[Gill H]

<<Day 3


Today felt odd. For a start, we didn’t have park tickets, so no nipping into Salon Mickey today. That was the downside of staying offsite without annual passes, I guess.

Despite the fact that our taxi wasn’t due till 11, we were awake at 7:30 as usual and soon tackling another delicious breakfast. I can’t stress it enough – this is surprisingly good value for 8 Euros and the quality of the meats, cheeses and breads is excellent. OK, it’s not a cooked breakfast, but hey, you’re in France, embrace it!

Back in our room we started to pack. Remembering that we were hand luggage only, we had to be ruthless and throw away any packaging, and anything we didn’t need. We had some coffee sachets left over from the packet we had brought with us, so we took them down to reception for the staff.

By the way, here are the pins we bought this time – fortunately not much to pack in the way of souvenirs except those and the empty Mickey soap dispenser!

Once we were all ready, we went out for a stroll. In all honesty, the area around Val d’Europe is not that interesting if you aren’t looking to eat or shop. (Although now I’m awaiting comments from hordes of angry locals pointing out the beauties of their area…) So eventually we ended up in the Boulangerie bakery/coffee shop. We did consider the one nearest the RER station, but then settled on the one round the corner, which was definitely the right decision. The displays of cakes and patisserie in this place were something to behold. And I'm sure the 'baguette au lard' was tastier than it sounds!

Our attention was drawn to a stand of little choux pastry balls. Usually these come crusted with sugar and containing various fillings, but these were savoury ones filled with Emmental cheese.

They cost 3.50 Euros for 10, so we bought 10 to share, and ordered a coffee each. The coffees were 3.25 each, which is not cheap, but it was decent coffee and they came with a little sugar chou bun on the side too. Definitely a place to treat yourself to if you’re in the area.