6/28

I was looking forward to this day the entire trip. Surprisingly I have only been to Disney World once in my life and I was eight. If you know me, you know I'm a huge Disney fan. Walt, Mickey, Donald, Belle, and the whole crew. I am often find myself wanting to destress and watch a Disney movie.

Nico and I took a bus for 30 minutes to Disneyland Paris!

It was hard to believe were we were AND how small it was! Although small it was still very magical. The music always gets me.

There were three entrances into the one of two parks. We decided to forego the studios side.

and there she was! Princess Aurora's castle!

I was on cloud nine! Again, if I'm remembering correctly Cinderella's castle at Disney World is much, much bigger.

First thing we decided to do was to go in and walk around the castle. They told the whole story through the famous book from the movie and stain glass.

Princess Aurora is my second favorite princess, behind Belle of course. It was so much fun experiencing her castle and reliving the story in person.

I was one happy kid.

Wanna know a secret? Promise not to tell? We are standing by a wishing well.

We decided to jump on a few rides and games. The lines were crazy long! Even though we arrived first thing in morning hoping to avoid crazy lines.

The toy story ride/ game got pretty intense.

I mean what is that face?! It's the face of a winner.

Here's a quick funny story. When I was younger I went on this Star Wars ride with my parents. You sit in a room, in your own seat, and 3D glasses. It's like you're in one of the ships and the chairs rock back and fourth, side to side, and they vibrate as a big screen shows you taking off into space. The screen also shows you almost crashing multiple times and squeezing through tight spaces. I screamed and I screamed and made a huge scene. I didn't not like that ride as a kid. I had to face my fears and do it again. I needed a little redemption.

It was so much fun! Nico and I both enjoyed this little ride! We wanted to do it again, but the line was too long.

Next up was the haunted house. I am the WORST with jump scares, horror films, and anything that has the potential to instill fear in me. I was freaking out.

It was pretty disappointing. You basically ride around and look at puppets in a "scary" setting.

We spent the rest of the day getting lunch, riding a boat around a river, and just exploring!

One of the biggest disappointments we had definitely had to be the lack of characters in the park. We only saw the Genie at his station and then a house to meet Mickey! I had to meet one character! We were there all day. Of course the legend himself was good enough for the day.

I danced with Mickey and Mickey pretended to be scared of Nico for dancing with me! It was pretty funny and a good way to end the day.

On the way out we saw all of these great shops. I of course had to get my coffee mug. I've been collecting a cup in every city we've visited. One shop had all of these old pictures of Walt and a beautiful crystal display of Beauty and the Beast!

Not cheap. If I didn't run the risk of breaking it while traveling I would have purchased the rose.

All in all where so happy we went! It was a full day of nostalgia and fun.

6/29

If you know me well, you know my drink of choice is a glass of champagne. I love that bubbly stuff. It makes me so giddy and I rarely get a hang over with it which is surprising to most.

One of my favorite champagnes is hands down Veuve Clicquot. When I found out we were only an hour from Reims, France (pronounced rance, by far the hardest word for us to pronounce) we had to make our way to the cellar tour and explore the caves.

Our tour guide was fabulous and so passionate about the champagne.

We followed her deep down into the caves. It was about 20 degrees colder down there.

It was amazing to be down there and see how the Champagne so produced.

Madame Clicquot was an innovator and an inspiring business woman. It was fascinating to learn about her. The word Veuve actually means widow. After losing her husband she was named head of Mansion Clicquot.

If an employee is with the company for over 40 years they have a room named after them.

Madam Clicquot is someone I fondly look up to now. I borrowed this from the website, In an era when women were excluded from the business world, she dared to assume the head of the company, a role she undertook with passion and determination. Madame Clicquot’s character might be summarized with two words: audacious and intelligent."

She was a force to be reckoned with and really made huge leaps for women in her time!

We learned that anchor is a Christian symbol for hope and it was a mark on their champagne before labels existed.

Madame Clicquot created the first riddling table. It helps to ensure crystal clear wine. This process continues to be used today, but was redesigned multiple times. Madame Cliquot becomes known to her peers as “La Grande Dame” of Champagne.