dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
Day 1
Well, I can confirm that there is actually such a time as 3:30 in the morning. This is the time when my alarm went off that morning. I got up and ready, put the last odds and ends in my luggage and checked again that I had my passport. Then I headed out. I was kind of surprised when I got downstairs shortly before 4:00 and the car was not there yet. The service I use is normally over punctual. However, just after I got there, my phone rang and the dispatcher checked where precisely I was as the driver was somewhere on our street. I gave directions and pretty much as soon as the call was finished, the car pulled up. It was the same driver that usually takes me. We had a smooth run to the airport and even with a couple of detours due to road works; we made it in less than 20 minutes.
When I got to check in, I decided to try the self-service kiosks, but it just printed a coupon stating that I was flying standby and to proceed to the check in desk. There were not many people in line, but the line moved hardly at all. Still, I had plenty of time. At some stage the check in supervisor came over and asked if somebody only flew as far as Paris. Everybody else seemed to be just transiting in Paris. I told her that I was flying only as far as Paris, but was flying standby. She took me over to her computer and printed my boarding pass. It is always a considerable relief when flying standby once you have a seat number. I thanked her and headed through security.
Terminal 3 at Manchester is my least favourite terminal to fly out of. The main reason for this is that security is a complete nightmare. This time round it was great. I was directed to the furthest security checkpoint, but there was no line at all. Things took a little longer as I was flying with just hand luggage and I had my laptop and my cosmetics, but everything went smoothly. I was in the departure lounge by 4:39. That is what I call a result.
I still had plenty of time so decided that some breakfast was called for. I went to Costa Coffee and had a white chocolate and hazelnut finger and a salted caramel cappuccino. I think they forgot to put the syrup in as this just tasted like an ordinary cappuccino, but it still went down really well.
When I had finished my breakfast, I still had 15 minutes until the gate was due to open. I had a look around what few shops there are in terminal 3 and even though it felt I was looking at perfumes forever, by the time I was done, I still had 5 minutes before the gate opened. When the gate number was posted, this was right at the end of the terminal. Fortunately terminal 3 is not big. When I got to the gate, I just had time to snap a quick photo and update my status on Facebook before my row number was called for boarding. This was the quickest and most efficient boarding process I have ever seen. Maybe it was a little bit too efficient as we got backed up going down the stairs to the aircraft and then again getting on the aircraft itself. Still, the whole process was pretty smooth.
I was pretty impressed with the aircraft. Flybe is a low cost carrier, but is a notch above the competition. I have flown with them before, but on their smaller planes. This flight was operated by an Embraer 195 and I could not believe how spacious this plane is both in terms of seat width and legroom. The flight was also nowhere near full.
One of the advantages of terminal 3 is that it is very close to the runway. Eight minutes after our scheduled departure time we were airborne. There was a bit of a nasty crosswind as we were taking off, but once we were above the clouds, it was fine. We were treated to a spectacular sunrise, but unfortunately I had an aisle seat and was not able to take a photo. Apart from a bit of light turbulence shortly after take off and just before we landed in Paris, it was a smooth flight. I kept myself entertained by working on my trip report for September.
We made good time and arrived in Paris within an hour of departing. There we had the opposite extreme from Manchester. The terminal where we were heading is probably as far away from the runway as you can get and because the plane was so small, we were parked quite a distance from the terminal as well and had to get on a bus. This was very well organised though. While we were taxiing in and during the bus ride, I looked out for a familiar tail. I think I must have seen everything but the one I was looking for.
When we got to immigration things changed. They had one single desk open for European passport holders and this appeared to be the biggest group. They had electronic passport gates, but to use those, you apparently have to register. So I had a long wait. Still, this all worked out perfectly. When I was through immigration, I could head straight for the station, as I did not have any luggage to collect. This is a bit of a hike, but I made it in time to get a ticket for the train I had hoped to get. I had decided to take the TGV directly to Marne-la-Vallee/Chessy, which is the train station for Disneyland Paris rather than taking to the commuter trains and dropping off my luggage at the hotel on the way. This is much quicker. The commuter train takes about an hour and a half and involves a change. The TGV takes 10 minutes. So that was a no brainer. About 5 minutes after I got my ticket, the platform for my train was announced and about 10 minutes after this, I was on my way. It was a nice smooth run directly to Disneyland Paris.
When I arrived there, I took a couple of photos to share on Facebook and then headed to the bag check. At Disneyland Paris, they have x-ray machines similar to the ones that they use for hand luggage at airports. This makes so much more sense that somebody poking around the bags with a stick. It actually is also a lot quicker. Soon I was inside and headed over to the ticket booths. The lines for those were quite long, but moved steadily. I was going to get an annual pass. I needed the top tier pass as the other two would be blocked out on my birthday, but even then it was the cheapest option for spending 5 days in the parks. The pass also comes with all kinds of discounts and does give access to Extra Magic Hours. We are hoping to do the inaugural Run Disney event at Disneyland Paris next September so the pass makes sense from this point of view as well.
They have a strange system at Disneyland Paris for annual passes. You have to go to one of the ticket booths first to pay and they give you a temporary pass. You then have to take this inside the park to the Annual Pass Office, which is near the hub at the entrance to Discoveryland. There they will then issue a proper annual pass. I have no problem with this, but there was one small irritation with that system this time round. I had my weekender bag as well as my handbag with me. One of the perks of the Dream annual pass is that you can leave two items of luggage per day free of charge with left luggage just outside the park. That is what I had planned to do. Ideally I wanted to get rid of the weekender before I headed inside the park. So I decided to head over to left luggage to see if they would accept the temporary annual pass. They did not and told me that I would have to pay that day. I did not think much of this and decided that I would take my weekender into the park with me while I got the annual pass sorted out and then drop it off afterwards.
When I got in the park, I stopped for a minute or two to absorb the atmosphere and then headed to the Annual Pass Office via the Discovery Arcade. I had come prepared that this would take a fair while as this can be quite busy and I remember from the previous time I had an annual pass for Disneyland Paris that this is quite a convoluted process. Well, I was positively surprised on both counts. There was a cast member available to assist me straightaway and they have streamlined the process. You used to have to fill out a form and have a photo taken and then sit down until your application was processed. This time round, she just entered my details on the computer, took the photo, handed me the contract the sign and then handed me my annual pass. The whole process lasted about 10 minutes. With my annual pass in hand I headed down Main Street USA. I wanted to get my Photopass sorted as I thought that this was coming in a box and I wanted to put this in my weekender before I dropped it off at left luggage, but the shop that sells the Photopasses on Main Street was still closed. So I headed outside the park to drop off my luggage.
This time round they were only too happy to take my luggage off me. I was issued with a receipt and then I headed back into the park. I took a few photos around the entrance area and then headed towards Main Street. I noticed that the shop that sells the Photopasses was now open. So I decided to go in to sort this out. Photopass+ is still relatively new at Disneyland Paris. They do not have as many photographers out as they have at the American parks, but they are present at most character meet and greets and it also includes a number of attraction photos. Like Memory Maker, you can view the photos pretty much in real time via an app and it is extremely easy to download und share them. There is however no facility to add borders or stickers. Normally Photopass+ is €49.99 and you can add photos for 10 days. However, with my annual pass, it was only €39.99 and it is valid for the whole year. I am sure I will more than get my money’s worth out of this. The annual pass version comes in an envelope rather than a box so there was no problem with me getting this after I had dropped off my luggage.
[
Once I had my Photopass card, I had a quick look around the shop and then headed up Main Street. As I was wandering towards the hub, there was an announcement that the Christmas parade would start in 5 minutes. There were some empty spots near the hub so I decided to stay and watch this. I have never been a big parade person, but my very first Disney parade was the Christmas parade at Disneyland Paris in 1996. At that stage, it was a proper parade with a very catchy theme song “Chante, C’est Noel”. When we went back for the Christmas season in 2007, they still used the song as part of the parade, but they just showed the normal parade with a couple of Christmas floats added at the end. Now they show the normal year round parade in the afternoon, but they have a Christmas mini parade that they show 3 times during the first part during the day. I rather enjoyed this, but unfortunately this no longer features “Chante, C’est Noel” although this is used for other parts of the Christmas festivities.
When the Christmas parade had passed, I continued to make my way towards the hub. Something caught my eyes. Thumper and Miss Bunny were out just outside the top entrance to the Liberty Arcade. This was too good to pass up. The line moved relatively slowly, but I did not mind. Eventually it was my turn to meet them and that was well worth the wait.
After meeting Thumper and Miss Bunny, I crossed over into Frontierland. This felt kind of strange, almost like a ghost town. Big Thunder Mountain had gone down for an extended maintenance the previous week. The Riverboat, the train station and the Indian Village are also down for refurbishment at the moment. The Chaparral Theatre was closed and was due to reopen on 14th November. As this is low season, most of the restaurants in that area were closed, too. Just the Lucky Nugget Saloon and the Silver Spur Steakhouse were open. Apart from those and a gift shop, there was just a meet and greet area for Merida, who was not out for very long, Jack’s Cemetery, which was the meet and greet area for Jack Skellington and Phantom Manor.
Phantom Manor was a walk on so I decided to do this. I did remember that this is quite different from the Haunted Mansions at the US parks, but this was completely different from how I remembered it. I think they may have changed this around since I last was at Disneyland Paris. I did thoroughly enjoy it.
Once I got off Phantom Manor, I wandered over into Adventureland. I had look around and noticed that my favourite restaurant at Disneyland Paris, Cafe Agrabah was closed. While I was in the area, I had a look around Aladdin’s Enchanted Passage, which consists of a number of dioramas retelling the story of Aladdin. Although that had always been there on my previous visits, this was the first time I decided to check this out. This is quite lovely, but as it is rather dark in there, I did not manage to take any photos.
As I continued to explore Adventureland, I came across Baloo and King Louie, but as they did not have a photographer with them, I decided not to get in line. By then it was well into lunchtime and I decided to get something to eat. The only restaurant that was open in Adventureland that day was Cafe Hakuna Matata. So this had to do. I went with one of the set meals that consisted of lightly spiced chicken strips, seasoned fries, a soft drink and a coconut and pineapple tart. I was not as hungry as I had thought and only had about half of my main course. I wished that I had a Ziploc bag with me. I did not really feel like having my dessert either, but I did not want it to go to waste so I ended up eating it and it was delicious.
After lunch, I then pushed on to Pirates of the Caribbean. This is by far my favourite version of the three that I have done. This already starts with the line that is beautifully themed. They have yet to add the touches from the film to this although I heard this is coming. I much prefer it how it is. Sometimes original is really best. I enjoyed the ride. They also have a ride photo there so once I was done; I had this added to my Photopass card.
I then crossed over into Fantasyland. The lines looked pretty long so I did not do any of the rides there. Its A Small World is currently closed for refurbishment and looks kind of sorry for itself. I did decide to go and see Mickey. They have converted the old Fantasyland Theater into a meet and greet location. This worked out rather well. They used the former stage as a screen on which they showed classic Disney cartoons. They alternately showed them in French and English. I was familiar with most of them and it was quite amusing to watch them in French. Eventually it was my time to meet Mickey and I had a fun interaction.
By the time I was done with Mickey, I started to go downhill rapidly. I had planned to stay in the park for the tree lighting ceremony and Disney Dreams, but I hit a wall. I decided that I would do Buzz Lightyear Laser Blasters and then head for the hotel. This is what I did. I did the right once and did not do particularly well at it. However, this gave me something to improve on for the rest of the trip. I then headed towards the exit. On the way I was treated to a little fountain show in front of the castle that was not on the entertainment guide. This was the first time that trip that I heard “Chante, C’est Noel”. I stayed around until the show was finished and then headed for the exit.
I picked up my weekender and then headed towards the station. Due to some building works, you can only get to the station via Disney Village, but that was not a hardship and at most added a minute or two. Once I got to the station, I got a carnet for the RER as I would be going backwards and forwards between the hotel and the parks every day. Once I got to the platform, I did not have long to wait until the train pulled in and the journey between Marne-la-Vallee/ Chessy and the station opposite the hotel is only about 15 minutes.
When I arrived at the other end, I got very confused. We have stayed at the same hotel during most of our trips to Disneyland Paris and the hotel is diagonally across from the station. This was still the case, but it looked completely different from how I remembered it. Later during the trip we figured out that they built a new entrance to the station, which is around the corner from the old one, and this is why everything looked so different.
Check in was nice and smooth and I was soon in my room. I got myself organised and caught up with things online and then I had a nap. I was woken up by a crying child next door and decided to stay awake to see if I could FaceTime Graham in a little while. We had successfully done this while we were on our respective trips in September, but I did not succeed this time. In the end I gave up and went back to bed.
Well, I can confirm that there is actually such a time as 3:30 in the morning. This is the time when my alarm went off that morning. I got up and ready, put the last odds and ends in my luggage and checked again that I had my passport. Then I headed out. I was kind of surprised when I got downstairs shortly before 4:00 and the car was not there yet. The service I use is normally over punctual. However, just after I got there, my phone rang and the dispatcher checked where precisely I was as the driver was somewhere on our street. I gave directions and pretty much as soon as the call was finished, the car pulled up. It was the same driver that usually takes me. We had a smooth run to the airport and even with a couple of detours due to road works; we made it in less than 20 minutes.
When I got to check in, I decided to try the self-service kiosks, but it just printed a coupon stating that I was flying standby and to proceed to the check in desk. There were not many people in line, but the line moved hardly at all. Still, I had plenty of time. At some stage the check in supervisor came over and asked if somebody only flew as far as Paris. Everybody else seemed to be just transiting in Paris. I told her that I was flying only as far as Paris, but was flying standby. She took me over to her computer and printed my boarding pass. It is always a considerable relief when flying standby once you have a seat number. I thanked her and headed through security.
Terminal 3 at Manchester is my least favourite terminal to fly out of. The main reason for this is that security is a complete nightmare. This time round it was great. I was directed to the furthest security checkpoint, but there was no line at all. Things took a little longer as I was flying with just hand luggage and I had my laptop and my cosmetics, but everything went smoothly. I was in the departure lounge by 4:39. That is what I call a result.
I still had plenty of time so decided that some breakfast was called for. I went to Costa Coffee and had a white chocolate and hazelnut finger and a salted caramel cappuccino. I think they forgot to put the syrup in as this just tasted like an ordinary cappuccino, but it still went down really well.
When I had finished my breakfast, I still had 15 minutes until the gate was due to open. I had a look around what few shops there are in terminal 3 and even though it felt I was looking at perfumes forever, by the time I was done, I still had 5 minutes before the gate opened. When the gate number was posted, this was right at the end of the terminal. Fortunately terminal 3 is not big. When I got to the gate, I just had time to snap a quick photo and update my status on Facebook before my row number was called for boarding. This was the quickest and most efficient boarding process I have ever seen. Maybe it was a little bit too efficient as we got backed up going down the stairs to the aircraft and then again getting on the aircraft itself. Still, the whole process was pretty smooth.
I was pretty impressed with the aircraft. Flybe is a low cost carrier, but is a notch above the competition. I have flown with them before, but on their smaller planes. This flight was operated by an Embraer 195 and I could not believe how spacious this plane is both in terms of seat width and legroom. The flight was also nowhere near full.
One of the advantages of terminal 3 is that it is very close to the runway. Eight minutes after our scheduled departure time we were airborne. There was a bit of a nasty crosswind as we were taking off, but once we were above the clouds, it was fine. We were treated to a spectacular sunrise, but unfortunately I had an aisle seat and was not able to take a photo. Apart from a bit of light turbulence shortly after take off and just before we landed in Paris, it was a smooth flight. I kept myself entertained by working on my trip report for September.
We made good time and arrived in Paris within an hour of departing. There we had the opposite extreme from Manchester. The terminal where we were heading is probably as far away from the runway as you can get and because the plane was so small, we were parked quite a distance from the terminal as well and had to get on a bus. This was very well organised though. While we were taxiing in and during the bus ride, I looked out for a familiar tail. I think I must have seen everything but the one I was looking for.
When we got to immigration things changed. They had one single desk open for European passport holders and this appeared to be the biggest group. They had electronic passport gates, but to use those, you apparently have to register. So I had a long wait. Still, this all worked out perfectly. When I was through immigration, I could head straight for the station, as I did not have any luggage to collect. This is a bit of a hike, but I made it in time to get a ticket for the train I had hoped to get. I had decided to take the TGV directly to Marne-la-Vallee/Chessy, which is the train station for Disneyland Paris rather than taking to the commuter trains and dropping off my luggage at the hotel on the way. This is much quicker. The commuter train takes about an hour and a half and involves a change. The TGV takes 10 minutes. So that was a no brainer. About 5 minutes after I got my ticket, the platform for my train was announced and about 10 minutes after this, I was on my way. It was a nice smooth run directly to Disneyland Paris.
When I arrived there, I took a couple of photos to share on Facebook and then headed to the bag check. At Disneyland Paris, they have x-ray machines similar to the ones that they use for hand luggage at airports. This makes so much more sense that somebody poking around the bags with a stick. It actually is also a lot quicker. Soon I was inside and headed over to the ticket booths. The lines for those were quite long, but moved steadily. I was going to get an annual pass. I needed the top tier pass as the other two would be blocked out on my birthday, but even then it was the cheapest option for spending 5 days in the parks. The pass also comes with all kinds of discounts and does give access to Extra Magic Hours. We are hoping to do the inaugural Run Disney event at Disneyland Paris next September so the pass makes sense from this point of view as well.
They have a strange system at Disneyland Paris for annual passes. You have to go to one of the ticket booths first to pay and they give you a temporary pass. You then have to take this inside the park to the Annual Pass Office, which is near the hub at the entrance to Discoveryland. There they will then issue a proper annual pass. I have no problem with this, but there was one small irritation with that system this time round. I had my weekender bag as well as my handbag with me. One of the perks of the Dream annual pass is that you can leave two items of luggage per day free of charge with left luggage just outside the park. That is what I had planned to do. Ideally I wanted to get rid of the weekender before I headed inside the park. So I decided to head over to left luggage to see if they would accept the temporary annual pass. They did not and told me that I would have to pay that day. I did not think much of this and decided that I would take my weekender into the park with me while I got the annual pass sorted out and then drop it off afterwards.
When I got in the park, I stopped for a minute or two to absorb the atmosphere and then headed to the Annual Pass Office via the Discovery Arcade. I had come prepared that this would take a fair while as this can be quite busy and I remember from the previous time I had an annual pass for Disneyland Paris that this is quite a convoluted process. Well, I was positively surprised on both counts. There was a cast member available to assist me straightaway and they have streamlined the process. You used to have to fill out a form and have a photo taken and then sit down until your application was processed. This time round, she just entered my details on the computer, took the photo, handed me the contract the sign and then handed me my annual pass. The whole process lasted about 10 minutes. With my annual pass in hand I headed down Main Street USA. I wanted to get my Photopass sorted as I thought that this was coming in a box and I wanted to put this in my weekender before I dropped it off at left luggage, but the shop that sells the Photopasses on Main Street was still closed. So I headed outside the park to drop off my luggage.
This time round they were only too happy to take my luggage off me. I was issued with a receipt and then I headed back into the park. I took a few photos around the entrance area and then headed towards Main Street. I noticed that the shop that sells the Photopasses was now open. So I decided to go in to sort this out. Photopass+ is still relatively new at Disneyland Paris. They do not have as many photographers out as they have at the American parks, but they are present at most character meet and greets and it also includes a number of attraction photos. Like Memory Maker, you can view the photos pretty much in real time via an app and it is extremely easy to download und share them. There is however no facility to add borders or stickers. Normally Photopass+ is €49.99 and you can add photos for 10 days. However, with my annual pass, it was only €39.99 and it is valid for the whole year. I am sure I will more than get my money’s worth out of this. The annual pass version comes in an envelope rather than a box so there was no problem with me getting this after I had dropped off my luggage.
[Once I had my Photopass card, I had a quick look around the shop and then headed up Main Street. As I was wandering towards the hub, there was an announcement that the Christmas parade would start in 5 minutes. There were some empty spots near the hub so I decided to stay and watch this. I have never been a big parade person, but my very first Disney parade was the Christmas parade at Disneyland Paris in 1996. At that stage, it was a proper parade with a very catchy theme song “Chante, C’est Noel”. When we went back for the Christmas season in 2007, they still used the song as part of the parade, but they just showed the normal parade with a couple of Christmas floats added at the end. Now they show the normal year round parade in the afternoon, but they have a Christmas mini parade that they show 3 times during the first part during the day. I rather enjoyed this, but unfortunately this no longer features “Chante, C’est Noel” although this is used for other parts of the Christmas festivities.
When the Christmas parade had passed, I continued to make my way towards the hub. Something caught my eyes. Thumper and Miss Bunny were out just outside the top entrance to the Liberty Arcade. This was too good to pass up. The line moved relatively slowly, but I did not mind. Eventually it was my turn to meet them and that was well worth the wait.
After meeting Thumper and Miss Bunny, I crossed over into Frontierland. This felt kind of strange, almost like a ghost town. Big Thunder Mountain had gone down for an extended maintenance the previous week. The Riverboat, the train station and the Indian Village are also down for refurbishment at the moment. The Chaparral Theatre was closed and was due to reopen on 14th November. As this is low season, most of the restaurants in that area were closed, too. Just the Lucky Nugget Saloon and the Silver Spur Steakhouse were open. Apart from those and a gift shop, there was just a meet and greet area for Merida, who was not out for very long, Jack’s Cemetery, which was the meet and greet area for Jack Skellington and Phantom Manor.
Phantom Manor was a walk on so I decided to do this. I did remember that this is quite different from the Haunted Mansions at the US parks, but this was completely different from how I remembered it. I think they may have changed this around since I last was at Disneyland Paris. I did thoroughly enjoy it.
Once I got off Phantom Manor, I wandered over into Adventureland. I had look around and noticed that my favourite restaurant at Disneyland Paris, Cafe Agrabah was closed. While I was in the area, I had a look around Aladdin’s Enchanted Passage, which consists of a number of dioramas retelling the story of Aladdin. Although that had always been there on my previous visits, this was the first time I decided to check this out. This is quite lovely, but as it is rather dark in there, I did not manage to take any photos.
As I continued to explore Adventureland, I came across Baloo and King Louie, but as they did not have a photographer with them, I decided not to get in line. By then it was well into lunchtime and I decided to get something to eat. The only restaurant that was open in Adventureland that day was Cafe Hakuna Matata. So this had to do. I went with one of the set meals that consisted of lightly spiced chicken strips, seasoned fries, a soft drink and a coconut and pineapple tart. I was not as hungry as I had thought and only had about half of my main course. I wished that I had a Ziploc bag with me. I did not really feel like having my dessert either, but I did not want it to go to waste so I ended up eating it and it was delicious.
After lunch, I then pushed on to Pirates of the Caribbean. This is by far my favourite version of the three that I have done. This already starts with the line that is beautifully themed. They have yet to add the touches from the film to this although I heard this is coming. I much prefer it how it is. Sometimes original is really best. I enjoyed the ride. They also have a ride photo there so once I was done; I had this added to my Photopass card.
I then crossed over into Fantasyland. The lines looked pretty long so I did not do any of the rides there. Its A Small World is currently closed for refurbishment and looks kind of sorry for itself. I did decide to go and see Mickey. They have converted the old Fantasyland Theater into a meet and greet location. This worked out rather well. They used the former stage as a screen on which they showed classic Disney cartoons. They alternately showed them in French and English. I was familiar with most of them and it was quite amusing to watch them in French. Eventually it was my time to meet Mickey and I had a fun interaction.
By the time I was done with Mickey, I started to go downhill rapidly. I had planned to stay in the park for the tree lighting ceremony and Disney Dreams, but I hit a wall. I decided that I would do Buzz Lightyear Laser Blasters and then head for the hotel. This is what I did. I did the right once and did not do particularly well at it. However, this gave me something to improve on for the rest of the trip. I then headed towards the exit. On the way I was treated to a little fountain show in front of the castle that was not on the entertainment guide. This was the first time that trip that I heard “Chante, C’est Noel”. I stayed around until the show was finished and then headed for the exit.
I picked up my weekender and then headed towards the station. Due to some building works, you can only get to the station via Disney Village, but that was not a hardship and at most added a minute or two. Once I got to the station, I got a carnet for the RER as I would be going backwards and forwards between the hotel and the parks every day. Once I got to the platform, I did not have long to wait until the train pulled in and the journey between Marne-la-Vallee/ Chessy and the station opposite the hotel is only about 15 minutes.
When I arrived at the other end, I got very confused. We have stayed at the same hotel during most of our trips to Disneyland Paris and the hotel is diagonally across from the station. This was still the case, but it looked completely different from how I remembered it. Later during the trip we figured out that they built a new entrance to the station, which is around the corner from the old one, and this is why everything looked so different.
Check in was nice and smooth and I was soon in my room. I got myself organised and caught up with things online and then I had a nap. I was woken up by a crying child next door and decided to stay awake to see if I could FaceTime Graham in a little while. We had successfully done this while we were on our respective trips in September, but I did not succeed this time. In the end I gave up and went back to bed.
must come back to read, sneaking online at work.
I think they are a bit of a DLP speciality, aren't they? I don't remember them being out two years ago when we were there for Christmas.
