Hotel Montparnasse St Germain

We reached Hotel Montparnasse St Germain (yes I know, what a long name, right?) after about an hour of taxi ride that cost me 103 euro. That's an equivalent of about S$175.

The taxi driver was nice and helpful. He didn't mind that I checked out the taxi rate from Disneyland to Montparnasse from other drivers as well.

The taxi driver was friendly and chatty but it took me some time to get used to the Paris-accent English. 

I chose to stay at Montparnasse as it is a safe neighbourhood. I was tempted to book a hotel near Gare du Nord as the lodging there was cheap and accessible, but the neighbourhood is said to be unsafe - lots of drug dealers and prostitutes. With 2 kids and nil man, the choice was obvious.

 

It is a small, quiet and inconspicuous boutique hotel located at the corner of a street. 

The reception area

Do you see the receptionist's head slightly above the counter?

We took the very tiny lift - as tiny as, if not tinier, Central Park Hotel's lift, to our room.

Very special lift too! You have to open the red door before getting into the lift.

Our room!

It's large for 2 adults!

No air-con, but we did fine as the weather was cold and wintry in June this year. 

It got a little humid in the middle of the night though.

The bathroom was luxurious. Very well-equipped with a nice bathtub and rain shower. Having a nice warm bath in the tub was the first thing we did every day we were there.

The hotel was situated just right beside a Galeries Lafayette branch. We didn't venture into this place as I had read that it doesn't have brands and stocks as comprehensive as its Boulevard Haussmann store. It appeared quiet and subdued from the outside as well.

The stairs I climbed every day to the first floor to get hot water.

The tiny cafeteria where I got my hot water from

The faithful white kettle where I acquired the thirst-quenching, all-saving hot water from, every single day that we were there.

We chose our own passcode and used it to access the hotel from outside. An added security measure in a not-so-safe haven.

Paris' 2-plug sockets. 

We stayed at the hotel for 5 days. The staff were friendly and helpful. They spoke English and smiled especially broadly when you use 'bonjour'. They were the total opposite of their cold and bitter British counterpart. Enquiries I made include:

- how to get to this and that place

- what is the quickest way to get to this and that place

- which metro station to use for this and that place

- metro fare for a 4-year-old

- getting to Paris airport

The hotel was convenient and accessible. Very near to 2 metro stations (Bienvenue and Edgar Quinet) and a main train station (Gare Montparnasse). Surrounded by many bistros and restaurants. We had our breakfast at the bistros around the hotel and the people were similarly friendly and helpful.

I paid about S$233.45 per night for the hotel stay. A decent rate for a small, safe and accessible hotel.

The room was cleaned every day. We had to hand our keys to the counter staff every morning before we went out. I was quite apprehensive about that but the counter staff assured me that it was for the chambermaid's access and everybody did the same thing. When we came back to the hotel, we would see Baby's unicorn standing in the middle of the 2 pillows and we had a good laugh over it.

The cons about the hotel are not having a kettle in the room and having nil room service. Sometimes we were tired from the outing and would really appreciate a dine-in option at our room. It would have been quite perfect if these two essentials of travellers were provided for.

But all in all, it was a good experience at this hotel. Love the quiet and safe neighbourhood. It even has a Sunday morning market round the corner just in front of Edgar Quinet Metro Station which we bought raspberries from. It was another good start to our lovely Paris trip.

Address:
Hotel Montparnasse St Germain
19 Rue Du Depart, Paris, 75014 France

Day 5: Walt Disney Studios

"Hurry up, Mum!"

Walt Disney Studios is a theme park next to Disneyland. 

There are various sections as well for different purposes. Some are to showcase the making of certain scenes while others are fun ride areas.

 While Coco went to get her dose of the U-shape thrill ride, Baby and I rode on the Slinky Dog.

It looked promisingly frightening!

Coco went to the haunted building for another thrill ride - it zoomed up and down without warning!

Overall, Coco enjoyed Walt Disney Studios as the rides were more for thrill-seeking teens and adults. However, the behind-the-movie scenes were not impressive. It felt juvenile and a little silly. In fact, it bored Baby to sleep!

I didn't manage to take many pictures here as I had to look after the sleeping Baby while Coco went for a few other rides.

Give me Disneyland anytime!

Day 5: Paris Disneyland Part II

The second day we were at Disneyland, we strategised:

We had been to Fantasy Land (where we met Princess Aurora and did all the fairytale rides) and Discovery Land (Buzz Lightyear and the futuristic rides) on the previous day, so for the second day, we would visit Adventure Land, Frontier Land and visit Disneyland Studio after that.

The market-style cafe where we had our first meal at Disneyland

The quality of the princess costumes seemed to be of superior quality compared to the Asian make

We tried getting a queue number for another princess meet, but the queue was too long and the next session would be quite late, so I convinced Baby not to wait for it.

My favourite ride - slow and safe

We ventured into the Adventure Land

An uneventful pirate ship

The nice tourists waited for us to finish taking our pic

At Temple Du Peril

Who else but Coco would attempt the risky ride?

The Adventure Land and Frontier Land were not as exciting compared to the other two Lands as they did not have as many rides and for the few that they had, one or two were closed.

Just as well though, so that we didn't have to spend too much time there.

Another favourite ride of mine, a nice, slow and safe train ride

We went back to Discovery Land for a car ride while Coco went for the Mountain Speed ride again

Caramel-coated apples

Bye, Paris Disneyland!

Although Paris Disneyland was beautiful, just like the other Disneyland Parks, I recall having a more enjoyable time at Hong Kong Disneyland 3 years ago.

HK Disneyland was more organised and systematic in arranging the Meet-and-Greet with the various characters. It would have a specific timing and place for the Meet-and-Greet and we could go from one pavilion to another to take pictures with the characters we wanted.

Paris Disneyland's Meet-and-Greet depends all on luck. The characters wander through the park and if you are lucky, you chance upon them and jostle with the large crowd to take a picture with them. If you get lucky, you might be spotted by the characters and they would ask you to come take a picture. If you don't, you wait for nothing and go away feeling disappointed.

We felt out of place at a Disneyland filled with ang mohs. In fact, Coco and I looked out for Asians actively. We were thrilled to see a Chinese family of four and took comfort in spotting a young Japanese couple. 

Perhaps it was the novelty of being at a Disneyland for the first time, I felt the magic of Disneyland in Hong Kong, but not at the one in Paris. It felt more commercialised compared to the one in Hong Kong.

But overall, we did have an enjoyable time in Paris Disneyland, especially Baby. And I had the experience of being in an all-caucasian environment. After all, you don't get to set foot in a caucasian territory all the time!

Hotel Cheyenne at Disneyland Paris

Hotel Cheyenne ('Sher-yen') is a cowboy theme Disney hotel.

I chose it for its price, the refreshing theme and the good review.

A disadvantage of not staying at Paris Disneyland Hotel is having to take a long walk back to the bus interchange opposite the train station and take a chartered bus to the other Disney hotels.

At the interchange, there were signs on which hotel names were indicated, under which we waited together with the other hotel guests.

We went for our dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Buffet style. We picked and chose what we fancied.

I told Coco that this meal cost about S$100, so 'please finish your food'.

The girls were delighted to see the bunk bed.

The room keys and the breakfast pass for 2 adults and 1 child

Our Disneyland Park tickets

We checked out of the hotel before we went for our breakfast. 

In terms of service, Asians definitely win their Westerner counterpart hands down.  

Look at the flights of stairs we were made to overcome before we reached our hotel room!

The peaceful cowboy town within the hotel premise

A beautiful blue sky greeted us as we lugged our heavy luggage to the check-out counter

We missed the Meet-and-Greet with Minnie as the blur me was busy sorting out the luggage arrangement to the Disneyland station.

I had thought that the queue was for the shuttle bus to Disneyland Park. By the time Coco and Baby alerted me to the Meet-and-Greet while we were having our breakfast, Minnie had left.

Luggage deposit counter

The Chuck Wagon Restaurant where we had our meals

Breakfast came complimentary with the room

One last look at the reception counter

 

After checking out of the hotel, we took the shuttle bus to Disneyland for a second day of fun!