Six years old!!!

Much like my trip report, this is unfinished. Happy birthday to the boy who says he'll love me for infinity.

17 June - Too lazy for Paris today

You know it's going to be a good day when you run into Mickey in the lobby on the way to breakfast.

We made it to the park for the Extra Magic Hours this morning and rode everything we wanted to - many times over - before 10 a.m. What to do with the rest of the day?

We enforced naptime and then went to the other park, Disney Studios. We can walk everywhere which is nice because those buses in Florida will eat up your whole day.

For the age that our children are now, it's really nice to visit a Disney that seems to be on a smaller scale with fewer people crowding everything and way more characters milling around.

We met Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Peter Pan, Wendy, Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Eeyore, and saw many more.

16 June - Bonjour, Mickey!

I just love hearing so many different languages in Disney! I feel like I'm yelling when I call to the boys to stick closer to us. Everyone is so quiet here. My accent makes British families stop us to ask why we came to this Disney.

Let's see, there are no lines. We've ridden D's favorite things over and over. We're wearing our jackets because it's in the 60's - I guess that explains why they have the Indiana Jones et le temple du peril ride instead of Splash Mountain. People would freeze.

We checked in at noon and then "Disneyed" til about 6. Went to Rainforest Cafe' in the Village and then all collapsed. Goofy and Pluto were having a dance party in the lobby when we came in. Fun!

15 June - Is shabby really that chic?

The thing I get tired of in France is the general shabbiness and disrepair of...everything. It reminds me of Russia which just makes me kinda itchy. You'd think they'd keep their ginormous cheateau, Chambord, in a little better condition. The hotels are so pieced together and random. The homes are not kept up and the yards would give some of my neighbors a heart attack. It's such a tough transition after leaving lovely, sparkling clean, green Britain. (I'm wondering if we should have come to France first.) The bathrooms in France are only decent if they're the ones you pay to use. Have your euros ready!

(from our hotel window - C sneaking off to buy more croissants)

However, Chateau Cheverny was lovely. Small and a very short tour, but beautifully kept and furnished. I bet the grounds would have been nice had they been DRY! Chenonceau was also well taken care of.

Chambord, though. What a wreck! I can't imagine any other country (OK, Italy) allowing such an amazing place to become trampled and graffitied.

(Da Vinci's double spiral staircase - one for up and one for down)

We had a nice day even in the rain. Ended up having dinner at McDonald's. Yuck. But the kids were pleased. Then, we got some eclairs from a little patisserie. Yum! I have to give the French credit for the food. Holy moly - the onion soup I had Friday night was soooo good.

It's almost 8 and we're packed up for morning and the kiddos are almost asleep. A certain 5 year old is twitching with the thought of Disney. Just checked the weather and we're expecting highs around 65-72 in Paris. Yippee!

Have I mentioned the birds at our hotel? Charlie is the social one and the kids are looney over him. They've been saving food to sneak to him after meals.

14 June - Chenonceaux and Amboise

I can't begin to say how gorgeous Chateau de Chenonceau is, so I'll just post photos...

They do LOVE a maze!

So many palaces feel very cold inside. The many, many floral arrangements at Chenonceau made it warm. You were constantly reminded that it was built for pleasure rather than defense.

Look at the size of this!





Spent the afternoon wandering and eating ice cream in Amboise

13 June - Chunnel!!!

I planned an ambitious day:

4:30 alarm clock

4:35 dressing, brushing teeth, waking kids

4:40 dressing kids

4:45 pulling away from the cottage

6:15 returning car at Heathrow

7:20 on the tube to King's Cross Station

8:20 at St. Pancras checking in for Eurostar

8:40 on the train - survived the Chunnel!

12:30 (lost an hour) arrived at Disneyland Paris

12:45 renting car at train station, getting cash, having lunch

2:00 looking for the car

2:15 still looking for the car - really

2:30 finally finding the car

Note to Frenchmen: dark grey that looks black needs more description than "grey." Only by trying the key in various vans did we locate ours!

2:45 on the road the wrong way (tired!)

3:00 on the way to Chenonceaux

5:30 checked into Relais Chenonceaux

7:00 dinner

8:00 bed



A full day of travel. At least we got to compare the English and French Countrysides in one day. (IMHO - England is MUCH prettier!)

12 June - Farm Park Fun

I will really miss this place tomorrow when we depart, but am looking forward to a new adventure in France. The baby is napping after an exhausting breakfast! The boys and C have gone to the cottage offices to box up some things I bought in Burford to post them home. Hate to drag things to France if we don't have to.

In a bit, we're heading out to see a couple more charming towns and then the Cotswold Farm Park. I hear great things about it.

The kids next door said farewell to the boys this morning. They were all very sad which was adorable. The had been strawberry picking yesterday and brought over their leftover berries and cream.

I've just looked out to see that it's pouring rain. The first rain on our trip. I guess we'll be wearing our jackets today.

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Lower Slaughter was gorgeous. Tiny town with a river running through and little bridges. I did a little driving today. It's so scary!

Noticed it was market day in Stow-on-the-Wold and stopped. This was more like it.

The farm park was one of the best places we've ever taken the kids. It has lots of the local breeds of sheep and cattle as well as rare breeds. Oh - and my favorite - the Highland Cow.

We already knew the boys were sheep-crazy, but we didn't expect them to love the chickens SO MUCH.

Had a really fun dinner at The Plough in Ford before coming home to pack.

The baby no longer sits in the stroller:

11 June - Take a (trip to) Bath

Or maybe don't. Jane Austen Centre was terrible. Won't even go into the story.

The Circus and Royal Crescent are interesting. We didn't make it to the Roman Baths. We're Losers with a capital L.

Exhaustion set in and was helped along by a swim and a beer. Sooo tired now. Had dinner in and the boys are out playing croquet now while sis is already asleep.

Doing laundry tonight so we can pack up tomorrow night.

11 June - Really Old Rocks

In 10 days, the summer solstice will put the sunset in just the right "spot" at Stonehenge. I'm sure the creepy factor will increase then! For now, Stonehenge seems like a bizarre arrangement of blocks. Like Legos that have been toppled by time instead of toddlers. Of course, then you consider the sheer mass of the stones and the 4,000 years that they've stood here. It puts the Roman ruins around here to shame. It was so interesting to see how they (whoever "they" were) put woodworking type skills to work to create the lentil part of the circle (the stones that sit across the top).

As amazing as being at Stonehenge was, the best part was watching D enjoy it. He loves to listen to audio guides and keys in the numbers for the appropriate section when he sees the signs. However, he does NOT love having his picture taken so I have to sneak up on him.Sometimes C looks at me like I'm crazy when I ask him to pose like this...and yet he does it. Weird.