Paris – Day 3

Paris – Day 2 can be found here.

Up later this morning, closer to 8 am – we had no Ultimate Access Pass to make use of, but we still wanted to squeeze in a few more rides before we left. But by now we knew how the buffet worked, so we were able to get in and out within about 20 minutes.

I simplified my meal down to egg, potatoes, bacon and buffet pineapple, while on the kids’ side the pancakes and bacon were most popular. Juice and coffee also arrived in short order.

Off to the park where – despite lining up 10 minutes later than the previous day – we were in roughly the same spot in line. They opened 5 minutes early today and we knew where we were going, so we were cautiously optimistic that we’d be able to hit our targets without incident.

First stop was Spiderman Web Adventure, which we pretty much walked onto – there wasn’t even enough time for the pre-game briefing. Our car managed to get something like 750,000 points – enough to place second in our cohort of carts.

From there we went to Ratatouille, which was also a walk-on.

And then… it was time to go. Checkout was at 11 am, and we still needed to pack. But we’ve got that down to a science now, so we were able to call down at around 10:30 am to ask the porter to take our bags. (Disney then stores them the rest of the day, until your transfer arrives – very civilized.)

As an aside, the elevator is rated to carry 21 people at a time. This initially felt like more of a dare than a realistic expectation – until I counted 15 people in an elevator at one point during our stay. So yes, this limit might actually come into practice…

We debated going back to the park one more time – I’d wanted to check out the interactive Stitch Live! show but we were all toast from all the travel and walking over the past few days. We’re regularly clocking around 20,000 to 25,000 steps in a day. So we found a quiet spot in the Captain’s Quarters where we could sit and read until lunch time.

We were lucky to find a spot – most of Captain’s Quarters is roped off until 1 pm, so there are only about 4 tables available. Compass Club is available for breakfast until 11 am, but you can’t return to Compass Club if you’ve already had breakfast. You can go to the convention centre if you’re looking for a spot to sit, but there’s also conventions there – so not a lot of room available.

Bottom line – common space is limited at Newport Bay.

Another minor point of annoyance – you immediately lose your Compass Club privileges at 11 am on the day you check out. So I wasn’t able to get a cappuccino during breakfast hours because I’d already had breakfast, and I wasn’t able to get a cappuccino after breakfast because I’d checked out. (I did eventually get a cappuccino, but I needed to pay 5 Euro for the privilege.)

Anyway – all’s well that ends well, we were able to find seating at the Captain’s Quarters and I got a coffee. But if we were to do it again, I’d grab a croissant or a breakfast sandwich on the way into the park and then save breakfast (and several cappuccinos) for after we return.

We read and relaxed for perhaps an hour and then headed off for lunch at Annette’s Diner. It was really busy and service was slow, but food was quite good. The manager pitched in to help keep things moving, but it seemed like no one really knew who was running our table.

Then it was time to go!

We’d booked with BT Transfer again for the ride into Paris itself, and they were great yet again – I got a WhatsApp message about 5 minutes before pickup letting us know that our driver was ready to pick us up. It was even the same driver that picked us up from the airport.

Disney had a huge luggage stand set outside, so it was just a matter of presenting our Compass cards to claim our trolley. We rolled it about 15 feet to the waiting vehicle, loaded up and we were on our way.

We left promptly at 2 pm. Check-in for our new property was 3 pm, and we had an hour car ride ahead of us. Perfect.

Now began the wait for the door code, which our Airbnb host had told us would come an hour in advance. Nothing at 2 pm – though we elected to give her an extra 5 minutes just to be thorough. The code thankfully came through at 2:04 pm.

Traffic was bad on the way into Paris – as I expect it always is – but we still managed to get there in a little under an hour, with plenty of time for the kids to oooh and ahhh out the window as we drove along the River Seine and passed the Eiffel Tower.

We’re staying at a very Parisian apartment on Rue St. Dominique, near the Parque du Invalides. Our driver got as close as he could but then we had to part ways. Thankfully the check-in instructions were clear, and we had no trouble getting inside.

We have a lot of luggage which we basically moved like a caterpillar – some in one place, some in another – until we got it all inside the gate. I then set off through the courtyard to find our exact unit – which again, I found without much trouble.

Again the luggage caterpillar, until we had all the bags inside the building and then up to the fourth floor where our rental awaited. (Passing a curious contraption along the way that looked like an elevator – but the listing didn’t mention the elevator, so I lugged our extremely heavy luggage up four floors instead.)

I punched in the door code – and got a big flashing red light in return.

I tried again, and again. No luck.

At this point I tried our Airbnb host, and thankfully she was able to swing by within just a few short minutes.

She tried the code and – it worked? Not sure what happened there. I tried the code myself a little later and it worked too. The listing mentions that the lockbox is time synced to prevent early access – maybe the time is off slightly? No big deal, just glad we were able to get it sorted.

The apartment is modest in size but with modern finishes and useful amenities, including a kitchen and washing machine.

Image courtesy of our Airbnb host

Image courtesy of our Airbnb host

And for once the Airbnb is actually as large as it looks! No photoshop or wide angle trickery here – it’s a properly sized apartment, perfect for a week’s stay.

We then went for a quick walk to explore the neighbourhood, and visit the Esplanade des Invalides.

We’re staying in a lovely, upscale area that still has plenty of markets, shops and bakeries…

… With the Eiffel tower in the distance

It was a lovely day to visit a park…

…And Le Pont Alexander III over the River Seine

And how did we celebrate our arrival in a city famed for its food and restaurants? I went for a quick shop at the local market, and then did up a simple dish of buttered pasta and salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

(Which again I forgot to photograph… though I’m sure you can imagine it.)

Seriously, though, we’d been eating some huge meals and rich food, so we were ready to just have something simple.

And – with us having booked this rental for 7 whole nights – there’s going to be plenty of time to enjoy the food scene in Paris… starting with our Chocolate and Pastry tour early tomorrow.

But for now it was time to get some much needed rest…

Continue reading Paris – Day 4.