On the road (1) – Six countries, nine days COMPLETED - Page 13 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Wonderful pictures! I love the stain glass windows at the Cathedral, so beautiful. Okay 7.60 a gallon , and I thought it was nuts when we hit 4.00 a gallon 2 years ago. I am not going to complain about 2.69 that we are paying now, I am just happy with the prices here and glad we do not live over seas. Sorry.
Wow, the stain glass windows in the cathedral were just amazing. I do hope to get over the pond one day..... And I'll make sure to tell my husband that we could be paying $7.60 a gallon for gas when he gripes about summer traffic coming thru and we're only paying $2.79. Can't wait to read and see more.
__________________
Stephanie
Riding the Magic Carpets with Jasmine and Aladdin
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
I'm intrigued here now... what kind of gas mileage do cars over there get (as an average)? Because I mean at that cost... holy crow! We get about 28 mpg on highway and maybe 21/22 mpg locally, both of which are pretty decent for a Honda... but I cannot imagine paying $7.60 / gallon for that gas mileage....
I'm intrigued here now... what kind of gas mileage do cars over there get (as an average)? Because I mean at that cost... holy crow! We get about 28 mpg on highway and maybe 21/22 mpg locally, both of which are pretty decent for a Honda... but I cannot imagine paying $7.60 / gallon for that gas mileage....
I know, during the road trip, Mark kept checking on our mileage per gallon and it was working out to around 42 or 43, which he told me was very good. For a tank, which is about 50 litres (I'm thinking about 10 or 12 gallons, but I'm not 100%sure of the conversion for that), I usually get about 450 miles or so from the car.
Friday 19 March – part four: medieval surprises in the heart of France
Soon, we were pulling off the motorway and on to a smaller road, which allowed us to get a bit more of a taste of “real” France, as we passed through some tiny villages.
Our entertainment here was provided by the white Renault car in front of us who got stuck behind a lorry and tried to overtake him at the worst possible moments. Some of his manoeuvres right in front of us had us shaking our heads and pulling as far back from him as we possibly could.
Finally we were in Dijon...
... and after waiting ages to get on to one roundabout, I suddenly saw signs that said La Toison d’Or and I’d seen that name in relation to our hotel, so I knew it was near to here. So it proved to be. We passed a shopping centre, including Carrefour, one of the biggest supermarket chains in France and our hotel was right next door. What a beautiful place it was. As we drew up to it, I was really impressed with it.
When I entered, that feeling continued. After explaining in French that I had a reservation, the receptionist asked me if English would be easier – well and she explained all about the hotel and asked if we’d be having breakfast. Let’s just say not at their prices! : I was suddenly very glad that we’d gone to the supermarket last time to buy some breakfast items....
We were given a room on the sixth – and it turned out – top floor. As we walked there, I hoped that perhaps it might have a view over Dijon and we were in luck, as that’s exactly what we got. From there, we could see that there was a park just across the road from the hotel. This truly was a lovely location.
The room, as you can see, was very contemporary and I really liked the look of it. We were also pleasantly surprised by the size of it. I said to Mark that this was perhaps the hotel that I was least sure of. With most, I had picked the top rated, or amongst the top rated, from Trip Advisor, to give me a bit more security that we’d be staying in a nice place, but this was one that I hadn’t really checked. I needn’t have worried. : Just like the hotel we stayed in at Hiroshima, which again I was unsure of, it had turned out to be a real winner.
I quickly discovered that we had free wi-fi in the room, after reading the French in the hotel information directory. Interestingly, there was no mention of it in the English translation.... I quickly got on the boards, checked my e-mail and updated Facebook and then set about sorting out all the photos I’d taken on the way down, while Mark had a nap. Poor guy, he had done a heck of a lot of driving today.
An hour or so later, he woke up and we had dinner, the salads that we’d picked up from the supermarket the night before, along with some cake, which did for us. Not long after, we headed out to go and see the centre of Dijon. We found it easily enough and enjoyed some wonderful architecture on the way in, all very contemporary, but as we got closer to the centre, the older and more traditional it became:
We thought that we might have a nightmare finding a parking space, but we lucked out and found one right by the Notre Dame church, a wonderful Gothic building that dates from the 13th century, although we did keep an eye on the guy who was parking behind us, until he changed his mind that was and took off, in reverse, for the other side of the road, nearly knocking us over as we crossed the road. Gotta love those French drivers.
We wandered through the narrow medieval streets and literally every corner we turned, we saw more beautiful buildings waiting for us.
This was such a lively place as well. It’s clear that it’s well used and no doubt well used by those who live here. It had a great vibrant feel to it. We walked past many great places, including the Museum of Fine Arts housed in the Palais des Ducs, which was originally used by the Ducs of Burgundy.
Then it was into the Place de la Liberation, which was created in the 17th century. It’s a stunning place and really does take you back in time a good couple of hundred years as you stand there, just taking it all in.
From there, we walked back to the car. Mark did say to me that he hoped I knew where the car was. I had my trusty DK guidebook with me and I had a rough idea, but even I was pleasantly surprised at how easily we found her. I was very glad to get out of there, as the prospect of leaving my beloved car parked at the side of the road, as mad French drivers parked in front of her and behind her didn’t exactly inspire me. :
We headed back to the hotel, but decided to go and have a look in the Tousin d’Or shopping centre. I suggested to Mark that we could just go back to the hotel and park there and walk in from there, as finding a space at the front of the complex was a nightmare. He didn’t think you could walk through, but as soon as we walked in, it became clear that you could.
After a quick browse round C&A, a clothes shop that we used to have at home, we headed back to the car and drove back to the hotel. We dumped anything we didn’t need back in the room, including our cameras, and wandered into the shopping centre and into Carrefour. I spotted a dress that might work for Mark’s sister’s wedding in May, but once I’d checked (in French! ) that I could try it on, it became clear it just wasn’t me.
Instead, we hit the seafood section and got some prawns to eat when we got back to the room and then Mark suggested looking for the French wine that my dad likes. We found it, but it’s obviously exceptionally popular, as there were only two bottles left, so we grabbed those, paid and headed back to the hotel.
Prawns duly eaten, we watched NCIS: Los Angeles dubbed into French, which is quite an experience I can tell you! Then it was off to bed.
Today we drove 355 miles. The weather today was in the low 60s and sunny, although it was foggy in the UK and then raining at first when we got to France. The best thing today was seeing the medieval centre of Dijon. The worst thing today was the weather that greeted us when we arrived in France. The funniest thing today was Mark with the champagne bottle photo opportunity in Reims. Today we tried visiting Reims Cathedral And the result was it’s a stunning building and well worth seeing. The most magical moment today was walking into Reims Cathedral.
I can't believe this is just the first day! It seems like you've done so much. If it had been me doing the napping, I would probably have slept through till morning. Beautiful pictures, as always.
Is it just me, or does this look inspire the France pavilion at Epcot??? Well done, Imagineers!!!
What a great reward after such a long drive. Dijon looks like a very fun place! And picturesque too. I'm glad your hotel turned out in your favor, that's !!!!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
About This Page: 
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
$7.60 per gallon for gas? 
Certainly not going to complain about our gas prices here.
PassPorter Guide Author
,
: I was suddenly very glad that we’d gone to the supermarket last time to buy some breakfast items.... 
I quickly got on the boards, checked my e-mail and updated Facebook and then set about sorting out all the photos I’d taken on the way down, while Mark had a nap. Poor guy, he had done a heck of a lot of driving today. 
!!!!
Linear Mode
