundly from the moment we put him down to the moment he awoke in the morning. My daughter slept fine until she wet the bed she was sharing with my niece and my niece pushed her out of the top bunk in her sleep. She hit the floor in a loud crash, waking myself and my wife, but not my niece. My wife slept in spurts, a few minutes at a time. I abandoned the clan and spent my time discussing molecular engineering, biochemistry, and philosophy with a few Canadians and a metal fabrication owner from Boston who drank more screwdrivers in the course of three hours than the Russians made in all of Communism. When I finally went back to our cabin, I found sleep difficult myself because the room was too hot.
We arrived in Barcelona at 8:30 AM, everyone exhausted, everyone needing a shower and hopped into two separate cabs to our hotel. As we experienced in Paris, our room in Barcelona was not available when we arrived at 9 AM and we had to wait until 2 PM to check in. Unlike Paris, however, this hotel had a shower we could use. Of course, this is Spain, and the changing room and (only) shower were both co-ed. The shower also did not have any hot water.
We ate breakfast at the hotel buffet and took a walk across the street to the beach. There are four beaches in Barcelona, each separated by a small pier. They are all clean, sandy, have a gentle surf and plenty of amenities. They are all connected by one long promenade with the beach on one side, and a variety of parks and Olympic facilities on the other side. The string of four beaches is a little over 4 km in length.
We started at the southern most beach, called Barceloneta, and walked north past Icaria, Mar Bella and Nova Mar Bella, then turned south and walked back. All of the beaches of Spain are considered clothing optional, but in Barcelona Mar Bella and Nova Mar Bella are the unofficial 'nudist' beaches. On all of the beaches you'll find adults and children in various degrees of undress.
On the walk south, we stopped for a few moments at one of the parks to rest. This proved to be a mistake as we were all too tired to stay awake if we weren't moving. We relocated to a beach side restaurant for drinks while we waited for the room to become available. At 2 PM, we checked in to the hotel, and checked out of the world of the conscious. After a two hour nap, we woke, went to dinner, and returned to the hotel for baths and to put the kids to bed.
In one day, I've noticed a few major differences from Paris:
1) Barcelona is quiet. We picked a good city to be the relaxing portion of our vacation. Granted, we arrived on a Sunday in a very Catholic nation, but the streets were empty. Even the beaches were pretty empty.
2) Our hotel is in a good location. The places we wanted to visit with the kids while in Barcelona are all walking distance from our hotel. The zoo, the Guadi park and architectural buildings are all within two miles of our hotel.
3) Everything is cheaper. The food, the drinks, the transportation are all half the price of everything in Paris. We had tapas for dinner tonight and the total cost for a meal that stuffed all of us to the brink was half what a collection of snacks would have cost us in Paris. I'm still reeling from the costs of Paris, so this is a welcome change.
4) They are more accommodating of tourists. Tourism, last time I checked, was Spain's top industry. The people of Barcelona know this, and welcome tourists with open arms. They speak English freely and do it well. Unlike Paris where, when I asked a waitress if we could speak in English, was told "in France, we speak French".
5) My Spanish is pretty good. On the train, I had two choices to converse with our steward - Spanish or French. My Spanish is mucho mejor than my French, so I chose that. We were able to communicate easily. I may have to buy a phrase book for Italy, though. I don't think Italians are particularly known for speaking English to tourists.
Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts
Monday, June 14, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
A Disney Birthday
Friday our daughter turned four. That meant Thursday night, after she was asleep, my wife, my niece and I stayed up blowing up balloons, wrapping presents, and decorating our room for her birthday surprise when she awoke. She was very surprised, and very happy, when she woke in the morning, and we spent the time before breakfast opening gifts.
After breakfast, we made our final visit to Disney. Our daughter wore her new birthday dress and new, sparkling "wizard of oz" birthday ruby slippers. My wife had arranged (by insisting I make reservations - in February) for us to have lunch with the Disney Princesses as a birthday treat. So after riding all the rides we had missed on our first day, and revisiting the favorites, we lunched at 3:30. We took pictures with all of the princesses and finished the meal with a birthday cake and several other desserts.
Tomorrow we will leave Paris. Unless our children or my wife express an interest in returning later in life, this will probably be my last personal visit to Paris - maybe for a 50th wedding anniversary. I will remember Paris as cool, wet, hectic, tiring, and beautiful. After such a long, hard, tiring week in Paris, we are all looking forward to a week of nothing to do but sit on the beach in Barcelona. We all need it.
After breakfast, we made our final visit to Disney. Our daughter wore her new birthday dress and new, sparkling "wizard of oz" birthday ruby slippers. My wife had arranged (by insisting I make reservations - in February) for us to have lunch with the Disney Princesses as a birthday treat. So after riding all the rides we had missed on our first day, and revisiting the favorites, we lunched at 3:30. We took pictures with all of the princesses and finished the meal with a birthday cake and several other desserts.
Tomorrow we will leave Paris. Unless our children or my wife express an interest in returning later in life, this will probably be my last personal visit to Paris - maybe for a 50th wedding anniversary. I will remember Paris as cool, wet, hectic, tiring, and beautiful. After such a long, hard, tiring week in Paris, we are all looking forward to a week of nothing to do but sit on the beach in Barcelona. We all need it.
Sacre Coeur, Eiffel Tower, Hotel d'Invalides
Thursday we made another trip into Paris with plans to meet my longtime friend for lunch. My prior two visits to Paris, I stayed in his flat - once while he himself was in Arizona getting married to my former employer - so I could not visit Paris without at least having lunch or a drink. We arranged to meet at 2 PM. Our days have been ending and starting later and later. The sun sets so late here - at least relative to Jakarta - that we feel like we are in the land of perpetual sun. It is up when we go to bed, and it is up when we awake. Everywhere else we have lived or visited in the last fourteen months - Jakarta, Singapore, Bali - is so close to the equator that the sun rises at 6 AM and sets at 6 PM. The constant daylight in Paris has our biological rhythms confused. Instead of being ready for breakfast at 7 and ready to leave at 8, we eat breakfast at 8:30 and leave by 9:30, which means we arrive in Paris quite late around 11 AM.
After buying two umbrellas and a rain poncho for our daughter, we started our rain-filled day at my favorite spot in Paris - Montmartre, where you'll find the Basilica Sacre Couer (Basilica of the Sacred Heart). It is the highest spot in Paris and has one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture, in my opinion, anywhere in the world. I don't know what it was about religious orders in the pre-Enlightenment age, but they sure built some elaborate places of worship (see Borobudur and Prambanan for Buddhist and Hindu examples). To get to the basilica, you have to climb several flights of stairs. A tiring proposition when you are walking solo. A full challenge when you are pushing a stroller, and trying to stay dry.
Eight years ago, this is where I proposed to my wife. We took a picture of the result of that question in the same spot as the proposal.
We left the Sacre Coeur around 12:30 and walked through the adjoining village of shops and local artisans. The small streetscapes around Montmartre represent what people who visit Paris fall in love with. You feel like you have just walked back in time to the Renaissance, yet can find all the comforts of the modern era. My wife bought herself a scarf. We laughed when she read the tag. Seems she came all the way to Paris to buy a scarf made in Indonesia.
At the base of the hill is Paris' red light district, and the Moulin Rouge, made famous by the movie starring my favorite actress, Nicole Kidman. There was also a street with the same name as my daughter.
We ate lunch with my friend in a small cafe by the Eiffel Tower. After lunch, the rain had stopped so we took a brief walk by Paris' most famous tourist attraction, and stopped at playground in the nearby park so our daughter could have some play time after walking so much. We knew she needed it when she asked, after spending so many days just walking around the streets, "what do we keep looking for?"
Leaving the Eiffel Tower, we walked the few blocks to the Hotel d'Invalides, where there is a military museum and Napoleon's tomb. The tomb is nothing much to look at, but the building itself is remarkable. In fact, much of Paris is just remarkable to regard. On my first trip to Paris, which I did by myself when I had very little spending money, I spent the entire 10 days just walking the city admiring the buildings (save for a few visits to some museums).
Our original plan was to walk from Hotel d'Invalides to the Luxembourg Gardens, but the rain returned while our niece was viewing Napoleon's tomb, so we decided to just return to the hotel instead.
After buying two umbrellas and a rain poncho for our daughter, we started our rain-filled day at my favorite spot in Paris - Montmartre, where you'll find the Basilica Sacre Couer (Basilica of the Sacred Heart). It is the highest spot in Paris and has one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture, in my opinion, anywhere in the world. I don't know what it was about religious orders in the pre-Enlightenment age, but they sure built some elaborate places of worship (see Borobudur and Prambanan for Buddhist and Hindu examples). To get to the basilica, you have to climb several flights of stairs. A tiring proposition when you are walking solo. A full challenge when you are pushing a stroller, and trying to stay dry.
We left the Sacre Coeur around 12:30 and walked through the adjoining village of shops and local artisans. The small streetscapes around Montmartre represent what people who visit Paris fall in love with. You feel like you have just walked back in time to the Renaissance, yet can find all the comforts of the modern era. My wife bought herself a scarf. We laughed when she read the tag. Seems she came all the way to Paris to buy a scarf made in Indonesia.
We ate lunch with my friend in a small cafe by the Eiffel Tower. After lunch, the rain had stopped so we took a brief walk by Paris' most famous tourist attraction, and stopped at playground in the nearby park so our daughter could have some play time after walking so much. We knew she needed it when she asked, after spending so many days just walking around the streets, "what do we keep looking for?"
Leaving the Eiffel Tower, we walked the few blocks to the Hotel d'Invalides, where there is a military museum and Napoleon's tomb. The tomb is nothing much to look at, but the building itself is remarkable. In fact, much of Paris is just remarkable to regard. On my first trip to Paris, which I did by myself when I had very little spending money, I spent the entire 10 days just walking the city admiring the buildings (save for a few visits to some museums).
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Thoughts about Paris
My prior two trips to Paris occurred in early September. Both times, the weather was cool. On the second trip, I had to buy a jacket it was so cold. Visiting in June, I expected warmer weather. Sadly, except for our first day, the weather has been overcast, cool and/or rainy. The forecast for the next few days is not much different. I only hope that Friday, our daughter's birthday, is warm and sunny so she can enjoy Disney.
Having been here for four days, I have decided I made a mistake with my selection of hotels. Though there have been some issues with the hotel, those have not been a factor in that determination. They've done everything in their power to compensate for the initial problems. The issue is the hotel's location relative to the majority of our other locations. It is a ten minute bus ride to Disney. It is a one hour transit via bus and train to Paris. We'll do two days in Disney, six days in Paris - you can see my error. The end result is paying a lot for subway passes, and adding the stress of traveling long distances via train with two children under four. The days are more stressful than they should be. I think my niece will think twice about taking a major vacation before her kids are over the age of 4 when she has her own family.
After three days of busy activity, we took today off, to a degree. Packing three weeks of clothes would have been just as challenging as packing three weeks of baby food. Instead, we packed just over a week's worth of clothes, intending to do laundry two or three times while we were here. Today was laundry day. We had the option of using the laundry service at the hotel. Something about paying $13 to wash a single shirt did not sit well with me. Four days worth of clothes would have cost around $300 at those prices. Instead, my wife, our son and I took a bus to a nearby village that had a laundromat while our daughter stayed at the hotel to go swimming with our niece. Unfortunately, we had no idea where it was. We exited at a stop that looked promising and asked the first person we met if they knew where to find one. They looked at us very confused. I later realized I was saying "leve vetements" instead of "lave vetements". The latter means to "wash clothes"; the former, loosely translated, means "remove your clothes" (literally, "lift your clothes").
Once she realized I was asking where we could wash clothes, and not asking her to disrobe in the middle of the street (though, these are the French, she may have just done what I was asking if I persisted), she pointed us towards the town center, but said she wasn't sure. On the way there, we encountered an older woman exiting her car. We went through the same exercise with her (with me still not realizing I was saying "leve" instead of "lave"), and she offered to drive us. We climbed in the back of the car and she took us to the village only to discover there was no laundromat - it had moved. She then took us to the next village, parked, and walked us to a dry cleaner to ask if they did laundry. They said they did but that there was a laundromat on the other side of town. She then walked us to the other side of town until we found the laundromat. I offered to pay her for her time and her gas, but she refused. We thanked her profusely, and then did our laundry for $20 instead of $300. Travel time and wash time consumed four hours of our day.
After laundry, we hopped back on the park shuttle and ate lunch at Planet Hollywood in Disney Village. Paris has proven quite expensive. I'm very thankful that the buffet breakfast is included in the price of the room, and that we have decided to only eat two, large meals each day - breakfast, and then a 3PM lunch/dinner. If we are hungry at other times, we'll have small snacks like fruit or trail mix. Were we to eat, and pay for, three meals a day, food would far exceed the cost of the hotel.
Before today, we all shared a similar thought that I'm sure others have thought before us: "France would be great if it weren't for the French". I would now amend this to "France would be great if it weren't for the workers in the tourist industry". We have found transit workers to be surly, museum workers to be haughty and rude, and even the front desk at our own hotel to appear exasperated at simple requests. On my third trip to Paris, the city has lost its charm. I would still recommend it to people who have never visited and who love art. For anyone who likes friendly service and fair prices, well, pick another city.
Having been here for four days, I have decided I made a mistake with my selection of hotels. Though there have been some issues with the hotel, those have not been a factor in that determination. They've done everything in their power to compensate for the initial problems. The issue is the hotel's location relative to the majority of our other locations. It is a ten minute bus ride to Disney. It is a one hour transit via bus and train to Paris. We'll do two days in Disney, six days in Paris - you can see my error. The end result is paying a lot for subway passes, and adding the stress of traveling long distances via train with two children under four. The days are more stressful than they should be. I think my niece will think twice about taking a major vacation before her kids are over the age of 4 when she has her own family.
After three days of busy activity, we took today off, to a degree. Packing three weeks of clothes would have been just as challenging as packing three weeks of baby food. Instead, we packed just over a week's worth of clothes, intending to do laundry two or three times while we were here. Today was laundry day. We had the option of using the laundry service at the hotel. Something about paying $13 to wash a single shirt did not sit well with me. Four days worth of clothes would have cost around $300 at those prices. Instead, my wife, our son and I took a bus to a nearby village that had a laundromat while our daughter stayed at the hotel to go swimming with our niece. Unfortunately, we had no idea where it was. We exited at a stop that looked promising and asked the first person we met if they knew where to find one. They looked at us very confused. I later realized I was saying "leve vetements" instead of "lave vetements". The latter means to "wash clothes"; the former, loosely translated, means "remove your clothes" (literally, "lift your clothes").
Once she realized I was asking where we could wash clothes, and not asking her to disrobe in the middle of the street (though, these are the French, she may have just done what I was asking if I persisted), she pointed us towards the town center, but said she wasn't sure. On the way there, we encountered an older woman exiting her car. We went through the same exercise with her (with me still not realizing I was saying "leve" instead of "lave"), and she offered to drive us. We climbed in the back of the car and she took us to the village only to discover there was no laundromat - it had moved. She then took us to the next village, parked, and walked us to a dry cleaner to ask if they did laundry. They said they did but that there was a laundromat on the other side of town. She then walked us to the other side of town until we found the laundromat. I offered to pay her for her time and her gas, but she refused. We thanked her profusely, and then did our laundry for $20 instead of $300. Travel time and wash time consumed four hours of our day.
After laundry, we hopped back on the park shuttle and ate lunch at Planet Hollywood in Disney Village. Paris has proven quite expensive. I'm very thankful that the buffet breakfast is included in the price of the room, and that we have decided to only eat two, large meals each day - breakfast, and then a 3PM lunch/dinner. If we are hungry at other times, we'll have small snacks like fruit or trail mix. Were we to eat, and pay for, three meals a day, food would far exceed the cost of the hotel.
Before today, we all shared a similar thought that I'm sure others have thought before us: "France would be great if it weren't for the French". I would now amend this to "France would be great if it weren't for the workers in the tourist industry". We have found transit workers to be surly, museum workers to be haughty and rude, and even the front desk at our own hotel to appear exasperated at simple requests. On my third trip to Paris, the city has lost its charm. I would still recommend it to people who have never visited and who love art. For anyone who likes friendly service and fair prices, well, pick another city.
Disney and Versailles
We arrived at Disney around 9 AM. After standing in line to buy tickets and then standing in line to enter the park we were on Disney's Main Street USA at 9:45 AM. This proved to be just in time to wait for them to open the rest of the park at 10 AM to those of us who did not buy a special "advanced pass". I later learned that DisneyLand Paris is open from 10 AM to 7 PM. Nine hours. They charge $6 an hour to play in their park. For us, it was more like $8 an hour because We left the park for two hours to eat lunch in Disney Village so we could have something other than a $9 hamburger.
DisneyLand Paris feels like a Lite version of the parks in Orlando and Los Angeles. The Jungle Boat ride, Toon Town, and many of the features like the 4-D movies and the animatronic bears are missing from the Paris version. Instead, Paris has a few walk-through activities like: Aladdin's Adventure - dioramas of the Aladdin movie; Alice's (of Wonderland) Labyrinth - a collection of hedge mazes with the various characters; and Adventure Isle - various settings based on the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. They also had a pirate-themed play area for toddlers to climb and run.
As for rides, everyone, including my son, rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan's Flight, The Voyages of Pinnochio (which appears to have replaced Mr. Toad's wild ride), It's A Small World, and Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast - a ride that has you shooting attacking robots with a laser mounted on your car and scoring points (my niece and I tied). My daughter liked Small World and Peter Pan best. When we return on Friday, we will have to repeat those. Other than the Laser Blast, we intentionally did not spend any time in Tomorrowland so we will have new attractions when we return for our daughter's birthday.
After Disney, we put the kids to bed and left them with our niece while my wife and I went out...to the grocery store. We did not pack three weeks of baby food, diapers, etc., intending to buy what we needed instead. Part of this was to save packing space. Part of this was finally having an opportunity to buy baby supplies in a Western country. And buy we did! In Jakarta, we're lucky to find a check-out aisle sized area with baby food, supplies, etc. This grocery store had three full aisles! My wife was in motherhood heaven.
To get to the store, we took the shuttle to Disney, then the train one stop, and walked about a block to the store. Required about fifteen minutes. To get back to the hotel, we just needed to repeat the process, and that took just sixty minutes. We spent forty of that waiting for the train to take us one stop to Disney. My wife and I did not get to bed until midnight, knowing we would be woken at 6 AM the following morning by a hungry baby.
The next day, we went to Versailles. I've been to Paris three times. I've visited Versailles each time. I love the ornate splendor and attention to artistic detail the various kings, architects and designers have put into each and every room throughout its history. The manicured garden is a thing of wonder. It is my second favorite place in Paris (we will visit my favorite place on Thursday).
To get to Versailles, we took the shuttle to Disney, and boarded the train into Paris. We switched trains at Chatelet de Halles, and switched trains again at St Michel. Ninety minutes later the train pulled into Versailles Rive Gauche station. A short walk had us gazing upon the enormous castle walls and guardian statues. The line was horrible. After standing in line for thirty minutes, a person I had previously spoken to to ask for directions to the toilet took that moment to notice that we had a stroller and advised us that we could purchase tickets at a store up the street and not have to stand in line - same price. We left the line and walked to the store. Ten minutes later, we were standing in line to enter the castle. Probably saved us at least forty minutes.
As always, Versailles was amazing. Unfortunately, other events of the day is what we will remember most. The first was the "poop explosion" my son had at breakfast, covering his entire back and much of his stroller. That was a warning shot of events to come. In the castle, in which we could not bring the stroller so one of us always had to hold him, he spit up multiple times. Finally, after feeding him his dinner, he regurgitated his recently consumed spinach all over himself, his mother, and the booth. I'm sure the hotel bar was happy to see us leave. The travel time spent on trains was especially grueling. The metro stations are not stroller friendly, and I found myself carrying the stroller up and down flights of stairs. At times, we also had to collapse it completely because there was no passage. By the end of the day, we were truly exhausted - mentally and physically.
Hardship is how memories are made and bonds are formed. If the worst of our vacation is fatigue from walking and mental stress from a demanding baby, we've done alright. Because along with all the stress, are moments of levity. On Tuesday, we had two. The first occurred in Versailles. My daughter had urgent bathroom issues every hour or so. When we started our tour, she kept asking to see the bedrooms of the king and queen. Fifteen minutes into the tour, she started informing us she needed to use the toilet. We told her she would have to wait until the end of the tour. Shortly thereafter, she stopped asking to see the bedrooms and started asking if she could see the king's toilets. The second happened at lunch. We stopped at a bar (which we had thought was a cafe) and had panini and wine. I think we would all agree that dehydration, fatigue, empty stomachs and two glasses of red wine make for a very quick buzz. Conversation became a little more challenging. When we spoke of Barcelona, and the drinks we wanted when we were there, my wife asked "Is there Spain in Tequila?" Of course, in our inebriated state, this caused an eruption of laughter and a burst of badly needed energy.
DisneyLand Paris feels like a Lite version of the parks in Orlando and Los Angeles. The Jungle Boat ride, Toon Town, and many of the features like the 4-D movies and the animatronic bears are missing from the Paris version. Instead, Paris has a few walk-through activities like: Aladdin's Adventure - dioramas of the Aladdin movie; Alice's (of Wonderland) Labyrinth - a collection of hedge mazes with the various characters; and Adventure Isle - various settings based on the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. They also had a pirate-themed play area for toddlers to climb and run.
As for rides, everyone, including my son, rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan's Flight, The Voyages of Pinnochio (which appears to have replaced Mr. Toad's wild ride), It's A Small World, and Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast - a ride that has you shooting attacking robots with a laser mounted on your car and scoring points (my niece and I tied). My daughter liked Small World and Peter Pan best. When we return on Friday, we will have to repeat those. Other than the Laser Blast, we intentionally did not spend any time in Tomorrowland so we will have new attractions when we return for our daughter's birthday.
After Disney, we put the kids to bed and left them with our niece while my wife and I went out...to the grocery store. We did not pack three weeks of baby food, diapers, etc., intending to buy what we needed instead. Part of this was to save packing space. Part of this was finally having an opportunity to buy baby supplies in a Western country. And buy we did! In Jakarta, we're lucky to find a check-out aisle sized area with baby food, supplies, etc. This grocery store had three full aisles! My wife was in motherhood heaven.
To get to the store, we took the shuttle to Disney, then the train one stop, and walked about a block to the store. Required about fifteen minutes. To get back to the hotel, we just needed to repeat the process, and that took just sixty minutes. We spent forty of that waiting for the train to take us one stop to Disney. My wife and I did not get to bed until midnight, knowing we would be woken at 6 AM the following morning by a hungry baby.
The next day, we went to Versailles. I've been to Paris three times. I've visited Versailles each time. I love the ornate splendor and attention to artistic detail the various kings, architects and designers have put into each and every room throughout its history. The manicured garden is a thing of wonder. It is my second favorite place in Paris (we will visit my favorite place on Thursday).
To get to Versailles, we took the shuttle to Disney, and boarded the train into Paris. We switched trains at Chatelet de Halles, and switched trains again at St Michel. Ninety minutes later the train pulled into Versailles Rive Gauche station. A short walk had us gazing upon the enormous castle walls and guardian statues. The line was horrible. After standing in line for thirty minutes, a person I had previously spoken to to ask for directions to the toilet took that moment to notice that we had a stroller and advised us that we could purchase tickets at a store up the street and not have to stand in line - same price. We left the line and walked to the store. Ten minutes later, we were standing in line to enter the castle. Probably saved us at least forty minutes.
As always, Versailles was amazing. Unfortunately, other events of the day is what we will remember most. The first was the "poop explosion" my son had at breakfast, covering his entire back and much of his stroller. That was a warning shot of events to come. In the castle, in which we could not bring the stroller so one of us always had to hold him, he spit up multiple times. Finally, after feeding him his dinner, he regurgitated his recently consumed spinach all over himself, his mother, and the booth. I'm sure the hotel bar was happy to see us leave. The travel time spent on trains was especially grueling. The metro stations are not stroller friendly, and I found myself carrying the stroller up and down flights of stairs. At times, we also had to collapse it completely because there was no passage. By the end of the day, we were truly exhausted - mentally and physically.
Hardship is how memories are made and bonds are formed. If the worst of our vacation is fatigue from walking and mental stress from a demanding baby, we've done alright. Because along with all the stress, are moments of levity. On Tuesday, we had two. The first occurred in Versailles. My daughter had urgent bathroom issues every hour or so. When we started our tour, she kept asking to see the bedrooms of the king and queen. Fifteen minutes into the tour, she started informing us she needed to use the toilet. We told her she would have to wait until the end of the tour. Shortly thereafter, she stopped asking to see the bedrooms and started asking if she could see the king's toilets. The second happened at lunch. We stopped at a bar (which we had thought was a cafe) and had panini and wine. I think we would all agree that dehydration, fatigue, empty stomachs and two glasses of red wine make for a very quick buzz. Conversation became a little more challenging. When we spoke of Barcelona, and the drinks we wanted when we were there, my wife asked "Is there Spain in Tequila?" Of course, in our inebriated state, this caused an eruption of laughter and a burst of badly needed energy.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
The hotel
While in Paris, we are staying at the Dream Castle Hotel; part of the DisneyLand family of hotels with free shuttles every day to the park. The hotel, modeled after a Viennese castle, reminds me of Versailles. The lobby's decor hearkens back to the medieval days of knights, damsels in distress, and kings. There are suits of armor, thrones, and even a rock with a sword stuck in it so kids can emulate the sword in the stone story. It also has modern amenities like a spa and fitness center, a playground, and an indoor pool with water slide.
In the rear of the hotel are large, grassy lawns. These are a welcome change from the concrete jungle of Jakarta. Leaving the hotel grounds, there is a walking path around a small lake behind all of the hotels in the area. We took a quick walk around the lake prior to bedding down for the night.
Like every Disney hotel, everything is overpriced. Especially the internet. The hotel charges $20 USD a day for internet. I understand the concept of providing very spartan amenities to encourage people to spend more at the primary attractions - Vegas does this quite well so that you spend your boredom in the casino, not watching TV in the room. Charging people an exorbitant fee for something that, in practicality, costs so little - like internet access and telephone calls - is really just robbery. It is a practice hotels need to correct, or I'll drive them out of business when I open my own.
We miss the Asian hospitality. The hotel restaurant where we ate a late lunch was woefully understaffed and inattentive. The one waitress who was working when we arrived - and, arguably, too busy - had the demeanor of Cruella Deville. She walked around the restaurant with a look on her face like she was sucking on a lemon. Several times, we would stand at the bar directly across from them to ask a question (like to request a menu), and we would be there for five minutes completely ignored. I know the French come across as aloof, and we are not supposed to take this as rude, but this was ridiculous.
Our original plans called for spending our first full day at the hotel to make use of the amenities and acclimate our bodies to the local time zone. This is when I thought they would have a nice, large, outdoor pool like the Disney hotels in the US have. Now, I think if we had to spend a whole day here we'd go stir crazy. We also seem fairly well adjusted to the timezone, so I think we'll spend the day in Paris, instead.
In the rear of the hotel are large, grassy lawns. These are a welcome change from the concrete jungle of Jakarta. Leaving the hotel grounds, there is a walking path around a small lake behind all of the hotels in the area. We took a quick walk around the lake prior to bedding down for the night.
Like every Disney hotel, everything is overpriced. Especially the internet. The hotel charges $20 USD a day for internet. I understand the concept of providing very spartan amenities to encourage people to spend more at the primary attractions - Vegas does this quite well so that you spend your boredom in the casino, not watching TV in the room. Charging people an exorbitant fee for something that, in practicality, costs so little - like internet access and telephone calls - is really just robbery. It is a practice hotels need to correct, or I'll drive them out of business when I open my own.
We miss the Asian hospitality. The hotel restaurant where we ate a late lunch was woefully understaffed and inattentive. The one waitress who was working when we arrived - and, arguably, too busy - had the demeanor of Cruella Deville. She walked around the restaurant with a look on her face like she was sucking on a lemon. Several times, we would stand at the bar directly across from them to ask a question (like to request a menu), and we would be there for five minutes completely ignored. I know the French come across as aloof, and we are not supposed to take this as rude, but this was ridiculous.
Our original plans called for spending our first full day at the hotel to make use of the amenities and acclimate our bodies to the local time zone. This is when I thought they would have a nice, large, outdoor pool like the Disney hotels in the US have. Now, I think if we had to spend a whole day here we'd go stir crazy. We also seem fairly well adjusted to the timezone, so I think we'll spend the day in Paris, instead.
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