On the road (2) – beaches, castles and chateaux COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM - Page 18 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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The beds with the huge curtains around it are exactly what I picture them being like in a castle! Don't know if you watch The Tudors but it reminds me of that show.
Great pictures, the castles are amazing, reminds me so much of the movie Marie Antionette, those bedrooms were amazing.
Jasmine has been keeping up with your TR - now you know that France is now on the list, I have to limit her reading of your TR's each time she reads one she adds another place we need to visit on her graduation trip, the way I am going she will have me traveling for weeks...LOL
And what's wrong with that? I tell you, if I could travel for weeks, I would!
And what's wrong with that? I tell you, if I could travel for weeks, I would!
In my eyes nothing, don't know how the boss would feel though even now he is already asking so when do you get back from vacation, I have not even left yet and already he is counting down my return.
Now if I hit lotto well that's another story, think the kids could miss a few months of school, nothing like an education on the road...LOL
Tuesday 8 June – part four: you go British, I’ll go French!
We headed back down the grand staircase to the ground floor, getting a few final photos on the way.
Before heading out, we visited the carriage area.
Then it was out through the gift shop, where it seemed to take forever to buy our fridge magnets and postcards. We returned our audio guide that we’d paid for – trust me, not worth the money and nowhere near as good as yesterday at Chenonceau. The tripod recovered and off we went, with the sky still looking very ominous above us, but fortunately, there had been no rain, which was good news at least.
We were both getting hungry, so we stopped at the self service place at the entrance to get lunch, with me opting for a Grand Marnier crepe and Mark going for kebab and fries. Nothing more British than that! Having said that, I think I got the better deal, as he wasn’t at all impressed in his meat. :
And look what vandal Mark managed to do!
While waiting for our food, we saw these guys:
We sat there, watching the world go by and then, once we’d finished eating, it was back to the car.
We programmed Tim for Orleans, our next stop, and off we went, passing through more endless fields that have come to characterise the Loire Valley to us.
Soon we were on the toll road and the rain was coming down more heavily now, making it hard to get photos.
It eased off as we arrived in Orleans, which was in the process of being ripped up for a second tram line, so getting around it was fun.
We managed to see the Joan d’Arc statue and then found the cathedral.
We pulled into the parking area, and thinking there were no spaces, Mark pulled up, so I could jump out and get some photos. I walked round the corner and found two cars leaving, so he took their spot. Even better, there was no charge for parking between 12pm and 2pm.
We wandered around to the front of the cathedral, getting lots of photos of it, but all the time, keeping an eye on the ominous black cloud to one side that seemed to be following us....
I finally clicked over and got caught up, Cheryl.
Much like Hiroshima, from your Japan TR, the Normandy beaches, D-Day memorial section was very touching and emotional to me. Thanks for sharing all the photos there.
Once again, you are dazzling me with the beauty of the French countryside and the little towns and all the sights you have seen.
Another fantastic Chezp TR that I am happy to read!
I am all caught up Cheryl. Just beautiful. The Chateaus and Cathedrals are just breathtaking. Sorry you didn't get to go inside one of the Cathedrals due to the Funeral, but my oh my Cheryl, you have me contemplating a
trip to France one of these days and certainly kicking myself for not taking a short trip while Inwas over in South Kensington, UK for my Study Abroad trip. More please Cheryl.
Tuesday 8 June – part five: “the bungalow for giants”
Then it was back in the car and off towards Chartres. Once again, Tim found a route that combined toll roads and back roads beautifully. My goodness, they were busy building new roads along here though...
As we got near to Chartres, I spotted what I assumed was the cathedral and told Mark so. His reply? “No, that’s a bungalow for giants”. Well, that’s what it came to be called over the next couple of hours.
We made it into Chartres OK, but Tim decided to take us down some very small, cobbled streets. Although fun for a while and nice to get photos, soon the novelty wore off and we chose to ignore him for a while, while we got back on the proper roads again.
We found the cathedral easily enough – or should I say bungalow for giants? – but finding parking was another problem altogether. There didn’t seem to be anywhere to park, except for underground parking, so we headed for that. It wasn’t a badly designed place and was certainly nearby, although you had to make sure to take your parking ticket with you, as to get back in again to the pedestrian entrance, you had to enter the six digit figure on it.
We walked over to the cathedral, with the wind picking up all the time. This too was under restoration, although here you could already see some of the areas that had been renovated.
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I tell you, if I could travel for weeks, I would! 
even now he is already asking so when do you get back from vacation, I have not even left yet and already he is counting down my return.
The tripod recovered and off we went, with the sky still looking very ominous above us, but fortunately, there had been no rain, which was good news at least. 
Having said that, I think I got the better deal, as he wasn’t at all impressed in his meat. 
: 
Deb
Holly: 
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