January: An Incredibly Hectic Start To The Year... (Pt. 1: A Week In Paris)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! IT'S MY VERY FIRST BLOG OF THE YEAR!!!

I hope January's been good for you thus far!

For me, 2023 started exactly as 2022 finished off: In absolute carnage.

This time last year (New Year's Eve, 2021), I was in a very bad place, mentally - having only just moved into my our house, having assignments firing at me left, right and centre and having a long list of articles I needed/wanted to write before the strike of midnight.

Come 2022, I was in a MUCH better place.

I've fully settled in, as I wasn't at Uni, I had time to finish up everything for the year and I was able to see in the new year, and celebrate a joyful time with my family.

I may have stayed up to watch the fireworks, Sam Ryder and George Ezra (on TV) - but right from the off, 2023 was looking incredibly busy.

1st January, 2023

After a good night's sleep, I awoke ready and refreshed - Not 20 hours into the year, I was headed off, back to the mainland.

From the 3rd - 7th, I was headed off to Paris with two mates - on the 2nd, I was asked for a little bit of help in Essex, so I decided to leave on the 1st so I could see another friend - and it allowed me to spend the night in Essex.

This was nothing new, my friend (Jack) and a friend of ours used to go to Paris on a yearly basis - and I thought, since I had a little bit of money and no Uni/College to attend, to tag along - also inviting a friend who mentioned a word or two about wanting to go to Paris.

~

Other than seeing a Nissan GTR and Mercedes G-Wagon (I have no idea HOW I remember that!), it the 1st was a pretty ordinary day - seeing my friend, having a Maccies and then headed to Essex after.

2nd January, 2023

The 2nd started off relatively normal - moving some stuff from one side of town to the other.

That evening (from the 2nd - 3rd) I was booked in for a hotel. Originally, myself and the two friends I was going to Paris with were all meant to be spending the night in the hotel (to be close to the airport) - but in a strange turn of circumstances, I was the only one who actually ended up going to the hotel that night.

The drive to the hotel itself wasn't overly bad - traffic was...normal for the M25...but upon arrival, I didn't quite know where to go.

Even MORE irritatingly, due to being right next to an airport, I can't show the entrance - due to the Google Maps vehicle not driving down this road (national security etc.)

In short, I found the exit first, and a good 10 - 20 minutes later, found the entrance - concealed, and only mentioning a "Hilton" (not the Premier Inn I needed)

The car-park was down-stairs - and for a solid minute, I stood in front of this window and knocked.

Eventually, I realised it was a window, and found the door around the corner (out of shot), went upstairs, signed into reception and headed to my room.

3rd January, 2022

The following day - I had a rough plan of how the day was going to go - all I knew was I was going to be kicked out of the hotel at midday.

Our flight was at 8:30pm that evening, meaning we'd have to be at the airport at 6:30pm - the coach to Heathrow left every hour, on the half-hour, so I'd have to leave time to pick Evie up and to get to the station (where the coach left).

As predicted, the unplanned happened - and I was asked a favour in Essex. Having a small pocket of time, I drove up there - helped out and then arrived at Evie's house, and further went to Woking and had Maccies with Evie.

For simplicities sake, we got an Uber from Jack's house to the station, where our coach would take us to the airport.

Once in the coach, we were just passengers - and getting ever-closer to the Plane, France and Paris.

Surprisingly, once at the airport - we were very chilled and relaxed - we had ample of time and were in good spirits.

Our spirits were only further improved when our friend revealed a few surprises to us.

Being our first holiday as a group, he treated us to a VIP treatment of "Quick-Pass" through baggage...disposal, security and a secluded lounge.

Now, I must say, whilst it was still pricey, being a frequent flyer, my friend had quite a few discounts for different things, bringing the usual cost down a fair bit.

From the hours we would have spent queuing, the "special treatment" got us from "baggage disposal" to gate in less than an hour - leaving us with a fair bit of time to relax above the gate/s, in the business lounge.

The surprises only kept on coming as we boarded the plane - both being in priority boarding (first to board the plane!) and got to sit in business class - with fancy seat and fancy meal.

How The Other Half Live - Beef Salad, Bread & Tiramisu!

Interestingly, it was my first time trying Tiramisu - In the plane, it tasted alright - but, later, on the ground, it tasted like coffee (whipped) cream.

All good things must come to an end, and eventually the flight landed and we arrived in Paris.

On arrival, we picked up our suitcases from baggage reclaim and headed to the first of two hotels.

Day 1 (4th January)

The 4th January was the first of 4 days in Paris (the 5th day - 7th Jan - being the day we returned to the UK)

On Day 1, we moved all our stuff (except my portable charger!!!!) to the second of two hotels we were staying at, before heading off to central Paris.

After arriving, the initial plan was to see the Eiffel Tower, get on a tour-bus around the city and then go under the Eiffel Tower/up it - but the day had other plans.

About half-way around the tour, we were all feeling a bit hungry, so we went in hunt for a McDonalds - by the time we found it and finished our meal, the final bus of the day had just left.

We were all pretty tired by this point - and I only had two things on my itinery: The Notre Dame and the Arc De Triomphe...and we somehow bottled both up!

It was an easy enough mistake to make - but we mistook the La Grande Arche for the Arc De Triomphe - only one stop apart - but both were giant arch-ways - so I suppose I wasn't missing all too much - it's just something to say you've seen.

Admittedly, the only reason I had an interest in the Notre Dame was because it caught fire - and I wanted to see how the re-build work was going, or if there was any mention of the fire - or visible damage - and a fire-struck building is incredibly interesting - but by that point, we were all pretty much zombies, so we headed back to the hotel - maybe another time.

The first day entailed A LOT of walking.

Day 2 (5th January)

Day 2 was the first of two days in Disneyland Paris, before returning home on Day 4.

Before I begin, I'd like to clearly state that not every disability is visible and whilst I do feel an element of guilt for skipping lines that were multiple-hours long, I was in a group of three - and it would have been incredibly "shitty" if only those in my group with disabilities got through "fast-track" and I stood in a 2 hour line - mostly for them, as they'd have to wait for me to go through the 1hr+ line.

I could have stood and waited in a 1+ hour line - but we had the passes, so it was best to make use of them.

Due to these passes, we absolutely shot through the park, ticking off the majority of the rides that we were interested in.

Interesting stats about this trip:

- It was my first time since 2018 I was alone (without parents) in mainland Europe (second time in my life)

- It was my first time with my friends "abroad" (not counting Scotland & Wales).

I have no idea how, but at most three times a day, Disneyland manages to put on a parade which goes through the centre of the park, loaded with classic and Modern Disney Characters.

After the first show, we went on our first ride which was called "Obitron" which was pretty much a "glorified carrousel" (you controlled the height) before going into pretty much every gift-shop at the park.

This was when I first I set my eyes upon a giant Stitch toy - although I promised I would only get it on the last day, so I wouldn't have to lug it around with me - the shorter I had to lug it around, the better - and less chance of me losing it!

Following this, we'd go on the "Disneyland Railroad" which was a train which went around the perimeter/over the top of the park - and gave us a good overview of the park and attractions.

Following this, it was another show, before we all had lunch at a very nice place called the "Pizzeria Bella Notte"

Despite a small menu, I went for Spag-bol - a simple, safe choice.

Whilst eating, I noticed another parade start/happen.

Through the transulecent window, I could just about make out the out-line of a Stitch-Like figure on one of the floats - I quietly screamed in excitement and dashed outside to get a picture of him. Bingo.

This One's For The Experiments...

I don't know what it is - I just have a thing about cute characters - Yoshi (Mario), Stitch and Toothless (How To Train Your Dragon).

All I'm going to say is that I returned home from Paris with more Stitch merchandise than I left with!

The final ride of the night was a flying Dumbo ride, before we all gathered at Sleeping Beauty's castle to watch a water, drone and fireworks show...and then made the fateful mistake of trying to leave as the park closed.

For the entire duration we were there (and on our leaving day) the park was sold out - so over 30,000 people trying to get on the Paris "Tube" - wasn't a pleasant experience, but eventually we arrived back safe and sound.

One thing I massively commend Disneyland for is having portable chargers - despite some "vending machines" not working, the ones that did work were an absolute life-saver.

That night, we discussed the plan for tomorrow - tick off the remainder of the rides we wanted to - and then have a wonder around the studio-section.

We finished the day with McDonalds - because it was all we knew

Day 3 (6th January)

Day 3/4 was our last full day in the park - and our first port of call was to do a meet and greet with Santa Stitch himself.

It was absolutely amazing - and it's a little sad to think that people spent three hours in line to see him - and that would be a big chunk of their day gone - especially if they had to wait for other rides too.

The only difficulty was, Stitch was a little quiet, but I suppose it saves someone discussing Stitch's life story - and allows him to get through as many as possible...or maybe he was just French!

After this, we'd go on a little boat ride called "Storybook Land Boat Ride" - before seeing a musical/theatre production featuring Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck and Goofy which was a nice treat.

In the lobby, I saw Santa Stitch running to/from something, as fast as his little legs would take him!

After this, we went on another lovely, leisurely boat-ride.

This time it was around a lake aboard a boat called the "Molly Brown" (Ride was called "Thunder Mesa Riverboat") which was a paddle steamer* (didn't paddle...or steam), which made me think of how nice it would be to be passenger onboard the Titanic - or a paddle-steamer "back in the day".

After another visit to the gift-shop, we went on our last two rides.

The first was: "CARS: The Road-Trip" - for which they built an ACTUAL ROAD in Disneyland Paris just for a ride - during which, it had an incredible surprise halfway through - which quite honestly, I think was my favourite ride of them all.

This was closely followed by the ride we rode next which was a ratatouille ride - in mixed reality - you put 3D glasses on - and everything happens around you - and I was completely lost in what was real and what was just 3D/Virtual effects - it was incredible!

Mum! I bought a moped!

After this, me and Evie would return to the hotel, whilst my other friend would stay on to watch the fireworks/drone show (and pick up my newly adopted son, Stitch, I bought earlier in the day).

Eventually, our friend came back/home - and after he did so, I begun the painstaking task of trying to squish him (Stitch, not my friend) in my suitcase along with my clothes.

To keep costs down - we returned to the UK on a budget airline called Vueling - which only allowed one piece of hand-luggage - so if it didn't fit in my back-pack, it was sent to the suitcase.

During the second day, I also rode on:

- Tea-Cups

- An Aladdin carousel-type ride

- A Pinocchio Ride - this being rather uncomfortable and jolty.

- Peter Pan - An amazing "flight-based" ride, which utilised modern technology and amazed me at how well it was done.

Day 4 (7th January)

I was simply staggered at how much we were able to get through in the two days - and sure, it would have been nicer to go for more and see & do more - but for the time we had, we absolutely made use of every second.

Somehow, I managed to fit Stitch and my clothes in the suit-case - and despite being chucked out of our room at 12.00 (after breakfast), we were allowed to keep our suitcases in the lobby/spare room until our coach arrived.

On the 7th, we were treated to an American Diner lunch - I had chicken wings (on the bone) for a starter, a MASSIVE jumbo-sized hot dog for main-course and a mouth-watering chocolate fudge cake for desert - it's pretty safe to say, I was absolutely stuffed after this.

After looking in a few more shops, our coach was eventually due, and fittingly did a little tour of the different Disney-Themed Hotels one could stay in before heading to the local airport (Orly).

To save costs, our return flight was from Orly to Gatwick (we came in through Heathrow).

Other than two (small) bottles of juice in my bag needing to be disposed of, getting through Orly was pretty easy.

Due to a slight mix-up, we were split up on the plane - Evie and I were together and Jack (other friend) was much further back in the plane.

To my surprise, we had an emergency exit seat - so I familiarised myself going through the steps of how to open the door. It may seem trivial - but if this was the aircraft that went down - and the man in the window seat was knocked out/unresponsive, I'm the next closest to that door, and what people need in a plane crash is to be calm, responsive and reassured - and by calmly opening the door (not yanking/kicking it) I could potentially save lives.

Anyway, MASSIVE tangent - point being - it's better to know what to do and it doesn't happen then to not know what to do and it does happen.

The flight went well - although the seat-belt sign remained on for the whole flight.

Despite getting separated at Gatwick (I was not juggling my belongings well and had to shuffle some things around and didn't tell them I was sorting my stuff out), we eventually re-grouped at baggage re-claim.

Due to a weird arrangement, we then got a coach from Gatwick to Heathrow. Heathrow being where the coaches left for Woking.

Once at Heathrow, we began to say our goodbyes.

Jack had a flight the next day (being his birthday) so got us onto the Woking-bound coach, and then he himself returned to an airport hotel for the night.

Hotels are weird enough already - in each room is a person with a story of why they're there and where they plan to go to next - airport hotels are another level - has someone recently landed? Are they headed off the next day? where are they coming from and going? It's fascinating.

Anyway - we get the coach to Woking. In my mind, I think I've timed booking a taxi back to my car to perfection - but it would be the worst decision I could have made.

It's very much a case of "wouldda, couldda, shouldda" - but just as the coach pulled into the station, a white Mitsubishi Outlander pulled up next to my coach - and my mind sort of went into over-drive - grab the suitcase, check Evie's okay juggling her stuff, check the number-plate - yep that's my taxi, load the stuff in, jump in.

Upon driving to my car (well, I wasn't driving) - I realised I had fucked up big time. I left Evie at the train station - I hadn't even said goodbye after an incredibly memorable trip to Paris.

Maybe it was fatigue a misunderstanding or - maybe it was just who I am as a person.

She said a relative was picking her up from the station. But I should have waited until they arrived. Waited until she was sorted before booking my own taxi. But I didn't. Something happened that night. And I will not ever forgive myself for not saying goodbye - or checking she was okay, or at least staying with her.

It's not my place to go into detail, but I left a venerable woman at the worst place at the worst time. And it's absolutely eaten me up.

Help in Essex was required the following day/s and I had another two hour drive ahead of me, but even still that is no excuse for what I did that night.

I returned back to Essex that night.