Trains, more trains and Ubermobiles

Day 12 was a day of using nearly every mode of transport under the sun and making a return to backpacking. But first, we started with a lazy morning at the hotel packing up after a week of being stationary then getting an Uber to Slough Station.

(The faces you make when your parents force you to go on a family holiday to the other side of the world).

While the rest of the family headed to Tesco Extra to stock up on lunch and snacks I stood guard over the luggage. When they returned laden with bags of snacks another four travel cards saw us onto the express train for the ride into Paddington. We hiked for what seemed like miles across Paddington station, with bags much heavier than they were for the same walk a week ago, to get a Circle Line train to Kings Cross/St Pancras to wait with the hoards of others for the 15.04 train bound for Brussels via Lille. It was a return to the backpacking days of old. With the entire vast seating area filled with people, we found a corner spot by one empty chair. While the youngest (and most broken) member of the family claimed the chair, Murray went for a wander while Kennedy and I took up spots on the floor using our bags as backrests.

At 15.04 and 15 seconds, we were speeding through the English countryside before plunging into the Chunnel. 90 minutes after departure we disembarked at Lille and awaited our connection direct to the Paris Disneyland station. After another 90 minutes of speeding through the French countryside, we arrived at Gare Marne-la-Vallée Chessy.

Just outside the station, we found, among the line of shuttle bus stops, the free bus shuttle that delivered us right to the door of the Dream Castle Hotel, our home for the next three nights. Weary from a day’s travel we headed straight to the buffet and for 35 euros a head we ate our body weight in food, before rolling upstairs to bed. Our last stop of the holiday is the first time the four of us are sharing one room. There were certainly some settling-in issues as we adjusted to different sleep times and routines but after we all settled in a good night’s sleep was had by most.

Day 13 – After a sleep in we partook with gusto in the included breakfast buffet. Being France I’d expected the buffet to be mainly of the cold variety, a few cereals, croissants and the standard jambon et fromage (ham and cheese). But this was a French buffet on steroids. Along with the aforementioned, there was bacon, eggs, and pancakes with an enormous bucket of Nutella that all the guests aged under 10 could not resist. Salad, yoghurts, fresh fruits, juices, pain au chocolate, baguettes, coffee, potatoes and a French attempt at baked beans meant there was enough food, and variety to keep every Scott happy. Our initial impression of the Hotel Dream Castle was good last night and it only got better today. There are five hotels in a cluster about 10 minutes drive from the Disneyland Park of which ours is in the middle. It’s designed for families, who mostly have children younger than 20 and 18, and could have come off as kitsch but it’s been styled in a way that I really like and is reminiscent of a French chateau. Having lived in a French chateau for a year I consider myself expert enough in this field.

With the weather forecast looking better in the afternoon than in the morning Kennedy made an executive decision that we would go shopping first before returning to the hotel to relax by the pool when the sun was hottest. She was so keen that she headed off before the rest of us to La Vallée Village which boasts 120 brands. When the rest of the family arrived at the same spot we quickly realised why she had ditched it quickly and headed next door to Val D’Europe. Firstly the Village is an outdoor outlet shopping situation. With the temperature approaching 30 degrees, moving from one shop to another outside wasn’t that much fun. Secondly, the price tags of the 120 brands were eye-watering. Next door in Val D’Europe there were all the brands that we needed to shop for, some good summer sales, and it was air-conditioned. We left the centre at 2pm with a bag full of picnic supplies including two baguettes, chorizo, two types of cheese, a punnet of grapes, six beers, a bottle of red wine and some soft drinks, all for 21 Euros.

We returned, eventually after having to cancel one Uber who couldn’t work out the shopping mall carpark, to our hotel for a couple of quality hours by the pool.

Doing research earlier in the day I’d found that the local village, Magny Le Hongre, had a musical picnic to celebrate Bastille Day, starting at 6.30pm in Parc du Lochy. This park was less than a 30-minute walk from our hotel so picnic in hand we followed Google Maps out the back of our hotel, alongside a lake, through the village, then followed the sound of the band, until we found the park and the Bastille Day fête. It was a lovely event and barren of the tourists that inhabit the five hotels. This celebration brought out the locals with picnics of their own and sets of boulles to play while they sat on hay bales or blankets, listened to the band and bought a treat of ice cream or toffee apples. After strolling home we enjoyed a sundowner on the hotel deck before heading to bed, excited to be visiting the happiest place on earth the next day.