Je Suis Perdue...Not a Surprise, Really

This morning, I had class at the Musée Marmottan, just down the street from campus. It was overly crowded with fancy little Passy grandmas, but the Impressionist paintings were definitely worth the stepped on toes. Huge Monet waterlily paintings filled up the walls of the lower rooms.  The colors were vivid royal blues and greens, and it seemed like you could just dip your fingers into the immense ponds. There were a few thick charcoal Degas sketches and some pastel nudes upstairs. On the top floor, Berthe Morisot's lovely watercolors and quick, colorful sketches filled frames around the rooms. 

After the museum visit, I came across this carousel of plastic horses. It looked like an old carnival attraction, but the kids seemed to still enjoy it.  They all were strapped onto the backs of the horses, and then held out pointed wooden spears. At first, I thought they were supposed to be crop whips or swords (how is this safe?!), but after watching the parents pull the horses around to get it to spin, I realized the kids were collecting small metal rings with the sticks.  

Spring is on its way

After my class and a quiche saumon epinards (salmon and spinch) for lunch, I took the métro to Bastille for a walk. The assignment said to be a flâneur:

"flâneur" (n.)- a man who saunters around observing society (oxforddictionaries.com)

 I sauntered around and observed as best as I could.

My directional disability did not let me down today. I started at Bastille, got lost and wandered down some empty streets, found the métro stop Voltaire (pulling a Martin here, cause it was an inconvenient métro stop that would take me too far north), transferred to different lines, got to the Marais (my initial intention), and then somehow walked back and ended up at Bastille. 

Observations:
-Closed shops. Everyone is on vacation all the time, though this week might actually be an official vacation of some sort. I wouldn't know; we don't get off American or French holidays here.
-A roller skater gliding like an ice skater down the sidewalk.
-Many cafés: friends drinking beers, couples sipping wine, old people smoking cigarettes and clinking tiny espresso cups. I feel like the people sitting outside at cafés are constantly judging (perhaps being better flâneurs, despite not "sauntering about"), as the cafés are set up with all the chairs facing the street for people-watching/gawking rather than arranged for conversations.
-Upscale shops with window displays being changed.
-The smell of wood shavings at a construction site.
-Unleashed little dogs peeing on small plastic bags of garbage.
-Rumbling garbage trucks picking up bright green bins.
-The rapid exchange of French between large groups of families and friends, swinging shopping bags in clusters on the sidewalk.
-British accents.
-Motorcycles.
-People dressed in all black, with maybe a pop of color from a scarf.
-Bursting grocery bags with baguettes poking out as people rush home for dinner.
-Le fleuriste. La fromagerie. La boucherie. La boulangerie.
-Red Tabac signs
-Small chickens spinning around in an outdoor roasting machine.
-The bright setting sun splashing through the bars of gates and between gaps and doorways.
-Friendly colorful wooden doors.
-Constant movement, but not in a rushed or anxious way.
-Sneaking bites of pastries.
-Handfuls of plucked baby flowers, the first bits of spring.

Disneyland Paris...Don't Judge Me, I'm Cultured

Disneyland Paris vs. Disney World (Orlando) 

[See, it's a cultural comparison based on globalization and sets of values. It was totally education, and the fact that I live in the same state where Disney World is located should be disregarded.]

Disneyland Paris: Like everything else in Europe, it was tiny. There are only 2 parks: Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Students get a pretty nice park-hopper discount, though. Plus, there were no long lines to get on a ferry or a tram to enter the park. You take the RER (train--free on weekends with Navigo pass), and waltz right up to the counter to buy tickets and then into the parks.

Disney World: Much bigger park, in all aspects--attractions, lines, rides, parades, characters, castle, space. Even though the packed ferry ride is somewhat obnoxious, especially in the burning heat, the Disney magic seeps its way in along the ride. It feels official. It felt a little too casual just walking straight in.

I've never been to Disneyland (California), but one of the girls I was with told me it was essentially an exact replica, just a little smaller.

Disneyland: I thought this was the Beast's/Belle's castle, cause you know...France. It was not. Unfortunately, it was just Sleeping Beauty's. The other Sleeping Beauty castles are in CA and Hong Kong. Admittedly, the fake-ness of the castle is exacerbated by the fact that there are actual castles here. The trees are cut into squares, just like in the Tuileries, though! There is also a modest amount of gold on spires (turrets?).

Disney World: Cinderella's castle is much more impressive. The architects used foreshortening techniques to also make it seem taller--the top half of the castle is shrunken down. The castle also lights up at night, which did not happen here. Perhaps they lit it for the parade, which we unfortunately missed since it did not start until 22 o'clock and it was getting cold again.

Back of the castle

INSIDE the castle! 

Disneyland Paris: You are allowed to walk up the spiral staircase inside the castle. They have stained-glass windows and tapestries. These people know how to interior-decorate a castle. 

They brought in ducks to make the weather seem warmer? At least we had the sun! 

Disneyland Paris seemed older than Disney World. They had cute little cars and this horse-drawn trolley and a train that blew steam. I don't know if I'm remembering correctly, but I think Disney World just has golf carts? Maybe it can get away with them just because it's Florida. 

Disneyland Paris: The rides were based on classic, older characters. Most of the rides used to be at Disney World, but have been replaced by now. There was a lot of Franglish going on. Half the rides had English names, and the other half were in French. The rides themselves lacked narration most of the time (like in Haunted Mansion, there was no ghost speaking in your ear). Instead, the various characters jabbered in an overwhelming cacophony of French dialog at the same time as you were jerked from scene to scene.

Disney World: They should donate the old mannequins and animatronic robots to Disneyland Paris.

"When one requests upon a good star, the dreams are always realized" (I'm super good at translation, clearly.)

Disneyland Paris: More hats!! Goofy is portrayed as an artist in all the products here. They had winter hats for sale: fuzzy Mickey and Minnie ears, as well as Marie (Aristocats) ears, which cover your entire head and tie at the chin.

Disney World: You never need winter gear.

Disneyland Paris: The architecture was much nicer than Disney World. It was more elaborate, and there were more real plants.

Disney World: All the buildings and furniture seem like you're living in a cartoon.

This is a pirate cave

Alice in Wonderland maze

Queen of Hearts mini castle

The "Wild West" is a big thing here. There is a lack of colonial-themed costumes and shops along Main  Street, but the major presence of the Wild West made up for it. Basically, the French (there were surprisingly a lot/mostly French people in the park) think Americans are cowboys.

Disneyland Paris: This is a real mansion, right? There is a pretty realistic mini graveyard next door, and the tombstones start in English and quickly change to French. The ones in English are for fake, dead cowboys. The ride was not as closely updated to match the Haunted Mansion movie that came out years ago. They did have the talking head inside the crystal ball; she was bilingual! Instead of the movie theme, there were various creepy bride skeletons all over. Most of the rides here were darker, as in it was completely impossible to see at times (Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan). There was also a lack of constant animatronics. You know how Disney World has every skeleton twitching or people popping out of the graves? There were much stiller here. 

Disney World: I don't think the Haunted Mansion has an exterior. It must, but I don't remember what it looks like from the outside. I'm quite certain it looks nothing like this, though. The ride itself is creepier in Disney World, with the ghosts that follow you out and the eerie cast members who stare you down. Also, the portraits in the "stretching room" much funnier and the "stretch" is more subtle. In Disneyland Paris, I finally figured out that the room is an elevator. There was a lack of humor when the paintings expanded; they were just kind of horrifying.

I finally won this Buzz Lightyear ride where you shoot Zurg symbols! 

Yoda Stitch!! 

Space Mountain

Disneyland Paris: I haven't been on any Space Mountains, anywhere. I'm happy that I didn't try this one, too, because the other girls I was with got whiplash from this roller coaster. They said the one in Disneyland (CA) is like a baby ride, but this one jerks you around and you head flops all over the place and flips a bunch of times.

Disney World: Still not trying this one out ever.

Tomorrowland was renamed Discoveryland here.

Stitch!! Not too many characters were running around. They seemed shorter here.

Disneyland Paris and Disney World: Don't worry, they both have year-round Christmas stores

The Curious Giraffe!

"Say the magic formula!" This was a walk-through Aladdin display that I can't imagine going over well in the U.S. Kids would not have the patience to look at Aladdin sculptures encased in glass, but I guess the kids here have good training after all the museums.

It's a Small World 

Disneyland Paris: Creepily quiet singing in various languages, a few broken dolls, some cheap stand-ins (giant plastic giraffes to take up space), a few overdone stereotypes, and randomly colored yarn-hair...guess they ran out of normal hair colors by the end?

Disney World: Sensory overload! Non-stop animatronics dripping from the ceiling and crawling into your boat.

Yup, America gets the red-headed cowboy.

America's section: Statue of Liberty, tall buildings, Hollywood sign, and (not pictured) a football player

We played a lot of bumper boats. The rides here were quite abrupt. Peter Pan's flight felt like being in a car with a beginner driver. This might also be because it broke down (en panne) earlier in the day.

Tiny teacups that we had to squeeze into

Scary mannequins that do not look like the characters. 

We saw a magic parade. They are called spectacles here! 

Frozen!

Tangled!

Alice in Wonderland!

Toy Story!

Pooh!

Peter Pan and Mary Poppins! 

Ceiling of the big toy store

Since we had the pass, we hopped 2 feet away to Hollywood Studios

It was composed of a couple of movie theaters, a mall, a small animation center, the Tower of Terror, and a cardboard Hollywood sign cut-out

Oh, there you are Walt and Mickey

This was the one street

The drawing tables were so cute! Unfortunately, the park seemed to have closed down early so I couldn't learn how to draw Mickey.

This was different. It was a Toy Story army men parachute drop.

Some other random comparisons:

-Disneyland here is more for kids. I know the Orlando park and apparently the CA park are full of teenagers and couples. This one, not so much. 

-Smoking is allowed

-Crêpes with Nutella are sold at carts stationed around every corner, along with popcorn and cotton candy

-There are no massive turkey legs. Sorry, Joe.

-Tex-Mex= fried food (onion rings, chicken wings, fries, etc.)

-Personal space is an American concept

-Most of the little kids dress up in the official princess dresses, fur-lined capes, and tiaras

-Downtown Disney also exists in the little Disney suburb! It's one street, but it has all the essentials that FL Downtown Disney has: colorful neon lights, the Peter Pan hot air balloon, Rainforest Café, the Earl of Sandwich, and a Starbucks. 

The winner: Huge-massive-on-steroids-full-of-kids-on-leashes-and-dripping-ice-cream Orlando Disney World wins. It was an interesting cultural experience. I will now go back to goofing around in the real castles.