Divine Paris

It gets under your skin, comfortably; this beautiful city of Paris. Its the fifth time I've been to Paris, each time I've stayed a week or more, and each time more to discover and love about the place.

I don't think I'd get sick of seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Its a magical moment, seeing it glitter and sparkle. Incredible to be under, inside and viewed from afar.

I've included some happy snaps of our time ( nearly 2 weeks!)  in Paris this time. We shared it with Michael to start with and then with dear friends De and Graham.

We were forced ( ha ha) to visit a patisserie - oh MY. I know macaroons are the 'flavour' of the moment, but there is a reason they are. Super fragile, light and crisp, gooey inside and luscious. 

Its not our last visit Paris.. I will return!

Disneyland Paris

There is a reason Disneyland is so famous. They have the ingredients and mixture exactly right. Sugary sweet, overloaded with cliche and sappy music, and yet intriguing and deadly seductive, the entire environment is geared to suck you in and make you suspend all belief. It carries you back into childhood dreams; making the toughest guy desperate to wear a Goofy or Micky Mouse hat. 

It was a big outlay - there is no two ways in looking at it. I did get discount tickets, but even then, it cost the three of us 180 Euros ( yes, you read that right)  to get in. On top of that 15 Euros just to park there. Though there are signs everywhere saying you can't bring food in, plenty of people do, and at nearly 10 Euros for a sandwich, there was no way I was going to dish out for expensive food.

We got there at opening time and were one of the first through the gates. It is stunning. The management do well in choosing cheery helpful staff and despite the volume of people, it is sparkling clean at all times. 

Some rides were busier than others, though waiting for o ver an hour and a half for something was something I wasn't prepared to do. We worked out pretty quickly that if you lined up in the single rider lane, you got on within ten mins normally. It just means that you don't get to sit with each other- but honestly - whoopee do.

We managed to get on alot of rides and go to some behind the scenes shows as well as catch the stunt show - which was truly spectacular. We were fortunate with the weather - sunshine and little cloud - a really beautiful European summer day.

We continued on through to the finish to watch the fireworks and were totally exhausted getting home after midnight. 

Warhorse in London

It was an extremely tough call , to find a theatrical production which didn't have singing in it , no 'wanky' actors prosolating their monologues on stage, no interpretive dance moves, one that had a proper story to follow AND be suitable for kids. But I did it.( all but the kids filter had to be taken into consideration for Michael, who had never been to a theatrical production and was pretty sure he wouldn't like it anyway)

Warhorse is based on the Childrens book by Michael Morpurgo. It was recently made into a film, one I have seen and not too proud to say I blubbered the entire way through. I had heard reviews on it given it has life sized puppets for the horses. Before you gag, let me assure you that within minutes of the horses entering the stage, you see past the operators beside and onside them. All you see is a life sized REAL horse, who twitches its tail, snorts , prances and moves effortlessly, gracefully, beautifully. The structures of the horses are strong enough to allow the actors to mount them and ride. The special effects employed to give the impression of the horses galloping are breathtaking. To say the audience is immediately enraptured is an understatement.

Its not very often that the performances on stage will evoke such an  emotional response from its audiences; but I can tell you that there were few dry eyes in a number of scenes.. And yes.. I blubbered as well.

I think the most rewarding thing was to hear Michael say that he'd enjoyed it and would be willing to go to another performance at some point.