10 Days in France April 20 - 30, 2010

Day minus one April 19:
Well, as you all know, there's this volcano in Iceland. Well, that thing had flights into Europe at a stand still. The flight I was scheduled to take was canceled for two days. However, the day before (18th) I was scheduled to leave, the flight went as planned. I wasn't worried. I leave for Kuwait International Airport for my 10:30 pm flight to Dubai. All goes well and we land 15 mins early. I now have an 8 hour layover. I find the lounge and after paying $32 I'm allowed to stay for four hours. Food and drink is included. My flight for Nice is scheduled to leave at 9:30 am. I crash for a while.

Day One April 20:
My flight leaves on time and I get into Nice Airport as scheduled. My Limo driver(booked through Expedia) is waiting on me with a sign. Now, since I had an 8 hour layover, I figured my bag was one of the first on the plane. First on usually means last off. I had to wait an hour for my bag. YUCK! I get to the hotel after 3pm. Well, after two days of no sleep, I'm about to fall on the floor. My room is 101 at the Best Western Roosevelt. Very nice room. My only complaint: You can't control the temperature in the room. If they have the heat on, it's on for the WHOLE hotel. I had to open the window to stay cool. My view is the other complaint. Looking at heatpumps and other buildings isn't my idea of a view. After eating dinner, I went to sleep EARLY.

Day Two April 21:
Well, my first day in France. Yes, I ate at McDonalds for breakfast. Everything is expensive here even the food. I knew I could eat cheap. I get on the tram and get to the information station for my all day pass to tour Nice. Very interesting tour. You can hop on and off as much or little as you want. Also booked this through Expedia. I wanted to get the feel of the place. Got some great picturers. I also found the Casino Ruhl. I find no tables open so I break Bob's rule number 1 that says, "never play the slot machines." I put in 10 Euros and win over 300 after just three plays. I cash out and take another 10 Euro note to a different machine and hit for 150 Euros on the second pull. I walk out of the casino cash heavy. Well since it's just after noon, I decide to go to Marineland. Well you can get there one of two ways: Bus or Train. I'm adventurous, so I take the bus. Well after traveling for what seemed like forEVER, I get off and find a tourist information center. I find that I have passed it and need to go back three stops. I get on the bus returning to Nice and make it an entire block. There's construction going on with a chain link fence blocking the street on the right side. A person driving what looked like a small bulldozer backed into the fence making it scrape against the entire right side of the bus. Well, everyone has to exit off the bus and get on another to return to Nice. The next three busses to arrive are completely full. I spent the rest of the day trying to get back finally getting to Nice around 7pm.

Day Three April 22:
Marineland. Well, since I didn't make it to Marineland yesterday, I head that way. This time I take the train 8.5 Euros, but worth it. Marineland in Biot is SMALL. You could do all the shows in one day. Since I didn't arrive until after 1pm I was only able to see two different shows. Both the sealion and whale show where well done.

Day Four April 23:
I have to get up EARLY. 5 am as I have a 6:30 train ride into Paris. The train is scheduled to arrive at 12:20, but gets in at 12:05. I find my hotel the Hotel de la Herse d'Or. This hotel is a DIVE. For 65 Euros or $85 a night I was expecting more. The room (and that's stretching the term) was nothing more then a bed and closet or a bed in a closet it was hard to tell. I had to go down the hall for the bathroom and down stairs for the shower. It's more of a hostel then a hotel. I wouldn't give it more then one star, maybe even a half a star. I'm glad I was only there two nights. I had booked a two hour tour of Paris through Expedia (do you see a trend here?). It hits all the major attractions. The Eiffel Tour, Arc De Triumph, Notre Dame, Louve. I thought the bus would be open, but it wasn't. Good tour however.

Day Five April 24:
A day at Disneyland Paris. I get up at 8am eat my 6 Euro breakfast (two hard rolls, a croisant, coffee and juice) and I hit the Metro then the RER A train to another Disney park. To say the weather was spectacular is an understatement. Crystal blue sky and you can't buy a cloud. I get to the park at 9:45 and find that Pirates opens at 10am. I head that way and find two drops and more skeletons. It's a "darker, scarier" ride then WDW's version. No Jack Sparrow, nothing from the movie like at the World. The jail scene with De Oh Gee is there, but that's about the only thing similar. Phantom Manor AKA The Haunted Mansion -> the Bride is featured throughout the ride. She's even holding the candleabra that's floating in the hallway. More ghostly. No gatekeeper or I missed him somehow. The hitchhiking ghost doesn't sit next to you, but is a floating head on top of your doombuggy. BTMRR is faster or I'm getting older. And yes they have It's a small world. That song, not that song. Make it STOP! The Studios seems smaller. The 5 o'clock parade at Disneyland is very well done. No fireworks! I left around 9:30 pm and did everything and rode everything I wanted to.

Day Six April 25:
Since my train to Nice doesn't leave until 3:45pm that gives me most of the day to do something. I head to the Louve to see the two most famous painting in the world. I see the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper. They are in the same room with each other. Then the Venis De Milo. This place is HUGE. You could spend a week in here and never leave. Well, I have got limited time and want to see the Eiffel Tower once more. I head that way and eat lunch under it. Very surreal. I head back to Nice on the train.

Day Seven April 26:
Well, it's time to do more site seeing. Off to Monoco and Monte Carlo. If you've read anything about me, you know how much I enjoy casino gambling. I had to visit and at least try to gamble at one of the most famous places in the world. I get to Monte Carlo and find that the tables are open and, during the day, no dress code. 10 Euros later I'm watching blackjack. Ten minutes later I'm sitting at the table and handing the dealer 200 Euros. I get chips and the table is a 25 Euro minimum. Since I had won 400 Euros in Nice, I figured losing half here in Monte Carlo wouldn't be so bad. Well, playing simple strategy, I more then doubled my money. When I colored up I had over 425 Euros. I kept some 5 Euro chips as soveniers. Yes, I had a great time.

Day Eight April 27:
Again since I was cash heavy I decided to do an all day tour of the surrounding area. Booked the tour for 70 Euros and I'm off at 9am. We get to Eze and see the Perfumory, Monte Carlo and see the changing of the guards at the Palace, St. Vincent, Cannes, Antebes. This is an Eight hour tour. I'm really glad I did this as I got to see some places I'd never think to visit.

Day Nine April 28:
Time to find a chair and umbrella and sleep on the beach. Sixteen Euros later, I'm laying on the beach listening to the waves and snoozing the day away. I get in the water which was COLD! After a breif splash to cool off, I'm back asleep on the beach. Great relaxing way to spend the day.

Day Ten April 29:
Last full day and a bonus day. I head back to Marineland to see the three other shows I hadn't gotten to earlier in my stay. After arriving I basically hung out here most of the day. I saw the three shows and left around 6 pm.

Day Eleven April 30:
Well, time to pack and get ready for my 2:30 pm limo ride back to the airport. I had a fantastic stay and I am VERY happy I did this. I was never out of my comfort zone and enjoyed every minute of this vacation. Would I do some things differently next time? Yes. I couldn't have bought better weather. Everyday and every place I went I was greeted with sunny skies and perfect temperatures.

Day Twelve May 1:
Arrive back in Kuwait then back into Tallil. Safe and just a few bumps along the way. Stand by for pictures. END

Comments? Questions? Please refer them to me Bob Werner
Back to Bob's Page O' Stuff