Disneyland Paris – The Journey

Okay, back to the fun. Last Sunday we made our first trip to Disneyland Paris. In theory we walk five minutes to the metro station, take a four minute ride to the Charles de Gaulle / Etoile metro station, jump on the RER A towards Marne-la-Vallée, and about 45 later we are at the gate of the happiest place on earth.

Not this Sunday. As we made our way towards Marne-la-Vallée, the RER made an unusually long stop at a station and then absolutely stopped at the next station. We could barely hear the announcement but there was something related to an accident grave and people started piling off the train.

Given the number of people milling about the station, it was evident that this had been going on for a while and the odds of flagging a taxi in this small suburb of Paris were exceedingly unlikely. So, instead of just heading back to Paris or waiting indefinitely, we decided to head back just one station, get off, and try to find a taxi there.

So, we jumped on the next RER and shortly found ourselves in another suburban village. After a little walk to find a taxi (which was not successful) and stop at the local boulangerie, we figured out that there is a bus that would take us to the RER station where, according to the info we had, the RERs to Marne-la-Vallée were beginning again.

As we waited the 35 minutes for the bus, we saw that more and more people had this same plan. When the bus arrived, we amazingly all crowded aboard and stood shoulder to shoulder in this overloaded bus. The bus then proceeded towards the destination, somehow picking up a few more people at every stop. After about ten minutes, we got word that the ride would take an hour. This was a little too much for us to handle so we managed to squeeze out at the next stop.

We were now in another village with no clear way to proceed. But then we spotted a taxi stand with a taxi waiting. Unfortunately, it was just the taxi and no driver. There were also a couple of men staking claim to the taxi in the event the driver returned. So, we hung out for a while with the plan to catch the next bus going the other direction and then catch the RER back into Paris – or towards Disneyland if they opened up the line again.

Fortunately, the men gave up and a bit later the taxi driver showed up. About 20 minutes later, we were at Disneyland!

The journey was a good lesson in patience and problem solving. It also provided another example of French generosity. When we arrived, I handed the taxi driver 70 euros for the fare. He smiled and handed back 10 euros. He then turned down a fare from Disneyland Paris to who-knows-where and presumably headed back to his village.