Sometimes I think you of you and memories fall down my cheeks….

We woke up bright and early again.  It seems to be the thing here for us. Today is tinged with sadness but also much excitement for me.   Forty years ago, I became a mum for the first time.  I gave birth to my beautiful red headed, blue eyed Aimee Louise, who quickly became a mini me.  She was talking way too early and was always busy.  She was funny, smart, cheeky but also so kind and loving. 

Like me, she loved fantasy, especially Disney movies and shows.  She also loved to paint and draw.  She decided early on that she wanted to be an animator with the Disney corporation. But at 10 her life was cut drastically short when she was killed in a road trauma on an access visit.  I never got to say goodbye.  I never got that one last hug or kiss.  I never saw those beautiful blue eyes again. She was the most colourful kid on earth and suddenly without her my world turned to grey. 

Time went on and my sons and I started to get our lives back together again, but not a day goes by when she isn’t part of our lives in some small way.  Or big way for that matter.  When she should have turned 30, I really wanted to  do something special for her  like go to Disneyland in Anaheim which was her dream, but money was tight and I just couldn’t do it.

Then last year I was offered this incredible opportunity to go to France for an artist residency, and as the dates turned out, if I stayed just a few days longer, I could do Euro Disney in Paris instead.  Okay, it’s not   quite the same, but I felt like I was finally living out (or close to) her dream of going to Disneyland.

So getting up today to go to Disneyland Paris was certainly with mixed feelings.  Grief that never goes away but also pride that I could finally do this for her.  Guilt because I was doing what she couldn’t and excitement because where do you think she got her Disney obsession with?

So up, dressed and off to the train station again.  We would again conquer the trains, feeling so much more confident that we had before.  When we got there, one machine was out of order and there was only one working with a huge line up of people.  We waited our turn and when we got there, we even managed to find the flag that said English language.. We were set..

We couldn’t find the ticket we had yesterday.  The day trip for 12 euro, but we found a pass that said 6 passes for 12 euro.  That must be it.  Ticket all done, we went to walk through the gate and it  woudn’t let us, so we figured it was the gate and went downstairs to another one.  That wouldn’t work either.  A lovely lady said, come through with me and another did the same so we both walked through with them. 

We figured it must happen a lot.  Anyway, back on the train and off again at Gare de Lyon.  Then find the line to go to Chessy which is where you’ll find the happiest place on earth.  We were on our way.  It was a pretty easy trip really, though the train was full but we got a seat which was great.  When we got off we could see it.  Our tickets still didn’t work but the guy at the gate just let us through. We figured there was a glitch in the system somewhere. But here I was, finally at Disneyland.  It didn’t matter which one, I was there. 

As we lined up to go through the gates, I started to get really upset but I was at the happiest place on earth.  I couldn’t afford to cry.  It doesn’t seem right.  But I’m sure people would understand if they knew my reasons.  We got through the gate and when I looked down the avenue, I could see that iconic pink castle.  It really was all real.

We got in, got onto wifi so we could access all the maps etc and off we went.  We were going to take the train first to get the lay of the land, but that didn’t start to go until midday, so we walked down to the most important destination.  The cups and saucers.  I always promised Aimee we’d ride them together one day but that wasn’t to be, but at least I got to ride them for her.  Again I felt quite teary but excited all the same.

From there we wandered back to Main Street USA and sat down for a cold drink.  It was already stinking hot and it wasn’t even midday yet.  Everything was catching up and the whole place is made with cobblestoned roads and footpaths, so my ankle and knee were giving me grief as were Cecile’s. But onwards we went. 

We saw Minnie doing a dance down the street with a full band and watched the excitement on the kid’s faces when they saw here.  And boy she could dance.  She didn’t miss a beat but boy it must have been hot in that costume.  We also saw Goofy and a child crying because (I think) she didn’t get to meet him.  Kids were everywhere as expected and while most were having a ball, there were so many little ones feeling overwhelmed and crying.  It is sensory overload for adults so I can only imagine how kids must feel.

We wandered through the place and ended up getting on the train.  It’s a long wait.  The sign at the front says 60 minutes but it said it all day, regardless of the length of the line.  We probably waited about 30 minutes in line but then we were on.  It’s designed to look like an old Wild West train with bench seats and it made all the noises of a steam train though I’m pretty sure it was all electric. 

It was pretty neat.  You  went through a series of caves which had all sorts of dioramas in them but not expecting it and going through a bit too fast, though not ridiculously so, I didn’t see much of them which is a shame.  Of course they were playing the Malborough theme as the train ‘sped’ through the wild west of Frontierland.  The sound of gunshots rang out and all in all it was pretty good.  It then took us through a few other lands, including my favourite, Fantasy land.

Before you knew it we were back where we started.  This Disney park is nowhere near as big as the others but it was still a long way to walk and the wait times were still too long mostly. We got off the train and went to a café for lunch, where the only sandwiches we could get were in the shape of Mickey Mouse’s head.  I took a bite out tt of Mickey’s chin before I thought to take a picture of it, so sorry the cannibalistic photo.

The sandwich was nice enough but was full of sun dried tomatoes which were quite oily, so I ended up with oil all over me.  We then went shopping for a few presents for those at home. I can’t tell you what they are as they are to be a surprise but I did buy myself an Alice in Wonderland in a cup Pandora charm for my bracelet.  I wanted to commemorate Aimee as well as my exhibition last year.  I try to buy a charm for each exhibition I do. 

We took way too long shopping but to be honest, we were both sore, hot and tired, so we called it quits on the theme park and headed to the studio tour.  Stupid me, I thought it would be a studio tour but it’s more a teenagers paradise where there is a haunted Hollywood hotel you have to escape from and stuff like that.   By the time we had walked around there for a bit, we both crashed and the train seat was sounding good, so we headed back to Chessy railway station.

When we got there, of course our tickets wouldn’t work again, so we went to the kiosk where they told us we’d bought bus tickets not train.. Damn.  Anyway, we got new tickets to get to Paris and jumped on the next train to alight at Gare de Lyon and from there onto Alfortville. 

When we got off, we went to the other side of the station to where we usually get off and saw a bar that served dinner, so we went there for our last meal in France.   We both had steak with salad and fries and bernaise sauce.  (nowhere near as good as the previous two I had).   A cold drink accompanied that and then we left and ordered a cab to get back.  Yes we could have walked but our legs were killing us by then.

On our way home, we remembered that we had taken the prawn shells from the other day out of the freezer, ready to throw out on our way out, but had left them on the bench on a hot day. We weren’t looking forward to that. So I said, one of us should stay down the bottom and the other throw them down from the balcony. I ran (okay I walked) up the stairs to the unit and luckily the smell wasn’t too bad. I grabbed them and looked out the balcony and said, Romeo Romeo where for art though Romeo. Cecile muttered under her breath and put her hands out to catch them. Perfect drop.. Perfect catch but the juice splashed all over her hands. She wasn’t happy with me. There was a guy talking on the phone nearby who had no idea what we were doing lol.

Back at the unit, we packed our bags, ready for tomorrow’s trip home.  No idea of the weight of the bags, we thought we should be okay as we’d gotten rid of all our toiletries  but we were also now carrying souvenirs, so we honestly didn’t know.  I guess we’ll find out when they weigh them. 

After that it was bed.  We were both exhausted but I couldn’t get to sleep.  I finally dozed off after 1am ready to be back up again at 6.  Oh well. That’s life.  And of course, that was it.  Our trip is done.. Finished.  Finito.  It’s time to go back to the real world.  I am looking forward to heading home now.  I miss my kids and my other friends and it’s time to get editing the plethora of images I’ve taken along the way.  So until tomorrow when I’m home again.. Au Revoir…

Happy making time spent with loved ones your happiest place on earth… Livvy xxx