Round 20: A summer in Paris Part 2

Looking back, time flies and it's already been 3 weeks at John Deere and Company now. A tad tiring first month at John Deere at that. Work has been busy, but not too hectic - meetings with training experts and champions, 3 hrs long presentations-*stifled yawns*-, production tours and inevitably tretting along with a sense of uncertainty and awarkness in the world of corporate information and the inner workings of a Multinational Company(MNC).

So, did anyone manage to guess or figure out the photo quiz in the previous entry? C'mon guys, don't just give up like that! Alright, fine fine - here's the solution:

That's how it goes - a foot-lever that acts as a valve to allow the water to come up. Since there wasn't any signs of a motor to pump it out, I assume the water is being stored under high-pressure in some tank.

Alrity, so this post is part 2 of our french summer. Early morning of Day 2 in Paris, Kayo and I bought 2-way tickets for the train to Disneyland Paris. The weather was prefect - blue skies, magnolia-white clouds and a warm sun.

We managed to avoid the long queues to enter the park as we had booked out tickets online - for Disneyland park and Walt disney studios - at 50€ per person, which I found to be quite a good bargain; a day ticket for Disneyland Park alone is 45€ at the counter.

Kayo has been to Disneyland in Tokyo a few times already, so it wasn't all that new for her. For me, it was a real eye-opener : yes guys, I've never been to Disneyland.

Armed with english and german maps, we headed to the first attraction that got Kayo's attention - the roller coaster ride at Indiana Jones.

At this point, I have to mention, that I've also never taken a roller coaster before. Ja ja I know lah - this guy must be darn sua-ku one, so many things never try before. Aiya, at least better late than never right??

Now Kayo, she's a roller coaster manic, so she has absolutely no freaking problems with trying new coasters. So when we come to the attraction, I took a peek and nearly pee-ed in my pants.



It didn't look very high, but for a first-timer, and up close some more, it was heck intimidating! But of course I didn't endure 7 hours of bus ride from Mannheim to back off from a new experience. The queue was short- it being barely 10am in the morning - and we got our tickets quickly. With sweaty palms I climbed into the cabin after Kayo and laid my Rucksack on the carriage floor.

It would be useless to try and pen my different sensations throughout the ride, but there's one thing I gotta say after riding the roller coaster - I knew I wanted more. I was hooked on the adrenaline rush. XD

And more roller coasters did we go onto too!!

Big Thunder Mountain Rail

Kayo and I came out with disarranged innards but very very satisfied......



Stomaching the adrenaline rushes were no small feat. It really got us starving. Grub Time!

Disneyland isn't famous for their cuisine, so we went for one fo the cheaper places. We found a little pizza place and decided to check it out.

The ambiance wasn't exactly spectacular but did alright. We ordered 2 pizzas - a kiddy pizza in the shape of Mickey Mouse(Kayo found that particular cute, that was the only reason I got it!)and a normal one with sprinkled with mushrooms and bacon.


They tasted...ok lah. Guess I kinda expected too much from the price we paid, but I definitely think there are better places that offered better tasting food for the same price.

After a short break, we were off again, to see what else was on offer.

Now there's this really cool queue management system over there at Disneyland Paris, called the Fast Pass.

Basically this is how it works: When a queue at an attraction you wanna go into is too long, you go to the Fast Pass booth, insert your Disneyland day ticket and out pops another ticket, which is basically a slip that allows you to enter the attraction at a later time without having to queue up. Of course when alot of people use this system, there will be a moving queue when you arrive at the attraction later. The plus points are, you don't waste time in a stagnant queue and you can better plan your schedule to visit the various attractions.

Kayo with the fast pass for the Big Thunder Mountain Roller Coaster

As the sun rose, the day for us started to wind down, although Disneyland was still brimming with hordes. We tried out a few more attractions...

Star Wars X-Wing Flight Simulator

Haunted House

which was entertaining with a special lift system that transported the visitors from the entrance to the ride. After we were done, we headed out of Disneyland Park and crossed over to Walt Disney Studios.

It was a tad smaller than Disneyland Park but there was this hidden sense of more...that the Studios had in store. We had a couple of coffee to freshen up and off we were.

We scanned the map.....and found...

another roller coaster!!

Just the right thing to spice things up again! Hahaha...

The evening drew closer. And I think I've definitely rambled long enough about my trip to Disneyland. But Disneyland being what it is, there's something most, if not everyone, will be waiting for...even if they must stay 20 minutes in the rain...



What is it?......

The Disneyland Parade of course! XD

The green troopers from my childhood days!

Mickey!

and so many other popular Disney characters from the various films throughout the years.

Toy Story

Snow White

Ariel the littel mermaid and her Prince!

The rain was getting heavier at this point and the parade was coming to an end. Of course the parade isn't so short; I didn't uploaded all of the photos taken of the parade. Just too many of them anyways.

After being on the feet all day long, I was definitely wore out. I spotted one of those rental prams..and to the protests of the gf, promptly sat down in it!

Ahh....what a relief!

That's it for Day 2 in Paris. Stay tuned folks for the third and last instalment of my french summer;)