I woke up a bit earlier to get in my morning walk, so that I could fit in a full day of work before heading over to LAX to catch my evening flight. Since my car was still in the shop for repairs, I got dropped off at the Tom Bradley International Terminal aka Terminal B. Since I had plenty of time after getting through TSA screening, I decided to make the long walk over to the West Gates to get dinner at Santouka. Normally, I would be taking a red-eye flight and this place would be closed. This was one of the few times where it was actually around dinner time. There was no line when I got there. I ordered a shio ramen. The cashier obviously was not Japanese and heard me wrong. What I received was their soy sauce (shoyu) ramen. Not a big enough deal to make a fuss. The tables immediately around the place were all occupied, so I looked for an empty table around the adjacent food court area. Unfortunately, this bowl of ramen was rather sad and an embarrassment for the Santouka name. The portion size was smaller, did not taste quite the same for Santouka ramen, but still had the airport price tag of $18.99 or $20.79 with tax. There will not be a second visit from me for this location. I will save it for a proper Santouka location outside of the airport.
LAX west gates
Shoyu ramen
I boarded the plane among one of the last groups. The boarding process was pretty easy as they were using facial recognition. I was assigned a window seat just over the left wing. A little over an hour into the flight, we were served drinks and snacks. Then later, we were served a meal.
Boarding by facial recognition
During the long flight, I watched the following movies:
- Monkey Man: For some reason I thought it would be like John Wick... and that name was indeed mentioned in the movie. Sure it was also a revenge story, but this one had way more gratuitous drug and sex scenes. This was a movie that I wouldn't recommend as it lacked the charisma of the character, John Wick.
- IF: If there were any funny parts, I must have slept through most of it. It was just not a very engaging movie to keep my attention especially since I was getting pretty sleepy. I'm pretty sure it was because I was not the target audience.
- Madame Web: I needed to pee, but my row mates were both sleeping. I ended up letting them sleep some more and watched this movie. While it was indeed as lame as everyone had said in numerous reviews, it wasn't nearly as lame as I thought it would be. In comparison, The Marvels was definitely worse than this one.
As the flight was nearing London, we were served a second meal. This was my favorite as it was a full English breakfast. I thought it was strange that both of my row mates turned down both meals. I wonder if it's because they really don't like airplane food or if they thought that it was not complimentary.
Full English breakfast
Thursday 8/8
The plane landed at London Heathrow Airport at about 2 pm local time which was 8 hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time. I had about 3.5 hours before my short connecting flight into Charles de Gaulle Airport. A good chunk of that time was spent on getting through security where one of my bags was pulled due to the small bottle of mouthwash. After using the restroom for my usual "morning" BM, I thought about getting a drink at Starbucks. However the US mobile app was not allowing me to place mobile orders, so instead I bought a bottle of water (£2.99) and found an empty spot to sit down. Originally, the flight was scheduled to be out of Gate A17, but that info was never updated at the gate as the main board was showing that it was Gate A9. Finally, a couple fellow passengers on the same flight asked the gate agent to confirm that it was indeed Gate A9.
Landing in London Heathrow
It was a smaller plane for this short flight into Paris CDG. We were barely served our inflight drink and snacks before the plane was beginning its descent. I was starting to get a bit antsy as I needed to get checked into my hotel before the midnight cutoff.
Just a short flight into CDG
It all turned out to be unnecessary stress that I was putting on myself as it was pretty easy traveling while using the 4 day Navigo Paris 2024 travel pass on my phone that I had pre-purchased ahead of the trip for €52. It was very useful as it was good for zones 1-5, enough to get me out to Disneyland Paris at Chessy for the latter part of my trip. After getting through customs, I took the RER B train out to Gare du Nord. From there, I caught the RER E train at the Magenta station. I rode that for only one stop over to Haussmann Gare Saint-Lazare where I exited out onto Rue du Havre.
CDG
RER B line
Magenta station
RER E line
From there, it was a short walk up to my hotel (New Hôtel Saint Lazare) for the next 3 days. I arrived shortly after 9:30 pm, way ahead of the midnight cutoff. The guy at the front desk spoke limited English, but it was enough to get me checked in with no problems after he collected the daily tax (€5,20 per day). I was checked into room #606. I was waiting for the elevator up to my floor with a couple. It was an extremely tiny elevator. The couple was okay with me squeezing in there with them. As we got to their floor and they were exiting, the guy said that that was the closest he had ever been to a Spurs fan. Turned out that he was an Arsenal fan. We had a good chuckle.
The room was adequate for the short trip, but boy was the restroom tiny with everything crammed into a really cramped space! It was also very hot inside with no A/C. I could open the window, but there was no window screen. So the second, I opened it, bugs would start coming inside. At the very least, the room did come with an underpowered fan. Just slightly better than nothing.
New Hôtel Saint Lazare
Very tiny elevator (lift)
Not sure what's going on here with this patchwork job on the ceiling!
Tiny bathroom
View from room
Friday 8/9
At about 8:30 am, I went to the nearby Franprix at the corner of Rue de Liège and Rue de Clichy to buy some water and snacks. Here's what I bought: Bonne Maman Gaufres au sucre perlé, Tyrrell's slow-cooked crisps sea salt & cider vinegar, and 2 large 1,5L bottles of Volcania mountain water (Eau de Source de Montagne - Volcania - 1,5 L).
Snacks and water from Franprix
I dropped off my drinks and snacks in my room. Then at about 9 am, I began my walk over to the Sacré-Cœur. I made sure to go up to the church via Rue Foyatier aka John Wick stairs. I must say that going up those stairs was tiring enough without having to fight 50+ men and rolling down those stairs while doing so! All of the daily hikes around my hilly neighborhood back home really helped in preparing me for this climb!
Rue Foyatier aka John Wick stairs
Before heading inside the church, I had to go through security screening where they wanted to inspect your bag(s). Per the usual for churches, I had to remove my cap before going inside. This church was definitely a must visit for anyone's first time in Paris. It was very beautiful both on the outside and inside!
Gargoyles!
Only in Paris!
La Machine du Moulin Rouge
On the way back to my room, I stopped in at McDonald's to pick up a little breakfast. On one of the ordering kiosks, I ordered a McMuffin Egg & Bacon and an espresso. I liked that the portions in Europe weren't as crazy big as back in the States. While eating my breakfast, I caught a couple of episodes of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. Ironically, it was a bit strange watching it in French! :)
McMuffin Egg & Bacon and espresso
Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir
At about 3:30 pm, I headed out to go catch the men's football gold medal match between France and Spain over at Parc des Princes. First I caught a Métro 13 line train at the nearby Liège station. Unfortunately, for some reason the fare gate would not recognize the pass on my phone. After the gate attendant verified my pass, she disarmed one of the gates and allowed me to go through. Once I got to the Miromesnil station, I switched over to the Métro 9 line. From that line, I got off at Porte de Saint-Cloud.
From that train station, there were many volunteers and signs directing you where to go. The event ticket told you which entrance to enter. Mine said to enter through A/B. Since they weren't going to let anyone in until 4:30 pm, I got in line to buy a souvenir. I was hoping that they would be selling match specific items, but they were only selling general Olympic items. When it was my turn, I bought a white cap for €20.
In line for official merchandise
My only souvenir for the trip
The lines were mostly to check for valid tickets and bags. Once I got to the final check, the guy pointed to my water bottle and was trying to tell me something. At first I thought he was telling me that I needed to pour the water out, so I had begun chugging the water. Eventually, he said in English that I could bring in the bottle, but I would have to throw away the cap. I assumed that it would be harder to put together a makeshift explosive without the cap. Those people with nefarious intentions should think about making better use of their time on Earth.
Match ticket
French national anthem
The match started on time at 6 pm. Just two minutes into the match, the Spanish players were already diving to the pitch at the slightest contact with any French player. The competition level was similar to the Championship league in England or the MLS in America. It was kind of hard to watch as the referee was clearly favoring the Spanish team. The Spanish team pretty much parked the bus after going up 1-3. It took VAR intervention for the French team to finally be awarded a penalty kick. That was crucial as they were able to equalize at 3-3 to send the match into extra periods. Unfortunately, the Spanish team started playing offense again and was able to finish the match off with 2 more goals, winning 3-5.
Jean-Philippe Mateta scores the PK to equalize at 3-3!
Spain wins
Final score
At first I thought about sticking around for the medal presentation, but it was taking forever, so I decided to bail and head back to my hotel before it got too late. Instead of taking the Métro 9 line back, I decided to head over to Pont du Garigliano - Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou station to catch the RER C train. It was a longer walk, but I got to see the Eiffel Tower off in the distance as I crossed the Pont du Garigliano. Then from the Invalides station, I switched over to the Métro 13 line for a ride up to Liège.
View of the Eiffel Tower from Pont du Garigliano
Saturday 8/10
I was dragging a bit this morning. I got ready and left the hotel at about 7:30 am. I took the Métro 13 line train from Saint-Lazare over to the Châtelet station. I barely got there early enough to catch the men run through for the marathon at 8 am. I stood at the corner where they made the left turn onto Rue de Rivoli from Rue St Denis. After they ran through, I headed over to start line to check it out.
Waiting for the start of the Men's Marathon
Olympic Men's Marathon
Marathon start line at Hôtel de Ville
Hôtel de Ville
After checking out the start line, I followed the race course and started heading over to the Eiffel Tower to catch them as they headed back for the finish line. Along the way, I saw the Louvre Museum, Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, and the Assemblée nationale - Palais Bourbon.
Louvre Museum
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
Assemblée nationale - Palais Bourbon
Pont Alexandre III
Eiffel Tower
I found a spot in front of the Eiffel Tower to catch the runners come through near the 38 km mark. Although I wasn't able to get up against the course fencing, thankfully, I was tall enough to get some unobstructed pictures. Once I had caught all 3 American runners, I started heading out. It was a bit of a bummer to not see Kipchoge as he had dropped out of the race. Afterwards, he said that it was due to back pain.
Tamirat Tola, leading the race
Chase pack: Bashir Abdi, Benson Kipruto, and Deresa Geleta
Conner Mantz
Clayton Young and Elroy Gelant
Kenenisa Bekele
Leonard Korir
I followed the race course and headed down Av de la Bourdonnais where I bumped into a guy named Alex. We looked at each other and almost immediately knew that we were both from the States. It would turn out that he was part of a group of people that organized the Miami Marathon. We exchanged emails. Eventually, I entered the École Militaire station to catch a Métro 8 line train. I got off at Invalides station and switched over to the Métro 13 line. I took that over to Liège station. I was planning to get food at the McDonald's inside Saint-Lazare, but it was way too busy. Before heading across the street to try the other McDonald's, I stopped in at the Carrefour City to buy some water. I got 2 1,5 L bottles of water for €0,70. I used one of the self checkout kiosks, but struggled with the payment portion as it was in French. Thankfully, an employee stationed there noticed and was able to help me out.
École Militaire station to catch a Métro 8 line
Saint Lazare
2 1,5 L bottles of water for €0,70
I then walked across the street to get lunch at McDonald's. It was smaller, but nowhere near as busy as the one inside Saint-Lazare. Using one of the kiosks, I ordered a Royal Deluxe, Les McFlavor Fries Cheddar Fondu - Bacon, and an iced tea.
When I got to my room, the room key would not open the door. I had to go back down to the lobby to get my key reprogrammed. When I was finally able to eat my lunch after I got my room door to open, the cup for my iced tea was already starting to feel quite soft. The bacon cheese fries were good, but since it looked messy to eat with hands, I used a plastic fork that I had saved from one of my many visits to Chick-fil-A. After I was about done, I noticed that they had included a small flat wooden pick to eat the cheesy fries! I vegged out in my hot room for pretty much the rest of the day watching whatever was on TV.
McDonald's
Royal Deluxe, McFlavor Fries Melted Cheddar - Bacon, iced tea
Royal Deluxe
Shortly after 7 pm, I headed back to the train station to head over to the start line for the Marathon Pour Tous. Boy was I jealous of everyone that was able to get a spot in the race! Originally, I positioned myself pretty close to the start line. However, it turned out to be a bad position as it was right next to one of the few pedestrian course crossings. It was also where they opened up the fencing in order for race vehicles to enter onto the course. Eventually, I got strong-armed by fellow spectators out of my position along the railing. Since I was a foreigner that didn't speak French, I decided to go back near the position that I had taken for the men's marathon. However, even that spot was crowded! I eventually found an opening at the McDonald's right at the Châtelet station entrance on the north side of Rue de Rivoli. I sent my friend a message to let him know where I was positioned. He let me know that he was starting out of wave 4. It was pretty cool that we spotted each other on this side of the pond!
Course map with landmarks
Course map with km markers
News reporter
Near Châtelet station
Marathon Pour Tous, wave 1
Marathon Pour Tous, wave 2
Marathon Pour Tous, wave 3
Marathon Pour Tous, wave 4
After seeing my friend run through, I jumped into the very crowded subway station for a ride back to my hotel. Along the way back, I stopped at the same McDonald's to pick up dinner. This time I ordered the Royal Deluxe and CBO. Apparently, chicken, bacon, and onion was a popular local combo. I still prefer beef over chicken.
CBO
Sunday 8/11
Oh dear lord, after 3 sweaty nights, I was very much done with the heat! Since I was checking out, I finally opened the window to let in some cool morning air. Any bugs entering the room will be the hotel's and next person's problem.
After getting ready and packed, I checked out of my room and headed back to the same spot as last night to catch the women's marathon. It was definitely not as crowded this morning compared to the marathon for both the men and the general masses. It was a bit of a bummer to see Fiona O'Keeffe quite gimpy after all of the other runners had already passed on through. I hope she will recover quickly from her injury.
Near Châtelet station
Before heading out, I chatted a bit with a guy from New Zealand as it was good to hear some English. I walked over to the nearby Chatelet Les Halles to catch a RER A train over to Charles de Gaulle Étoile station to get an obligatory picture of L'Arc de Triomphe and Av. des Champs-Élysées. I then headed over to the nearby McDonald's to eat some breakfast. This had to be the nicest and fanciest McDonald's in all of Paris. I ordered the brunch dejeuner: McMuffin egg & bacon, McMuffin bacon & beef, OJ, and espresso. I ordered a heartier meal as I anticipated a lot of walking for the rest of the day. I used their restroom before heading out.
L'Arc de Triomphe
Av. des Champs-Élysées
McDonald's Champs-Élysées
Brunch dejeuner: McMuffin egg & bacon, McMuffin bacon & beef, OJ, and espresso
McMuffin bacon & beef
I walked back to the Charles de Gaulle Étoile station and took the Métro 6 line train over to the Bir-Hakeim station to wait for the women to run through. It was pretty packed, but I was able to find a spot in the shadows. I knew that pictures wouldn't turn out as good, but I really did not want to be baking in that sun!
Bir-Hakeim Metro Station
Lead pack: Tigst Assefa, Amane Beriso Shankule, Hellen Obiri, Sifan Hassan, and Sharon Lokedi
Yuka Suzuki
Delvine Relin Meringor
Stella Chesang
Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, Eunice Chebichii Chumba
Fatima Ezzahra Gardadi
Dakotah Lindwurm
Jessica Stenson
Mekdes Woldu
Hanne Verbruggen
Genevieve Gregson
Emily Sisson, Mokulubete Blandina Makatisi
I backtracked to Charles de Gaulle Étoile station to take the RER A train out to Chessy for Disneyland Paris. I got off at Val d'Europe to buy some drinks and snacks at Auchan. I bought a package of 10 Gaufre de Liège (€2,85), 2 L bottle of Eau de Source Sainte Hélène (€0,25), and a small 50 cl bottle of Auchan Eau minérale naturelle (€0,85) that I was planning to refill while at the Disney parks tomorrow.
RER A line
50 cl bottle of Auchan Eau minérale naturelle (€0,85)
2 L bottle of Eau de Source Sainte Hélène (€0,25)
A package of 10 Gaufre de Liège (€2,85)
I then hopped back on the RER A train for a short ride over to Gare Marne-la-Vallée. I was having a little bit of GI distress, so I was on a mission to find a restroom before I had myself an accident! I decided that getting onto Disney property was probably my best bet. After getting through security screening, I headed over to use the restroom near the Disneyland Park exit. After I took care of that, I headed inside the Disneyland Hotel lobby to get out of the heat and to pass some time. As it was pretty darn warm, they had put out dispensers of cucumber water. I took a cup instead of drinking from my own supply.
At about 1:30 pm, I decided to start walking over to my hotel, Campanile Val de France, for the next 2 nights. Boy was it a hot day! Thankfully, most of the way was covered with some shade. I arrived at just after 2 pm. Unfortunately, check-in time did not start until 3 pm, so they asked me to wait until then. I found an empty table at the bar/dining area and rested a bit. Thank goodness, this place had A/C! When I checked in, they collected the €5,20 daily tax and was given room 20 in building A. I found it strange that although I had reserved a room with a double bed that they would give me a room with a queen bed and 2 bunk beds. I was just glad that this place had A/C and was more modern than what I had stayed in for the past 3 days in Paris.
I got settled into my room and vegged out for the rest of the day. I didn't plan on going back out for dinner, so I ate through my snacks. I was watching TV and just about getting ready for bed when I heard knocking on my door. Since hotels here don't have peepholes, I decided to just open to see who it was. It was a hotel guest asking if I had an outlet adapter that she could use. I said nope and closed the door.
Exchanging of the Olympics flag from one mayor to another
Monday 8/12
I got ready and at about 8:15 am, just as I was about to begin my walk over to Disneyland, the bus pulled up. Well, heck, if it's already here, I might as well take the free ride. It made 4 stops at the other hotels (Grand Magic Hotel, Dream Castle, Hôtel Explorers, and B&B Hôtel) in Val de France to pick up more passengers.
After getting off of the bus and getting through security screening, I headed over towards Walt Disney Studios. I thought they were already letting people in, but my mobile ticket wouldn't open the gate. The cast member asked if I was staying at one of the Disney hotels. She informed me that people not staying at a Disney hotel had to wait until 9:30 am to go inside. So I learned that they don't do the "rope drop" here in Paris.
Park hopper ticket
To pass the time, I headed towards Disney Village to go get breakfast at McDonald's. It was nice to eat a McMorning breakfast before a very long hot day at the parks!
McMorning
After I finished my breakfast, I still had time before the gates were to open, so I went inside World of Disney to check out their merchandise. Man, if I had more disposable income and more importantly, space in the house, I would be buying a lot of Disney merchandise!
As it neared 9:30 am, I headed back to the Walt Disney Studios entrance where I saw long lines of people waiting to get inside the park. Although the lines were long, they were consistently moving. Their gate system seemed a lot better than the system in place for Disneyland Anaheim.
Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-man!
- Avengers Assemble: Flight Force: This was my first ride for today. There was pretty much no waiting with the single rider line. While I grew up listening to Aerosmith, I think they were a bit outdated. This was a very nice update to convert it to the Marvel Cinematic Universe theme with Iron Man and Captain Marvel.
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: Although I prefer the Guardians of the Galaxy version of this ride, it's nice to ride the original Twilight Zone version. Every time I ride this version, I'm really tempted to buy a Hollywood Tower of Terror bellhop Stitch.
- Crush's Coaster: I was near the front of the single rider line when we witnessed a kid throwing a fit while loading onto the ride. He was repeatedly striking who I assumed was his mom. Eventually, they got off of the ride. However, the kid was not done! He went off to the cast member console and pushed a whole bunch of buttons. Apparently, one of those buttons was an emergency shutdown button. The lights came on and everyone had to evacuate the ride and queue. Those waiting in line inside were given a return ticket with premier access when the ride was back up.
- Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy: Next I headed over to the Ratatouille ride. Along the way, I noticed a stand selling Belgian waffle from Liège. Mmmm, I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but they are my favorite! Thank goodness for single rider line. I didn't have to wait very long to get on this ride. Also I noticed that you no longer needed to wear 3D glasses for this ride.
Belgian waffle from Liège
"Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world. It is something that will never be finished. Something that I can keep developing and adding to." - Walt Disney
Inside Out 2
- Cars Road Trip: Honestly, I wasn't looking to go on this ride. It was hot and I was just walking and happened to come to this ride at the end of the path. It was a pleasant change of pace as this was a slow moving relaxing tram ride that was very similar to the Universal Studios Hollywood World Famous Studio (Backlot) Tour.
- Crush's Coaster: Take 2. The ride was back up, so I cashed in the readmission ticket. The single rider that sat next to me was a hoot! She was screaming, "Oh golly! Holy crap!" Based on her accent, I asked if she was from the UK. She told me that she was from Ireland. Close enough.
I was pretty hot and sweaty, so I ducked inside the Walt Disney Studios Store to cool down. You want thingamabobs? I've got twenty. But who cares? No big deal. I want more! I definitely came across some merchandise that were pretty dang tempting. Can you tell who is my favorite Disney character?
One day, I will go!
Once I exited the park, I headed over to McDonald's for my lunch break. On one of the ordering kiosks, I ordered the Big Tasty meal with Les McFlavor Fries Cheddar Fondu - Bacon, and OJ. Not sure why we can't get the Big Tasty back in the States. It's one of my favorite burgers and I've only been able to have it when I've been traveling internationally.
Big Tasty, Les McFlavor Fries Cheddar Fondu - Bacon, OJ
Big Tasty
After I was done, I started heading over to Disney Hotel New York - The Art of Marvel to check it out. Well, along the way, I took a wrong step and next thing you know, I had fallen and was on the ground. It looked like I had step on a temporary shop platform that had flipped. My left shin was scratched up a bit, but I was fine. What got bruised was mostly my ego as life was just reminding me that I was getting old and/or clumsy. Later, I noticed that the top of my right shoe was torn to shreds. It must have gotten hooked on that platform. While checking out the hotel lobby, I filled up my water bottle with one of their ice water dispensers. I was definitely not the only one there for the ice water!
Iron Man
Captain Marvel
After cooling down a bit, I hopped over to Disneyland Park. My left leg was kind of sore from the fall, but I was already feeling pretty tired before the fall. Maybe that's why I fell. The only ride that I needed to ride was Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril, so that was where I headed once I entered the park.
Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant
Kevin!
- Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril: In all of my prior visits to Disneyland Paris, this ride was always out of commission. Thankfully, the ride was up and the wait for it wasn't too long. This roller coaster was very similar in design to the Raging Spirits ride over in Tokyo DisneySea.
- Phantom Manor: While this ride was pretty much the same as the one in Disneyland Anaheim, there were subtle differences. I thought that the spooks that moved in this ride was much better than its counterpart in Anaheim.
- Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain: Man, I had forgotten how rough this ride was! My head kept banging around on that very hard head rest! For me, this ranked right up there with the Matterhorn Bobsleds in terms of roughness!
- Star Tours: We were all queued up and ready to board the StarSpeeder when the cast member told us to come back. Instead she had us all move over to another gate. I had a strong suspicion that either the particular StarSpeeder was glitching out or someone had barfed.
- It's a Small World: I, for one, do not find the song for this ride to be annoying. I think it has a great message. Also this is one of my favorite rides to go on whenever the weather is really really hot! This was a nice relaxing respite from the heat.
Rainbow!
Miguel
Along the way over to the Disneyland Hotel, I saw a door for Donald's desk. I believe it's for those with issues concerning their annual pass. That's kind of funny as I don't see Donald as the type to be handling customer service issues. Unfortunately, there weren't any water dispensers in the lobby, so again, I walked over to Hotel New York.
Donald's desk
I thought about taking a break from McDonald's and eating at Earl of Sandwich, but I didn't see anything that I liked on the menu, so once again I headed over to McDonald's for dinner. I ordered the Royal Bacon meal with small side salad and water. I think they gave me the yogurt by mistake.
Royal Bacon with small side salad, water, and yogurt
Side salad
After I was done with my meal, I headed back into Disneyland Park for a couple more rides before calling it a day.
- Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast: I thought this ride was in poor condition back home! My gun didn't even make sounds so I wasn't sure if I was hitting the target most of the time! Disney should really spend the money to either have this ride fixed or upgraded!
Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast
- Pirates des caraibes: I was running on fumes by now, so this was my last ride for this trip. Thankfully, the line for this ride wasn't very long. It was actually quite dark inside. Good thing, there was a person in front of me leading the way or else I might have bumped into a wall. This version of the iconic ride is my favorite. The scenes might have been arranged a bit out of order compared to the original ride in Anaheim, but the ride appears smoother.
Jack Sparrow
Baymax
When I got back to my room, I found a note left by the hotel housekeeping. Thank you for staying out of my room! :) While partially packing my bags and getting ready for bed, I ended up watching the live action version of Aladdin. It was one of the few things on TV that was available in English.
Housekeeping note
Tuesday 8/13
I got ready, checked out of my room, and caught the bus at about 8 am for a ride over to the Chessy bus station. The bus schedule was available via a QR code or on the wall in the lobby. At the bus station, I waited for the 8:35 am Magical Shuttle to CDG. The shuttle made numerous stops picking up passengers from all of the Disney hotels.
Bus schedule via QR code
Navette Parcs Disney bus schedule
Campanile Val de France
Chessy Gares Nord
Magical Shuttle schedule
I found my check-in area where I got my hand luggage inspected and tagged. I also had her print out my boarding passes as the mobile app continued to be a bit glitchy. Since I had time before my flight, I decided to get one last meal at the McDonald's before going through security. I ordered a Big Tasty meal with fries and water. This was my first time seeing a reusable container for the fries. I assumed that they did so to lessen the amount of garbage. The first leg was a short flight from CDG over to London Heathrow.
McDonald's
Big Tasty with fries and water
CDG to London Heathrow
It was a fairly short layover in London, so I didn't have time to dilly dally once I had gotten off of the plane. Thankfully, none of my bags were pulled for additional examination. However, I had the dreaded SSSS (secondary security screening selection) printed on my boarding pass for the flight from London Heathrow to LAX. According to the guy doing the screening, the not-so-random selection process for those to be searched during boarding was mostly based on profiling the traveler. I guess I fit one of those profiles since I take short trips even to places far away and don't check any luggage. Once I finally got on board, I found my bulkhead middle seat next to a couple with an infant. The infant was very well behaved and slept for most of the flight. It was nice to have the extra leg room, but it was rather inconvenient to have the entertainment screen and tray table fold into the armrest.
Extra leg room
For some reason, there was a long delay on the runway before takeoff. I kind of dozed off so I had no idea what was happening or if there was an announcement made. Once we got up in the air, I ended up watching Napoleon. I supposed that it was the most appropriate movie for this trip. I like watching movies that concern actual history, but I never really understood why movies always had to have unnecessary gratuitous sex scenes that just doesn't progress the story.
Chicken Tikka Masala
I tried to watch The Beekeeper for my second movie, but the entertainment system stopped working for everyone even after the crew members tried resetting the system a couple of times. I was able to play some Sudoku, but even that was glitchy and would reset after a while. Eventually, I gave up and started listening to songs on my old Pixel 2.
Not bad for it being "Moo Free"
Chicken escalope with potatoes au gratin and vegetables
The plane was originally scheduled to land at 5:15 pm, but with the long delay at the start of the flight, we landed at LAX at about 5:40 pm. My parents came to pick me up, but had arrived early. They ended up parking the car and went inside the terminal to wait for me.
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