Thursday, December 14, 2006

Day 11 - 11-12-06

Today was grey and overcast - looking thoroughly miserable. Margaret and I decided to make use of the two tickets Kathleen had for Disneyland Paris - they expired today so we timed that well.

Taking the RER out to the site was a sardine situation. Everyone crammed into the trains almost cheek to cheek. Got stuck standing on the steps next to nutter of French bag who kept muttering under her breath and glaring at me because she seemed upset that I was invading her personal space. Unfortunately for her - I didn't exactly have a lot of choice for other places to go.

When we stopped at one station, a whole bunch of people got off the train. This nutter elbowed past me, stood on the platform as people left the train and proceeded to scream at me in a torrent of French. I think it was something about me not letting people get off the train - but considering she was able to get past me with ease - the on real contact was when she swung her elbows at me, I have no idea what she was going on about. Well I wasn't going to stand there and put up with her crap, so I decided to yell back at her. Her in French, myself and English - such hilarity. But do I give a stuff? Nope - I'm not going to be putting up with crap from some psycho French bag. Stuff her.

When we arrived at Disneyland, it naturally started raining. We didn't mess about and headed off to enjoy some of the various rides. First stop was Space Mountain - which is always a fun ride. This was 'Mission 2'. I have no idea how it differs form Mission 1 - - except that it was a whole bunch of fun. Nothing better than having the coaster doing 360 degree loops in the dark with only luminescent pain to let you see what's happening.

We next jumped onto Star Tours - and it's exactly the same as the other two I've been on - except this ones in French. Still - all the little kids just love it. I managed to restrain myself from purchasing any of the Star Wars merch on sale in the shop. It's amazing just how much crap they manufacture to sell these days.

Next stop was Indian Jones and the Temple du Terror. Unlike the other Indy rides I've been on, this was a roller-coaster type ride. Unlike the other two before - this one has large parts taking place outdoors. You have no idea how much a drop of rain bloody hurts when it hits you at high speed. Ouch!. But still a heap of fun.

We then hopped on Big Thunder Mountain - another outside coaster. Very different from the US versions. For one thing, you don't have the gigantic high point overlooking the park followed with a huge drop. Still fun even though it was another external rain-swept ride.

.The final ride we went on before calling it quits was the Pirates of the Caribbean. This was a weird ride - it had certain elements of a roller-coaster coupled with the traditional animatronics. Still sounds weird hearing the pirates go on in French. No sign of an update based on the movies though.

After this, we took a wander over to the Disney Studios part of the park. This is almost a carbon copy of the U.S. versions. Did the studio backlot tour - which was virtually identical to the U.S. one - Jeremy Irons was hamming in up on the video part - which was mildly entertaining. Best bits was when they set fire to things - got a bit of warmth radiating off the buildings. Nice. Dinotopia must be big in France as this was where they seem to have dumped all of the sets.

No crazy people on the train ride back.

Dinner tonight was at another little nearby restaurant. The waiter/restrauranteur was entertaining/insane. Very good food though.

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