Escaping The Brutal Northeast For Sunny, Warm Florida and Fun! Completed 7/12 About This Page:

[disneydreamer33]

Love all the topiary pics!!!

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by rhinohunter

That sure was a dreary day. It looks like it should be winter in a colder climate that WARM SUNNY Florida. Oh well, you were making the best of situation. Looking forward to the dinner review.

It wasn't cold at all as temps were in the mid to upper 70's. It was just the torrential rains that made me and I'm sure many others cold! It was quite dreary on my first day, but things would certainly improve.

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by disneydreamer33

Love all the topiary pics!!!

Glad you enjoyed them! I'm certainly not an expert on this subject, but do enjoy them and certainly here for the F&G Fest!

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures from Epcot! Glad the rain has stopped! Love that Grand Marnier Slush!

[MayraLR]

Seeing your pictures of Epcot makes me miss that park so much. I love walking around the countries, looking in the store and taking it all in.

[lauriep]

The topiaries get more intricate every year! An overcast sky is good for topiary photos. Bright sunshine blurs the details, so you were "lucky" with the rainy day.

[Cam22]

Great photos as you trekked back to the WS!

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great pictures from Epcot! Glad the rain has stopped! Love that Grand Marnier Slush!

It was quite a wet day for sure! Can't beat those GM Slushies as they're just so good!

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by MayraLR

Seeing your pictures of Epcot makes me miss that park so much. I love walking around the countries, looking in the store and taking it all in.

Epcot is my favorite of all of the theme parks and especially the World Showcase! I always feel I'm in another land, no matter how many times I visit!

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by lauriep

The topiaries get more intricate every year! An overcast sky is good for topiary photos. Bright sunshine blurs the details, so you were "lucky" with the rainy day.

I've noticed that through the years as Disney becomes more experienced with these each year and finding ways to outdo or at least become more creative with these! Never thought about that with the overcast skies, so that was one good thing about it, I guess.

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by Cam22

Great photos as you trekked back to the WS!

Glad you enjoyed them!

[SuperDave]

Another update will be coming up in the next hour or so! Just wish I could find the time to do this more than once a week!

[SuperDave]

Dinner in France and Change of Plans!

Saturday, March 29 (Part VI)

It was now about five after 6 pm and my ADR for Monsieur Paul was at 6:15 pm, so I walked to the back of the France pavilion, where the restaurant is located. I was interested to see what kind of changes were made in this restaurant from when it was recently known as Bistro de Paris, where I had dined on a number of occasions. I knew it would be expensive as it requires two credits on the DDP.



I checked in and the downstairs area looked pretty much the same as before. I only had to wait a few minutes before I was led upstairs the grand staircase to my table. So far the staff seems quite nice as they were telling me about the menu and how the cuisine is much different than Bistro de Paris. Chefs de France looked quite busy (next to check in area of Monsieur Paul) and quite noisy as always. Probably why I always preferred Bistro to Chefs as the food was better too.

I was seated in the first area to the left when you come up the stairs. There was only one other open table in this area. I didn’t have a table next to the window, which I would have liked but just across from that. That was fine. It was mostly couples dining here with one larger party at one table and a party of four at another. One thing that was gone were the white table cloths that were in Bistro in Paris and now the dark brown color of the mahogany tables were now apparent, which looked good.

I was given the menu and the wine list and looked them over for a few minutes. Bread service came around and I chose a baguette with bacon and mushroom. It was quite good and would have another later. The menu was quite expensive, but the choices looked quite amazing in their descriptions and combinations. I decided, what I wanted so I could now chose, which wine or wines I would like to accompany my meal. Many times I will have (at a good restaurant) a glass of wine with my appetizer and a different one with my entree. Since, my courses were somewhat related I decided to spring a little extra for a ½ bottle of wine. The wine wasn’t cheap here either. I think it was $30-$35 for my ½ bottle. I chose the Pouilly Fuse Chardonnay from France. It was a good choice!

So far, the service seemed quite good as the staff was attending to me quite a bit, but not too much where it gets annoying. The CM came back to take my order and the other CM returned with another baguette for me. There was also an amuse bouche (small appetizer)just before I received the bread. It was a small cheese puff which was good, but wasn’t overwhelmed by it.

After enjoying my second baguette and some wine, my first course arrived and how good does this look?


Maine Lobster with Sauteed Mushrooms, Mollet Quail Egg with a Creamy Black Truffle Boillon.

It was quite good for sure and better than anything I had at Bistro de Paris, which I always enjoyed. This was a good choice, but expensive at $29 for the first course!

They don’t seem to rush you here as the courses were well paced. About five minutes or so after finishing my first course, my entree arrived, which was as equally impressive looking as my appetizer!


Seared Sea Scallops with Red Bell Peppers and Angel Hair Pasta in a Light Lemon Cream Sauce. This went for $43!

I enjoyed this very much as well and had so much flavor to it. I may have enjoyed the lobster course just a bit more.

Next was my dessert course and to accompany it I had an espresso. They asked if I wanted a digestive too and decided to have a Grand Marnier. This dessert looks quite tasty, doesn’t it? And it was!


Meringue, Vanilla Ice Cream with Whipped Cream, Raspberry Sorbet and Raspberry Coulis.

I took my time finishing my dessert and beverages and paid up, after dining for nearly two hours. It was quite an enjoyable meal, even though it was quite expensive. The cuisine was exceptional as was the service and I really have no complaints. I will definitely, return here in the future!

Overall rating:
1/2 Out Of Five!

I left the restaurant and my original plan was to wait around for Illuminations to begin. I was a bit tired after a long day and didn’t want to stand around for another 45 minutes or so. It was getting quite crowded and the atmosphere had changed quite a bit as there were quite a few attendees in Epcot now, who have had more than their fare share of alcohol tonight! To the point, where they were being obnoxious, loud and making fools of themselves! Unfortunately, this is what you get sometimes at Epcot on the weekends. I’ve heard from others here on the board that the Food &Wine Festival can be even worse on the weekends.

I didn’t feel like walking back to the bus after Illuminations and doing a lot of waiting with the crowds there later. I didn’t want to stand around, so I decided to walk to the Boardwalk and to the Bellevue Lounge to wind down the evening in a relaxed environment. It was also a bit humid out and the air conditioning in the Boardwalk Inn would be welcoming. I was tired, but not tired enough to go to bed yet as I wanted to experience more in Disney tonight.






Inside lobby of Boardwalk Inn.




Bellevue Lounge behind the bar


I had a Grand Marnier and a coffee. These are three types of Grand Marnier with the standard one in the center. The other two are the 100 and 150 versions, which are more like Cognac.

After spending a while here, I went to get some photos of the resort.


Outside the Boardwalk Inn entrance








Staircase adjacent to Bellevue Lounge




Love the detail and style in this resort, like this!







Hallway, just off the lobby



After a good first day at Disney, I felt it was time to head back to Riverside as it was after 10 pm. I took a taxi from the resort and arrived back at Riverside at around 10:30 pm. I was quite tired and surprised I was able to stay up this late, after being up since about 3:15 am. I made the short walk to my room in Alligator Bayou and made sure I had everything ready for the morning as I would be playing golf.

NEXT: That’s All You Have?

[lauriep]

I'm glad you enjoyed your meal at Monsieur Paul's! I haven't eaten there yet, but did not like Bistro, since they were not very accommodating to vegetarians! The MP menu doesn't look any better, but maybe they'd be more willing to adjust. I understand the bias against veggies at many upscale restaurants, but think in this day and age and at WDW, they should be a bit nicer about it! All the other signatures do a fantastic and creative job with vegetarian choices. Bellvue Lounge is one of my favorite spots to relax.

[lfredsbo]

Dinner looked amazing! Glad you enjoyed it! Sounds like a great first Disney day!