Adventures by Disney has offered optional city excursions at each of the international Disney Resorts we’ve visited during Disney Parks Around The World – A Private Jet Adventure. We’ve mostly opted to maximize our theme park time thus far, but that changed on our second day in France. Having been to Disneyland Paris before, we chose to venture into the City of Love for a look at some of Paris’ incredible treasures.
We chose two half-day itineraries, starting with the Palace of Versailles. After a buffet breakfast at Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel, we boarded a coach for a ride through Paris to the countryside that was once home to Marie Antoinette. Local guides met us at Versailles, splitting our large group into two smaller ones and distributing audio headsets.
The property is huge, but the indoor tours are largely confined to the second floor of the main building, which contained King Louis XVI’s throne room, bedrooms, and the legendary Hall of Mirrors. During the revolution, most of the original furniture was removed and sold. While some have been brought back, many pieces are missing, such as the throne itself.
Visiting Versailles often felt like a trip to the Beast’s castle from Beauty and the Beast. You could feel how the opulence of the palace inspired the world in both the animated classic and the live-action retelling.
If these walls could talk, not only would they have a lot to say about the palace’s many residents over the years, but also the stories between the French Revolution and the present. For example, the Hall of Mirrors was the place where the Treaty of Versailles was signed to formally end World War I, later occupied by Nazis for two years during World War II.
After our tour of the palace, we were given some free time in the gift shop before departing for the sprawling gardens. Since the morning tours included lunch, we had to race through to catch a tram that would take us to lunch.
Lunch was at a restaurant on the outskirts of the park called La Flottille. It included a salad appetizer, choice of entree, and dessert.
After lunch, we split into smaller groups to transfer to afternoon tour options. We chose the Panoramic Paris Tour, which began at the Louvre, another former palace that now houses some of the world’s greatest artistic masterpieces. In fact, many priceless artifacts from Versailles ended up here.
With so much to see and so little time, it was a whirlwind trek through the museum with a local guide. He made sure we got to see 3 of the biggest draws, starting with the Venus de Milo. The artist is unknown, but our guide pointed out the seam where two slabs of marble were sealed together to carve the statue. He also drew our attention to holes in the marble that would’ve helped secure jewels on her, as well as evidence that she was once painted over.
Michaelangelo Buonarotti’s pair of carved slaves was another treasure our guide showcased. Both were discovered in the Tomb of Pope Julius II, dating to 1515.
And last, but certainly not least, a collection of original paintings by Leonardo DaVinci, all of which were bought by King Francis I and once housed in Versailles. The Mona Lisa has a place of honor on its own wall, with a switchback queue leading up to it. Museum employees won’t let you stop for too long once at the front of the line, which is considered to be anywhere along a rope barrier (not necessarily front and center). She seems amused by the operation.
It was raining when we exited the museum, and we ventured through the reflective streets of Paris to the panoramic part of the tour, a ride through the city in classic French cars, a Citroën 2CV.
Our driver put on some classic French music for our ride. While the rain made some sites hard to see, he did his best to give us a clear view while also explaining the history behind everything we were seeing.
We looped around the Arc de Triomphe twice on the innermost ring of the roundabout.
We also drove under the Eiffel Tower, allowing us to truly take in the size of this landmark. (Note: the morning Panoramic Paris Tour included lunch in the Eiffel Tower.)
During our 90-minute bus ride back to the Disneyland Paris Resort, we also got to see the top of Notre Dame de Paris, which is still under refurbishment.
We had a very short break before dinner, during which our full-sized suitcases would need to be prepared for airport transfer (carry-on-size wheelie bags could be kept until early the next morning). Dinner was held at Bistrot Chez Rémy inside Walt Disney Studios Park. Reunited with our group, we got to hear all about some of the other optional tour options. The Full Day Reims Tour with a visit to Veuve Clicquot Vineyards received glowing reviews from our fellow adventurers.
During dinner, a special guest stopped by. Remy visited each table, taking pictures with each group inside his restaurant.
Our Adventure Guides also distributed our pin of the day, featuring the star of Pixar’s Ratatouille sampling some culinary masterpieces.
Following dinner, we got to ride the attraction Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy after the park closed, being the last to ride for the day. When we came out, we were offered a champagne toast to our time in Paris.
We had also been promised an unprecedented surprise. A singer stepped out onto the rainy streets around the Ratatouille fountain and began to serenade us, soon joined by a quartet of dancers. By the end of the musical farewell, they had been joined by Mickey Mouse in his French finest. After the performance, Mickey and the performers were available for photos with Guests.
We were back to the hotel by 11:30 pm for some much-needed rest. After seeing so many fairytale castles at Disney Parks, it was a fitting end to our time in Paris to have visited several real palaces.
Now it’s time to fly away from Paris to complete this adventure in Orlando. Au revoir!
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Disney fans will soon be able to travel the globe from the comfort of their homes with Disney Around the World from Ravensburger. We brought along an early review copy of the game and look forward to playing it during downtime on this adventure.
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More Disney Parks Around The World – A Private Jet Adventure Trip Reports
- Pre-Trip Report – Travel Kit
- Day 1 – Disneyland Welcome
- Day 2 – The Walt Disney Studios
- Day 3 – Disneyland VIP Tours
- Day 4 – The Walt Disney Family Museum, Lucasfilm, and Summit Skywalker Ranch
- Day 5 – Summit Skywalker Ranch
- Day 6 & 7 – Flight to Tokyo
- Day 8 – Tokyo DisneySea with Imagineers
- Day 9 – Tokyo Disneyland and Club 33
- Day 10 & 11 – Shanghai Disneyland
- Day 12 & 13 – Hong Kong Disneyland
- Day 14 & 15 – Taj Mahal
- Day 16 – The Great Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza
- Day 17 & 18 – Disneyland Paris
- Day 20 – Walt Disney World Welcome
- Day 21 – Magic Kingdom
- Day 22 – Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Day 23 & 24 – EPCOT and Departure