Sadly, we were realizing that our last evening in Disney was upon us. We were good little DISers, though, and tried to make the most of it, instead of focusing on the fact that we'd be home tomorrow...
We headed to France for our first-ever dining experience here:
Luckily, we arrived 30 minutes early, because it took us 30 minutes just to make it to the host stand!
For real!! LOOK!!!
Check out those faces. You can tell who the Disney pros are. They are the ones smiling, know that this is just all part of the experience. Then you have the 'others'. You know.. the ones who think you can just waltz in at your reservation time and be seated immediately! These are also the people who show up to parades 5 minutes before the start time and assume they can just stand in front of people who have been waiting 45 minutes to secure their spot. You know who I'm talking about, don't ya ?!?
After waiting 30 minutes just to check in, we waited another 15-20 to be called. The host who was seating people was a bald gentleman. He was awesome to watch! I just loved observing how he interacted with each family or couple he was seating. Not to mention I could listen to that French accent all day!
We were finally called, and boy, were we lucky we had to wait that long.. we had an AWESOME table right by the window!! Check out the view:
That made for some fun people-watching! As we were being seated, Remy was coming around on the cart. I kept hearing the lady who was pushing the cart saying, "Would you like to meet zee chef?!" But, as she came to our table, our waiter was there, getting our drink orders. She zipped past us and never came back.
I probably would've said something if we had Ty and Shae with us, but since Matt and I got to observe Remy at other folks' tables, we were fine with it!
On to the FOOD!!! I ordered the French Onion Soup. Funny story, when they brought it out, it looked NOTHING like French Onion Soup... but I thought, "Well, maybe in France, it looks like this... " So I tasted it...
It was that lobster or crab bisque NASTINESS!!! (I despise shell fish). I was able to get the REAL soup I wanted. And, look... it looks just like it does in America!
Matt ordered the cheese plate, which made me nervous because he is such a 'basic' eater... I didn't know if he'd like cheese that wasn't American, Cheddar, or Pepper Jack! But he ate it all and enjoyed it!
Sorry guys, but I didn't take pictures of the rest of the meal. Both Matt and I got steaks.. they were fabulous. The atmosphere was great, and our CM was just adorable!! He was somewhat new and his English was not the best... but he was.... ADORABLE!!
Here are Matt and me at our table:
And here is me with Mr. ADORABLE!!
They handed us big honkin' stickers with our Candlelight Processional time on it. These would get us in the 'reserved' line. Matt and I headed that way, because our time slot was quickly approaching. Man, oh man, was that 'reserved' line LOOOOONNNNGGG!! Imagine the outdoor amphitheater at the American Pavilion. Now imagine a line extending into Morocco!! We were shocked, but were assured we'd have a seat! We waited a good 30 minutes before they even started to let people in to sit.
Matt weaved in and out of benches and was able to secure us SWEET seats right in the middle. It was starting to get chilly out, so we got our sweatshirts on and enjoyed being able to sit!
Random Christmas tree shot:
Then, the show began! It's very hard to enjoy a symphonic show when you are sitting next to the most critical, nit-picking musician EVER!! The herald trumpets came out and started to play a fanfare. Every time a trumpet would get the slightest bit out of tune, Matt would have to cringe. I guess he was just expecting perfection. Come on, Dear... this is their THIRD show of the night.. their lips HAVE to be tired!
Oh well... we did end up having a wonderful time. The colors, sounds, songs, narration... just perfect...and completely put us in the Christmas spirit. John O'Hurly was a FABULOUS, FABULOUS narrator! His voice is like chocolate icing running down a warm cake!! Delicious!
Here are a few video clips from the show. Enjoy!
Part of the Candlelight package is some kind of priority viewing for Illuminations... but after seeing the line of people we had to wait in to get IN to the Processional.. we decided we'd avoid that crowd and head to our normal Illuminations viewing area next to the silver jewelry stand in Mexico. There was no one there! We THOROUGHLY enjoyed our last Illuminations of the trip, and got teary again at the amazing encore.
Check out this ending. Imagine being there LIVE... it was beautiful!
What a PERFECT day! Time to head back to SSR for our last night. I'll be wrapping this thing up with a very QUICK last day at Animal Kingdom, and an EARLY trip home.
Thanks for reading!!
I wish I could have more time to just sit and listen to them. Maybe next time I'll send my hubby off with the kids and just sit and enjoy. 
How many more inches does he need to go? 
) and I will be either working at 50's PTC, harassing guests... or working in a shop on Main Street! We are looking forward to it!
. Maybe when we have grandchildren he will change his mind. I think we will be staying at POR for the marathon, there is transportation to the run from that resort.
