Thanks to my friend Maxime and his brother-in-law, I enjoyed a free day at Disney Paris. Other than being excited to experience a day of Disney magic, I was excited to compare it to (our) Disney World. First off, Disney Paris has only two parks; Magic Kingdom and MGM Studios.
Maxime: “How many parks are there in America?”
Me: “Psh! We got FOUR!”
We went on a sunny Saturday and of course, it was packed with people. Check. Just like FL. Upon entering the park, the thing that struck me as the most different was that everybody was wearing a big winter coat and scarf. NEVER in FL!
Max: “It’s not cold there? What’s the temperature there now?”
Me: “Like at least the mid 60’s?”
Max: *OMG!*
The Magic Kingdom Paris is almost exactly like Magic Kingldom FL. The front of the park IS the same. It’s all in English, too. There are the same stores on the same Main Street that leads to Cinderella’s castle, Frontierland, Adventureland, etc… There’s even the same Ice Cream shop on the corner. BUT! At the same time, it’s all different. The castle is smaller and (maybe it’s just me but…) less magical. There are still the same rides and attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, and the Haunted Mansion but they all are just a bit different than ours. Everything is mainly in French with English secondarily. However, there are people coming from all over Europe so there isn’t one language everyone will understand. Therefore, the small stories before and during the ride are omitted because half the guests wouldn’t understand. Other things are different, too. For example, at the Haunted Mansion, in FL, the main ghost is an old man. Here’s it’s a jilted, dead bride. Also in Paris, the ride is focused more on begin actually scary and less humorous. All-in-all, the day was quite fun.
Afterwards, I went to dinner with my French family. Caroline’s cousins were in town from Bezier, a town in the South of France. Thus, I discovered the French Southern accent. Quite different indeed! It made me think about all of the different Anglophonic accents. I run into a lot of issues with the differences between British and American accents. One day I asked Caroline “what is the word for ‘mop’ in French?” She said “carte (map)” A few seconds to translate--- think of how the British would say “map”. Haha! And already the English teachers at school say that my kids have American accents. Love. That.
Yesterday was Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday! What do the French do for Mardi Gras? Eat crêpes! Don’t they eat crêpes all the time, Christy? No. In fact, two nights ago we ate pork kidneys. See, Alain does the grocery shopping and apparently he was feeling a little adventurous when he went last weekend. He brought home de rognon porc (pork kidneys), blanquette de veau (blanquette ? of veal), and boeuf (beef) for boeuf bourginon. However, it is not he who will cook these things, but I. In fact, I take this as a compliment that he has confidence that I can cook these things and make a good meal. Usually, if it’s something new, we look at the recipe together to ensure that I know what I’m doing. Then I’m on my own unless he’s home (these days –rarely). For kidney’s, you have to cut out the nerves and tubes in the middle and an outer skin, too. In case you ever try this, I’m telling you now, it’s NOT easy. And the kidney’s smell like pee… mmm… now I have an appetite. Yet, after all that it was a delicious success.
So I leave you here. Till next week!
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