Castelfidardo (AN), Eurodisney and Paris

All ready, we set off ... and we arrive !

04:00 wake-up call... my 9-year-old son hasn't slept a wink, he's already ready! Portable 12V cooler loaded with drinks, a duffel bag for the changes of clothes and one for the rest, a few toys, 2 two-litre cases of water (essential) and a dozen small tourist bottles. The boot of my Classe A 170D is loaded. Departure from Castelfidardo (AN) with Tomtom and Italian-French maps loaded and very up-to-date, off toward the distant destination... monstrously distant. But for an asphalt grinder like me it shouldn't be a problem, in fact, I think I'll enjoy it, driving is my passion. It's still night and the A/14 flows fast, at 6:30 I'm at the gates of Bologna and in the southbound lane, while everyone sleeps, I notice a truck stopped... it's catching fire and the thick smoke foretells that in half an hour I'll be broken down.

Just so, a hiss from the engine and the battery light comes on on the dashboard: it's the alternator belt! I manage to exit at Campogalliano, I arrive at the “customs” where there's a workshop (blessed Tomtom). I wait half an hour and at exactly 8 o'clock a worker opens the gate. We're saved and so is our holiday. After 3 hours of waiting, the first €116 of expense and a heartfelt thank you to the mechanic, I'm back on the road. Between a coffee and a cigarette I arrive at the foot of Mont Blanc. It's immense, gigantic; 10 minutes of queue and €40 for the return ticket (in a week). I enter the tunnel, over 12 Km at 70 Km/h, I'm on edge, I almost almost get out and walk, it'd be quicker. I exit the tunnel stunned and begin the hairpin bends downhill. A nice speed camera placed right in the middle of a curve in my lane, with a 70 Km/h limit.

A fine welcome for those coming from the bel paese. France and I got off on the wrong foot and we continue worse. Near Lyon I stop for the 3rd or 4th coffee. A “LaVazza” vending machine, Italian writing and I read “espresso” € 1.30. I'm saved, I think. Noooo... a whole glass of coloured water... I give up. And yet my wife had suggested I bring along a little bottle of frozen coffee. Mea culpa, I go on without it, that'll teach me! The French motorway is no better than the Italian one, in fact, some stretches look like a desert. You only see houses and towns near the exits, a service station every 50 Km. On the other hand there are immense rest areas, one every 10/15 km. Maybe they didn't know what to do with that immense green desert??? Ah, I forgot, both petrol and diesel cost on average 50/70 cents more than in Italy and this will only be the beginning.

We arrive in Torcy (La Marne) at 21:00, we drive 20 minutes around the hotel's block without managing to find the entrance. We ask passers-by but no one seems to be from the area. There's only one entrance from the road and there's a no-entry sign, Tomtom isn't helping me. I make up my mind, I go in the wrong way, no actually, I see some cars coming out near a roundabout, here we are. There's a barrier with an intercom and a numeric keypad: I ring, introduce myself in French and they give me the access code to enter. Done! At the reception there's a young man who has little or nothing French about him. I swipe the credit card and go up to the room, a suite on the 2nd floor. Shower and bathroom in the room, a double bed, a sofa bed, fridge, microwave, kitchen, wardrobe and a desk. There's also a TV with canal+ and RaiUno.

Not bad for €90 a night booked three days earlier via the internet, without a deposit. We leave the luggage and go down, behind the hotel there's a commercial area with shops and restaurants. There's “pasta and pizza” but the only Italian thing is the food. In the place there are black people, yellow people (lots) and maybe even green ones... but French people from France, still nisba. No one speaks Italian, very few a few words of English, the vast majority only French. Drinks cost a fortune. 1/2 litre of Sanpellegrino costs € 3.50 and Coca-Cola € 2.80. At least there's pasta and pizza at €10 a portion. We get by with €42, I don't even try the coffee and ask what it is. With a full belly, a hundred metres on foot and we're already in the arms of Morpheus, tomorrow it's EuroDisney and my kids can't wait.

EuroDisney, finally !

Wake up at 09:00, downstairs from the hotel there is the commercial area and a bar that looks very familiar. Inside, the walls are painted with drawings of Venice, we feel a bit at home. We enter confidently and order espresso and cappuccinos. The barman, in halting English (more than mine) reassures us that the coffee is LaVazza and we trust him. Both good for being made in France, thank goodness. We leave right away, since by car it takes barely 15 minutes to get to Eurodisney. At 10:00 sharp we are at the entrance, there is little line... they are all already inside!!! The parking lot is 3/4 full. Backpack, digital camcorder and my trusty Canon 350 Eos with a brand-new 300 telephoto lens along with us. We reach the avenue leading to the actual entrance in 5 minutes, there is a line. We wait 10 minutes and it's our turn.

My credit card, still smoking from paying the hotel bill, catches fire: 384 € for 2 parks and 2 days, "2 adults & 2 children for 2 days". Finally we enter, for my children it is magic. There are themed shops at every inch, fast food, bars, ice cream stands, etc. Everything is beautiful, the shows, the various characters roaming the park, the parades of floats. The weather is on our side, it's cloudy and ideal for touring these parks. My son and I go up in the balloon, my wife doesn't, she suffers from vertigo and stays on the ground. It's lunchtime and there's the McDonald...there's even a monstrous line but that's fine since we have no commitments... Calmly we eat, take a quick tour of the shops and start touring the park far and wide. My daughter gets her face painted as a fairy (8 €) and wears a fairy dress bought at the shops near the entrance, by now she too is part of the park.

For every ride there is a line, we manage to do 4 in total and get on the little train for a tour of the whole park, seated. Time literally flies as our emotions fly...between a parade of floats, Disney characters mobbed by children and shops we reach the sumptuous castle of the princesses. Beautiful, indeed very beautiful, we go around it twice, we still have a bit of time, we do another quick tour of the park and finally get on the boat of the wonderful "Small World Tour", a fantastic journey among a myriad of brightly colored puppets and dolls that sing and dance, each representing their place or country of origin. It's already dinner time, we eat a sandwich at McDonald's. Exhausted but happy, we return to the hotel, since tomorrow we'll be back...

2nd day at Eurodisney - The movie studios

It's already 9 o'clock, wake up, breakfast at the bar of the shopping center right below the hotel. It has a familiar feel, the walls of the place are packed with references to Venice, the bartender speaks halting Italian but... incredible... Italian coffee, cappuccino, croissants and lots of courtesy!!! Delighted with the new discovery, we get back in the car and in 5 minutes we're already in the Eurodisney parking lot... by now we're regulars. We go in and immerse ourselves in the "Studios" where there are representations of famous films and cartoons. The shows are similar to those at Gardaland, CanevaWorld or other parks but on top of that there are lots of Disney characters around who make all the children happy (and us adults too). Terminator, Monsters & Co. and so on with the various Disney/Pixar productions...continues