Surprise birthday trip!

Hello peeps! I hope everyone had a lovely long weekend. Mine was eventful!

On Wednesday (my birthday) Andy gave me a card which said I would have to wait for the weekend for my birthday. I was thinking it was something coming in the post! He later told me we were going away for the weekend, but would not say where. I guessed that it was the Lake District, as we have fancied it for ages and now have our National Trust membership. I had planned to meet some friends at the waffle house on Friday after work, but he said that was OK, and that we would leave later in the evening.

He said to pack for weather similar to here, and comfy clothes (which again helped me with my conclusions). Anyway, we packed up, drove away and ended up at Heathrow! We had a hotel there for the night, as we had an early flight the next morning (but I still didn’t know where we were going). It was all rather exciting, but a bit nerve-racking too. I am not a nervous flyer, but I like to pack ages in advance and know what I am packing for! I was guessing still- my main guess was Norway as we have fancied there for ages too.

Anyway, we checked in for our flight (just after 5am! The airport hotel was a good idea) and it turned out we were going to Paris! I had discounted Paris because I thought the Eurostar was easier (but no availability for the bank holiday weekend).

I have trouble keeping my eyes open in photos- this was the best one I think!

Anyway, once we landed we got the train into the centre of Paris, left our bag in the luggage locker at the station and went for a long walk! We went to the Arc De Triomphe, then to the Eiffel tower (but not up it- I am not keen on heights and have done it once, plus there was a 2 hour queue!), then back to the Champs-Elysees, all the way down it, to the Louvre, and then finally to the train station. At one point we bought sandwiches (I had a lovely Avocado salad one) and sat in the park for a bit. By the Eiffel tower there was a couple in wedding clothes, and tourists were going up and having their photos taken with the wedding couple! How strange.

I knew that our hotel was not in Paris, but I only worked it out once we went to get a train in the evening and saw the signs for Disneyland Paris! We stayed in a hotel one stop along from the parks (and it had a bus that went there too) and had two lovely days in the park. Although Andy did tell me it was going to be a relaxing weekend- not quite!

We were really lucky with the weather. Saturday was quite warm in the end, Sunday was more overcast, but dry (lucky as we stayed at the park until 10.30 for the fireworks show) and then Monday was so warm!

I bought some macaroons (they are mini ones)- fruit flavours like mango, raspberry, orange and coconut- for ideas on flavours of course.

So cute! We bought lovely french bread to take for lunch in the parks (the parks claimed that all eateries have a vegetarian suggestion, but in most places it was a salad with lettuce and grated carrot, lots of them had parmeasan cheese, and one place the suggestion was a salmon dish!) and also went to the Earl of Sandwich, (have only seen them in the US before and they do lovely fresh sandwiches and wraps) and in fact I didn’t eat any of the macaroons while I was there. I did however get treated to a crepe with nutella- mmmm.

I also got a replacement cup (remember when my Minnie mug broke?) and a bowl to match! The original cup was from there- me and Andy went for a few days one Christmas just after we had our offer accepted on our house, so they were our house-warming gifts to each other so it was sad when it broke for sentimental reasons.  Anyway, I was pleased to get replacements, even though ours no longer match.

Coming home turned out to be a bit stressful! Andy had booked a TGV from Disney to the airport, but it was running an hour late with nothing sooner, so we knew at that point we would miss our flight(a taxi would have taken too long as well as we looked into it). We had to get the airlines’ number from the tourist information, rang up and managed to get on a later flight, for the price difference of 500 Euros! Anyway, while I rang the airline, Andy rang the insurance company and they think we are covered- phew! I did have to get the TGV lady to write it on some headed notepaper for the insurance company though- luckily her English was much better than my French! The flight back was so quick- and it took us ten minutes to get through passport control and get our bag- and the bus for the parking was right there! Phew!

When I got home I remembered the macaroons in the suitcase- I managed to salvage some, but the rest were crumbs! Oops!

It is strange to think that this time yesterday I was wandering around a theme park, and today I have been to work as normal! Anyway it was a fun weekend, and a great birthday present. Back to reality now!

How was your weekend?