Aka. "Destination Anywhere", "The Boy and Girl from County Bavaria"... After a very intense year in Würzburg (Germany), I'm back in Salamanca. I probably won't have that many experiences to write, but there's always an excuse to post a new entry!

Today, about ten days before the poll is closed, I stop campaigning for the Queen of Metal to talk to you about something very different. This blog goes back to its origins to describe a journey; the first time I've gone on holiday with my family, in fact. On July 13th my parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, and the present was one week in the most popular tourist destination in the world: Paris.

We arrived on July 12th about midnight, so all we had time to do on that day was take a taxi to the hotel and have a look around the closest streets after settling down. Our hotel was called Ampère and according to the official website it is located a ten-minute walk from Champs Élysées. I have to say that it was a really nice hotel - good breakfast, very comfortable and well-equipped... but damn expensive! Apart from breakfast, we only ate there once, and let's say it was a bit too innovative (and again expensive) for my taste.

July 13th was the first real day of the trip. It all started taking the underground to see the Arc de Triomphe. I must say that the underground in Paris is really great - it's easy to understand (I became an expert from the first day, and I totally have no orientation!), gets you everywhere and they have some special offers, like the card Paris Visite, which allows you to take it as many times as you want for a number of days. As for the Arc de Triomphe, we decided not to go up because it was too expensive (9 € just for that?!) and we were slightly disappointed, since we expected something bigger. Something I found funny was that there were lots of place names on its walls, and one of them was Bamberg. Besides that, we had a look at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Our next stop was Champs Élysées, where we relaxed for a while in the gardens before heading for Les Invalides, a complex containing different museums related to the miltary history in France. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed, so I don't have any images of the church in which Napoleon is buried. It wasn't all that special though. We took advantage of the proximity to visit the Rodin Museum, which my dad loved in spite of the disproportionally huge feet most statues had. Our personal favourite sculptures were "The Age of Bronze" and "The Gates of Hell". I also enjoyed "Paolo and Francesca", which was pretty erotic. Unfortunately, the museum was too tiring to enjoy, since all the sculptures were quite far away from each other and it was hard to understand the map, so you had to walk a lot to see them.

After that, we went back to the Champs Élysées to get something to eat, since we had seen some small stands where you coud buy hot dogs or crêpes. One thing you should know if you're planning on going to Paris is that most restaurants are VERY expensive. And the craziest thing is that we hardly saw any supermarkets - most of them were either in the Montmartre district or even outside the city. So regarding the food the best options are crêperies or McDonald's, apart from some rare exceptions. We went back to the hotel after lunch and relaxed for a couple of hours.

In the evening, after the weird dinner in the hotel which I've already mentioned, we headed for one of the must-see spots: the Eiffel Tower. We had heard that it was spectacular to see it at night, as it is beautifully illuminated and even has laser lights. Well, I have to say that we weren't disappointed at all. Days later, we would find out that it was much more impressive after sunset. But most of all we enjoyed the overwhelming party atmosphere around it. Probably that had something to do with the fact that the next day was July 14th, the Bastille Day.

As the next day pretty much everything would be closed, one of the hotel receptionists recommended us visiting Disneyland. We probably wouldn't have to queue for too long, and there would be nothing really special to do in the city. We decided to take his advice and visit the park. That was probably my favourite part of the trip. I admit it - I've always loved Disney films, and I still love that world of fantasy. Yes, the same girl who obsesses over metal, writes erotic stories and gives speeches about the most morbid topics squealed like a little child as soon as she set foot in Disneyland. Happy? Well, I was. And I would have been even more if it hadn't started raining before we had the chance to see less than half of it. The pouring rain forced us to first go and get some jackets (our summer clothes were not enough protection) and then to find an indoor place to eat before going back to the hotel. However, here are some pictures:

It was like going back to childhood. I especially enjoyed the Alice-related attractions, since Alice in Wonderland used to be my favourite film as a little girl.

Coming soon - the museums and more!