Date: 29th March 2015

What We Did: This was our very first overnight bus and we were slightly nervous. Well I was excited as I can sleep on any form of transport, Mike on the other hand was dreading it as he is quite tall and being stuck on a bus all night was not his idea of fun. The Megabus however cost us less than £20 each return London to Paris, which we could not say no to.

The bus left London Victoria at around 8pm and it was on time. We were on a double decker bus with Wifi and charging points. It felt like it took ages to get to Dover. I of course slept all the way, Mike did not. Even though we knew you would have to get off the bus on the ferry this was hard in the middle of the night. We found sofas and had an hours sleep before getting back onto the coach.

We arrived in Paris 40 minutes ahead of schedule which would have been great if it wasn’t 5.30am. Nothing was open not even the underground stations. We decided to sit on the side of the street and wait for the underground station to open.

Food and Drink: We ate lots of snacks on the bus.

The Highs: It is one of the cheapest ways to get to Paris from London.

The Lows: It was a long night for Mike as he is unable to sleep on public transport.

Date: 30th March 2015

What We Did: Once the underground was open we bought tickets and caught the train to Notre Dame. This Cathedral was amazing and so pretty on the inside. It looks dark in colour on the outside but once you walk inside the colours from the stained glass windows stand out. Our best tip for visiting the Cathedral is to get there early. We were one of the first in as we were in Paris so early. As we were walking out the line had got long and we were glad to be there early, especially as we only had 1 day in Paris. You need to go inside to see the stained glass windows and all the small details in the decoration. A must-do in Paris.

Our next stop was the Love Bridge, which unfortunately after our trip they started to take down due to the weight. We were very lucky to see this bridge full of all the padlocks placed by people over the years.We could not believe how many locks were actually on the bridge. You could not see the river through the locks. I can totally understand why they were taking the locks away as the bridge must way a tonne.

We were getting hungry as we were up so early, we decided to go and get a sandwich before getting aboard the hop on/off bus. We would definitely recommend this, especially if you only have 24 hours to see Paris. We saw all the main sights from the bus. The only problem was we were so cold and tired that we did a whole lap while asleep so had to go around again.

Our first stop off was at the Arc de Triomphe after riding down the Champs-Elysees. This street reminded me a little of Oxford Street with all the stores and how busy it was. We then crossed into the middle of the roundabout to go into the Arc de Triomphe, luckly the path goes under the road. The roundabout is crazy with so many lanes. We walked what felt like 100s of steps up the Arc de Triomphe to the best views of Paris. We really enjoyed watching the cars going around us and trying to work out which lanes they were in and where they were going. It was very cold and windy.

The next stop was of course the Eiffel Tower, we couldn’t pass the opportunity to go up this. We love getting a view from high up in every city we are in. We caught the lift up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, it was very quick and made your ears pop. We recommend getting here early as we waited in line a long time to get tickets and then for the lift. The views from the top are amazing, we decided though that you were too high to get perspective of anything. It all looked so small. We spent a few hours walking around the different levels and of course getting a souvenir. We then decided to walk down to the bottom, a lot more stairs than we anticipated.

It was getting dark and the rain was setting in so we decided to head over to our hotel and had to get the train to Val d’Europe. This was very simple and cheap. We were staying at Hipark Serris-Val d’Europe and could not find it from the train station. We decided to ask another hotel who didn’t know and showed us to a taxi. Once we were in our room which was lovely we walked to the supermarket to get snacks for the room.

Food and Drink:

Lunch: We decided to grab a subway as we needed something quick and was the only place we could find as it was only 11am.

Dinner: From the supermarket we bought bread, cheese, meats and cakes with a bottle of wine and had a picnic in our room which was lovely. The cakes came in platter packs, why do they not do these in the UK.

The Highs: Our favourite part of today was going up the Arc de Triomphe. We much preferred the view from here than the Eiffel Tower. We felt that you could see more and was a better view as you could see the Eiffel Tower.

The Lows: The tiredness from the overnight bus. We were so tired and missed a whole loop on board the bus as we slept.

Date: 31st March 2015

What We Did: We woke early ready to catch the bus and get a full day at the park. The hotel’s breakfast was really good with loads of choice of breads, meats, cheese, cereals, fruits and hot stuff. We ate plenty in the hope of not having to buy lots in the park. We then got on the complimentary shuttle bus that the hotel provides. This was hassle free and quick.

Once we got off the bus we walked into the Disneyland area and first had to go through security. We decided that today we would go to the Disneyland Paris Park. Walking in it was hard not to compare it to Orlando as we had such an amazing time there. It was nice that it still gave us the same feeling walking down to the castle. The castle is still amazing and full of detail. We rode the big rides like Indiana Jones and Big Thunder. Unfortunately, Space Mountain was closed for refurbishment!

We then walked around and took in the atmosphere and people watched. It was really nice as it was so quiet at this time of year and we hardly had to wait in line for anything. We then decided to head to Earl of Sandwich for lunch, which we fell in love with in America. It was just as good as we remembered! After lunch we hit my favourite ride, Pirates of the Caribbean. I find this ride great as there is plenty to see and is a good length of time. Who doesn’t love the tune ‘pirates life for me’! We then went on Peter Pan’s flight and the Pinocchio ride.

It was parade time and we were glad that the rain was keeping away. We love the parades, especially when we don’t want to waste time lining up for the characters. For the rest of the day we walked around and rode more rides. We then waited for the firework show which was amazing. It is so different from the Orlando one, which was a good thing. We really liked the projections onto the square trees around the castle. We then called it a night and caught the bus back to the centre in the hope to find somewhere for food. We ate at Cocotte & Co before heading back to bed.

Food and Drink:

Breakfast: At the hotel buffet, it was really nice with plenty to choose from.

Lunch: Earl of Sandwich where Mike had a sandwich and I had a Thai Salad. Both lovely and just as good as the one in Orlando. We love this place.

Dinner: Cocotte & Co was near our hotel. We shared a camembert to star. Mike then had a jacket potato …which also came with a whole camembert and I had risotto. We really enjoyed the food here.

The Highs: Being back in the happiest place on Earth! There is just something about Disney that makes you happy.

The Lows: The cast members in Disneyland were not as welcoming and polite as the ones in Orlando. You could tell that we were not in a tipping culture.

Date: 1st April 2015

What We Did: We were up early, breakfast eaten and on the shuttle bus before 9am. Today we went to Walt Disney Studio Park, to go on our favourite ride The Tower of Terror! We both love this ride as it makes us so scared before the drop. The story behind the ride is well themed along with the queue system. As always even though we knew what was coming it scared us and I screamed all the way down.

We were really excited to ride two new rides. The first was Ratatouille, which was a trackless ride… It was so good! It was as if you were the mouse running around the kitchen. You could feel heat from the oven, cold air from the fridge and even the smell of food cooking. It was really good and a very unique ride. We then rode Crush’s Coaster which was fast and reminded us of the Sonic Spin ride in Alton Towers, a theme park in the UK. It was very good but did throw you around a little and made you feel a little sick! We queued the longest amount of time for these two rides.

We then went to watch the show Animagique, which we loved. The songs were catchy and the storyline was easy to follow even in French. We watched this twice in one day as it rained and we wanted somewhere warm and dry to sit for a bit. We then decided to go for lunch in the Rainforest Café which was, as always, great.

After lunch we rode a few more rides and then got the bus back to the hotel. We walked to the shop to get some snacks for the room as we were a little hungry, this included a large pastry selection for Mike!