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[DLP-Photos.com]

So on sunday afternoon me and my girlfriend returned from a 12 day adventure of love, Paris and Disney - the most magical stay you could imagine. In this report I will share our trip, our experiences and most of all my photos from this wonderful holiday :-)

First off let's introduce us. It's me, Nicolai aged 23 and my girlfriend for almost 9 months now, Mie aged 17:



For me this trip marked my 15th visit to Disneyland Paris whereas my gf had never been before. The trip had been planned since January, but just like with all Disney fairytales it wasn't easy getting there. Back in May our original stay was cancelled due to a lack of participants on the bus journey. We were left without any major ongoing offers and the question of how to get there without going too much out of our initially planned budget.

For some time we thought about simply canceling the trip since my gf would be going with her dad and his family anyway. However, we could both feel that we had to go - we had been far too excited for too long to just give it up. Luckily Mie was the reason for an amazing change in my life back in February when she "forced" me to fly. Some of you might know that I have suffered from fear of flying for all my life and never have been on a plane before. Well, back in february she decided enough was enough and she convinced me to fly for the first time - just a small domestic trip. With her beside me and my trust in her, I got through the flight with no major nerves or any problems afterwards.

This would now save our summer trip as it helped us solve the transport issue. In the meantime her dad had offered us to stay with them. They would pay her stay as always planned and I just had to pay a small amount for three nights at the Davy Crockett Ranch with full board meals! Great!

However, we still wanted some time on our own, so we ended up with this magnificent plan:

10th of July: Flight from Aalborg, Denmark to Paris.
10th-13th of July: Stay in the Residence du Pre hotel in central Paris
13th-15th of July: Stay in Hotel Santa Fe ourselves
15th-18th of July: Stay in Davy Crockett Ranch with her family
18th-20th of July: Stay in the Radisson Blu Hotel near Charles de Gaulle with her family.
20th-21st of July: Train from Paris to Aalborg, Denmark

In total this gave us 6 days in Disney surrounded by two lovely stays in Paris. On paper the recipe for a magical holiday. And now that we are back, I can say that it indeed was a magical holiday!

It all started exactly 14 days ago on the 10th of July. Even though my only second flight and first bigger flight was just around the corner I felt no nerves. I knew I could do it with no worries with Mie by my side and I concentrated fully on the amazing days we had ahead of us. We had lunch at my parents' place before they drove us to the airport along with my gf's mum. This was actually the first time they really met and we couldn't have wished for a better send off as they just hit it off instantly. Of course I forgot to leave my phone and wallet for the security check, so I got a little - but insignificant - scare when the scanner suddenly beeped as I walked through. It was not enough to bring back any of the fear though. We continued to board the plane and we must have looked somewhat royal as we stopped on the stairs to wave to our parents who was standing, waving at us. We got seated and off we went for the first of two flights - this one to Copenhagen.

The flight went with no problems and I was already really proud of myself for not feeling my previous fear in any way. In Copenhagen Airport we had 2.5 hours before our final flight to Paris Orly. We strolled around the shopping area looking through various shops and ended up in the O'Learys Sports Bar to grab some dinner before heading off to Paris at 7 pm. I had a wonderful Fish'n'Chips while my gf had an enourmous portion of Nachos - even with my help she couldn't finish it (understandably). Satisfied and full we went for our plane - as we boarded it it was incredibly hot inside the cabin, however it quickly got better after take off. Once again I was completely calm and for the first time I could really enjoy the wonderful view from high above: (this photo is from the flight to Copenhagen though)



It was a beautiful, sunny flight to the french capital and we enjoyed a nice, clear view of Paris as we flew around the city before landing in the Orly airport, where a classic french "welcome" awaited...



... As we had collected our luggage we headed for the train. I had found the exact route from home and eventhough it was stated now that the train was closed we saw several trains leaving and arriving, so I queued up to get tickets.

However, I could quickly feel that something confused everyone. The salesman behind the counter would only sell tickets for the Orly Bus as the train was closed - once again eventhough trains were still leaving and arriving with passengers. Well, never mind, we got our tickets for the Orly Bus and entered the hot bus going to the Denfert Rocherau RER station from where we should take the RER B to Chatelet and then the metro from there to Poissonière in order to find our hotel Residence du Pre. It was a long and rather expensive journey but just around 11 we arrived at our lovely hotel in a beautiful and cosy montmatre-like neighborhood right in between the Sacre Cæur, Gare du Nord and Opera.



After taking the elevator (which would fit to people with NO luggage - tops) to the fifth floor and then walking the last stairs to sixth floor we entered our very parisian hotel room. Nice and cosy and nothing more. The classic view of rooftops with lots of plants and chimneys. We wanted to quickly check out the neighborhood and maybe find a cocktail for my gf, but eventhough I would consider the hotel to be located quite central, most things were closed and we quickly headed back home for a nights sleep before our first day in Paris. A day which would see us seeing some classic landmarks as the Louvre and Moulin Rouge as well as a full afternoon of exploring the Champs Élyssées.

A rather photo less first part of the report, but I promise to make up for it. A little sneak peek at some of the photos to come during the next many updates:

[norhel]

Sounds good so far

[tubbsy]

You both look so happy! It is brilliant that you have conquered your fear of flying
Cant wait to read more!

[DisneyManiac]

Hi forza_united, I have just checked out your website, NKA Photo, and am blown away at the design of the site. I myself am having an eye at photography and wondered, how did you make that site? Don't worry I won't copy your site I am just curious how you made the site.

[BlackPearl]

Ah, Paris and Disneyland, the best combination ever   :mrgreen:
You two really look happy!

Can't wait for more.  Mean to show just some little sneak peeks  

[Alexz]

Neat photos!

[ecila]

I've been so excited for this trip report! Can't wait to read more

[SwipatronSparks]

I always love reading your reports cant wait for more

[DLP-Photos.com]

Thanks all - I expect the first real update to come tomorrow :-)

Hi forza_united, I have just checked out your website, NKA Photo, and am blown away at the design of the site. I myself am having an eye at photography and wondered, how did you make that site? Don't worry I won't copy your site I am just curious how you made the site.

Thank you very much! Actually it is a bought template, which I have later customized and set up in Rapidweaver on my iMac. I am very happy with the design myself and if I remember correctly this is the designer: http://michaeldaviddesign.com/

[DisneyManiac]

Thanks all - I expect the first real update to come tomorrow :-)

Hi forza_united, I have just checked out your website, NKA Photo, and am blown away at the design of the site. I myself am having an eye at photography and wondered, how did you make that site? Don't worry I won't copy your site I am just curious how you made the site.

Thank you very much! Actually it is a bought template, which I have later customized and set up in Rapidweaver on my iMac. I am very happy with the design myself and if I remember correctly this is the designer: http://michaeldaviddesign.com/

Oh I see, I don't have an iMac so at the moment isn't much of a use, but I'll keep it in mind for the future.

No problems

[DLP-Photos.com]

Thanks all - I expect the first real update to come tomorrow :-)

Hi forza_united, I have just checked out your website, NKA Photo, and am blown away at the design of the site. I myself am having an eye at photography and wondered, how did you make that site? Don't worry I won't copy your site I am just curious how you made the site.

Thank you very much! Actually it is a bought template, which I have later customized and set up in Rapidweaver on my iMac. I am very happy with the design myself and if I remember correctly this is the designer: http://michaeldaviddesign.com/

Oh I see, I don't have an iMac so at the moment isn't much of a use, but I'll keep it in mind for the future.

No problems

His designs might be compatible with other similar software on Windows - I don't know though.

[DLP-Photos.com]

Day 2 - Modern Paris

It was time! We woke up to the first of many days in or near the french capital! The city of all cities: the one and only Paris :-)

We kicked off the day with breakfast in our hotel - I went all in and took two yoghurts, two croissants with nutella, two baguettes with jam and two Pain au Chocolat. A good, long-lasting breakfast of a reasonable quality!

After this we collected the camera and our other stuff in the room - we packed lots of sun lotion as we could see that it was going to be a hot and sunny day (the first of many). Having left the hotel we started off by buying our two day Paris Visite travel card which gave us unlimited access to the RER, Metro and bus lines during our two days in Paris. A good luxury to have even though it almost was a shame to hide in the underground in such good weather. First stop on our packed afternoon of "Modern Paris" and shopping was the Louvre as we needed to visit a very special store nearby. As it was my girlfriends first time in Paris ever the Louvre of course is one of the must-sees! Eventhough we didn't visit the museum itself the Pyramids and Caroussel du Louvre is well worth a visit on their own.


Towards the Louvre by NKA-Photo, on Flickr

No matter how many times I visit this place with my camera I could stay there for hours walking around, finding new angles and compositions for the pyramids. The weather was quite cloudy as we were there and actually that offered some new challenges and possibilities with reflections and contrast.


The Louvre by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


The Louvre by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


The Louvre by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


The Louvre by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


The Louvre by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


The Louvre by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


The Louvre by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


Towards the Louvre by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


Towards the Louvre by NKA-Photo, on Flickr



After exploring the Pyramids for quite some time it was about time to go to the store which my girlfriend really wanted to visit. You see for months before our trip she had been saving up for a certain cosmetics purse from Mulberry and their only official store in Paris is located near the Louvre and Jardin des Tuileries. We had also been looking at an all new purse which I might could have given her in addition to the cosmetics purse.

We got to the shop and it was without a doubt the most exclusive shopping experience I have had - at least where we actually bought something (Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Christian Lubotain is quite exclusive too :lol:) We quickly found the cosmetics purse and my girlfriend had no doubt - she wanted to buy it. The purse I could have given her though was not quite as she had wanted it to be, so we "only" took the cosmetics purse. We were the only ones in the store and we were treated like "gods" and it was a really nice experience - especially for my girlfriend. I was so happy for her!

Despite the exclusive interior and service of the store, it was located on a quite ordinary street. However, it had that very parisian atmostphere:


Jardin des Tuileries by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


Untitled by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


Bike in Paris by NKA-Photo, on Flickr

Very happy we returned to the Louvre and the Caroussel du Louvre. Now it was my turn to fulfill a big wish as I returned to the brilliant and beautiful photo gallery Yellow Korner, which is located in the big shopping center below the Louvre.


Shadowed Lamps by NKA-Photo, on Flickr

In the gallery I got a wonderful gift by girlfriend as she got me a new photo in the same series as the one I bought last year as well as frames for both of them. (I will post photos of them in the end of the report). We were very fascinated by a lot of the photos but especially a beautiful black and white portrait of a lion! Most of their photos are printed on glass, which just makes them even more clear and sharp. One day I would love one of their big photos or even better one of my own printed in that way!

Well now we both had had a big wish come true, so before continueing towards the Champs Élyssées we once again explored the pyramids - this time from the bottom


The Pyramid by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


Spectral Colours by NKA-Photo, on Flickr

It was still a bit too early for lunch and none of us were really that hungry. So we dropped the lunch in Jardin des Tuileries that I had planned and hoped for. Instead we strolled slowly through this wonderful park, which is such a wonderful place in the middle of Paris. You'll always find a breeze and peace within this grass filled oasis right in the middle of the pulsating city life. I quite understand why you see many locals sitting here - it must be a great place to come and escape just for a short amount of time. Or simply to enjoy your lunch. I know I would go there quite a lot if I ever get to live in Paris :-)


Drinks by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


Towards the Louvre by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


Jardin des Tuileries by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


Jardin des Tuileries by NKA-Photo, on Flickr


Enjoying the Sun by NKA-Photo, on Flickr

Can you spot the insanely cute detail in this photo??


Dog Walking In Paris by NKA-Photo, on Flickr

The first two dogs are walking each other. The right one was actually walking the other one having its leach in its mouth! SO CUTE

As we came close to the Place du Concorde we could begin to see the preparations for the 14th of July. Actually the complete Place was closed as they were setting up a big stand facing towards the Arc de Triomphe and all the way down the Champs Élyssées they were setting up additional stands and closing parts of the street.

Walking through the last bit of green shadows before the shopping craziness we grabbed a quick lunch and a simple one too! Two crepes with nutella. It might not be that healthy but d*mn is it good! We found a place with two stands facing each other - both of them had crepes of course but one at 3 euros and the other one at 3.50 euros. Needless to say we took the cheapest and the others must have been very good in order to beat these :-) So yummy!!

My girlfriend was just about to ask me "So, where are all these shops you have been talking about?" as we emerged from under the trees and there they were! Abercrombie & Fitch, Louis Vuitton, Nike, Disney, Sephora - you name it! She forced me to visit Abercrombie & Fitch - a store which I have only seen from the outside the last couple of years as it has had some insane queues for a store! This time however, there was no queue so we headed inside. Anyone been in there? At the same time it is one of the best shopping experiences I have had as well as one of the craziest. Greeted by a topless man posing for photographs you can almost say that this is the fashion version of Disneyland!



Nothing is not thought about and every little detail is maintained by the 5-10 cleaners constantly correcting the clothes, washing the floors or dusting off the shelves. Several workers are just there to greet people with smiles that make the Disney smile look really quite small. Most of the workers seem to just be there to look hot. They do not have much clothes but I must say it is of high quality. I ended up buying two polo shirts and they fit perfectly and are very comfortable!

Of course you do not enter/leave the store directly into the street - you have to walk through their garden protected by 5 security guards asking people not to stand for too long or touching the bushes.



The rest of the afternoon we just walked around the Champs Élyssées popping into most of the stores. Suddenly we faced some time issues as it was 6 and we still wanted to visit the Christian Lubotain store near Palais Royal and Galeries Lafayette before ending our evening in Montmartre near Moulin Rouge.

We jumped into the metro heading for Palais Royal to find the Christian Lubotain store. Here you'll find all the smaller, yet more exclusive designers. Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors and of course Lubotain to name a few!





We finally found the Lubotain store and my girlfriend was in stiletto heaven although we couldn't afford to buy anything in there of course, it was still one of the experiences she talked about at home, so I was happy to be able to fulfill it by finding the well hidden store!

Quite stressed now we rushed to Galeries Lafayette and quickly looked through it before we decided to just wait for the next day and just enjoy the view from the terrasse at this time


Opera by NKA-Photo, on Flickr

We were getting hungry, but we needed to go back to the hotel with our shopping bags as well as my camera before heading for Montmartre to find something to eat. Quite effective we got changed and quickly left the hotel again. However, the metro wasn't helpful as the station near Moulin Rouge was closed so we had to walk quite a distance on one of the less charming streets of Paris.

We finally found our way to Moulin Rouge surrounded by people, tourists, locals, young people, old people - here you'll find anyone! However, what we wanted to find more than anything at this time was some food! We spotted a place called Buffalo Grills and as my GF loves spareribs this seemed to be the right place. AND it was! She got some delicious spareribs, while I unfortunately couldn't get the chicken and ended up with a salmon fillet which was grilled very dry! But it was still food and ate quite a few of Mie's fries. This, the view and the dessert saved it for me ;-)







When we were finished the line for the 11 show at Moulin Rouge was insane! We decided that next time we wanted to see the show thinking it couldn't be too "bad" considering the crowd and quite a few children in line too. We ended our night in a small karaoke bar, where my girlfriend enjoyed a couple of cocktails while I enjoyed my alcohol free Mojito ;-)





What we hadn't foreseen was that the metro was closed as we had finished at the bar. Luckily our hotel weren't that far away, so we got a refreshing end to the day with yet another walk only struggling to find our way a couple of times :lol: We made it to the hotel at around 2 in the night, so it was time to head straight to bed as another day in the heart of Paris awaited only 6 hours later :-)

Once again I would like to thank you all for reading along and leaving such wonderful comments! Thank you :-)

[tubbsy]

Loving your report You have fitted in so much already!

[mickeyspal]

Hi Nicolai & Mie,
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your trip report, so happy to hear you are both having fun in Paris; looking forward to reading the next chapter.
oh, and thank you Nicolai for sharing your wonderful photos. :minnie:

[minnieme]

Oh WOW!!! Fantastic photos of one of my favourite cities. The Opera House is one of my favourite buildings, inside and out. I could sit and just look at it all day. When I finished reading this, my first thought was "I wonder if I could fit a little visit to Paris in when we go to Disneyland".

You look like you are having a great time, and lucky Mie - all those shops!!

Looking forward to more!