Day 40 - "What are you going to do next?"

You may deride me for what I am about to tell you. Today, we completely bypassed Paris and made our way to the town of Marne-la-Vallee in France. Sounds exotic and romantic, doesn't it? It is actually the new town that has grown up around Disneyland Paris.

What can I say...I gave birth to a daughter who is a Disneyphile. She does come by it honestly, as I have always love Disney animation, so it doesn't take much arm bending to get me to go for a visit.

But first, we must get there. Before leaving Dortmund, Phil and I took a walk around the centre of town, a largely pedestrianized area of shops, churches, parks and promenades. It was founded in 882 AD and with the onset of the industrial revolution became one of the most important centres for coal, steel and beer. It is precisely for this reason that it was heavily bombed during WWII, and holds the horrific record of having the most bomb raids on a single target -- 1,100 on March 12, 1945. At the end of the day, 98% of the buildings in the city had been destroyed. You have to look to see the city's original city, but it is there among the modern architecture. The bases of the churches are original, but you can see where steeples, walls and roof lines have been rebuilt.

It was a glorious day again for travel,with brilliant blue skies everywhere we went. A hurricane was moving up along the African coast, but was pushing wonderful weather ahead of it.

We arrived in Disneyland around dinnertime. Strange arrival in these times of terrorism...armed guards carrying semi-automatic weapons greet you at the station. Later, when we were in Downtown Disney, a guard was holding the leash of a lunging, barking but muzzled German Shepherd who seemed quite upset by baby carriages. I can't even imagine seeing this in DisneyWorld in Florida...but then times, they are a-changin'!

We shopped for the obligatory Disneywear to make our Disney fashion statements tomorrow when we'll be touring the park. Ate at a Five Guys...which is exactly the same except costs twice as much but you can order beer.

Then it was back to our room for the evening at the Disney Cheyenne hotel. This hotel style, and the nearby Santa Fe, cater to the European love of all things Country & Western. When we first walked into the room, the smell of a barn hit us. Phil commented that they had even made the rooms smell like a Western, when I realized it was actual the mold smell coming from the bathroom. Something thought it clever to line the shower with wood panelling to keep with the theme...seriously. The only thing stranger is the English love of carpeting bathrooms. Thankfully, the French hadn't done that here.