The start of the adventure...
The start of the adventure...
Time to leave the airport hotel and go and meet the rest of the group
We met our coach at Terminal 2G, one of the remotest parts of Charles de Gaulle airport which required a 15 minute shuttle bus ride from the main Terminal 2 buildings
The coach drove us into the centre of Paris for the first park of the trip, Jardin d'Acclimatation
Jardin d'Acclimatation originally opened in the Bois de Boulogne (a large public park in Paris' 16th arrondissement) as a zoo back in in 1860
Some of us (Mess) were a little too excited and thought this was a ride!
Our first rollercoaster of the trip was Speed Rockets, a fun Gerstlauer Bobsled Coaster
There was plenty of variety to the layout and it was nice and smooth
We quickly followed up with a ride on Les Souris Mécaniques
It was quite whippy for a little spinning mouse, in a way best described by the phrase "delightfully violent"
Our third and final rollercoaster of the day was the park's brand new and wonderfully themed wacky worm, Fils du Dragon
A marching band from Norway were celebrating their 100th anniversary with a performance in the park
The bouncy Astrolabe was a lot of fun
We thought it would be nice to take a trip on the little train. We were a bit confused when the guy at the entrance asked us if we wanted to go to the station ... it turns out it is actually a train which goes out of Jardin d'Acclimatation and travels to the local railway station!
Understandably we decided to stay inside the park(!) and took a ride on the scenic boat ride instead
A late sandwich lunch
Last ride of the day was an interactive shooting cinema style attraction
Our first hotel was the Campanile Villepinte
The very basic motel style didn't scream luxury
Security shutters over the windows made us think that perhaps this wasn't the best area in town either
Inside, the room was basic but clean
Eager to share some good moments as advised, we decided to head out for dinner. However, others in the group had already found most of the local restaurants had closed early for the night, worried about the riots springing up all over Paris and elsewhere in France.
We ended up in the restaurant attached to the hotel, which served some suprisingly good food
Ending the night with drinks in the hotel bar