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Trip to Paris               

My name is John Brown. The name is so typically British that nobody ever asks for my nationality. And, surprisingly, I perfectly fit this stereotype — I was born in the suburbs of London, and so were my parents and even grandparents. All my roots are here, in England, except for my mum’s uncle, who left for Australia many years ago. In my family, where even trips to France or Italy were considered unreasonable and a waste of money, he is considered somehow a disgrace to the family.

Due to everything mentioned above, you can understand that it was not easy for me to inform my parents that we had been invited to take a school excursion to Paris. I desperately wanted to join my class for this trip but was not sure my family would allow me to do it. To my surprise and delight, my parents said yes, and even approved of the trip as, according to them, it was the right time for me to broaden my horizons.

And my horizons were indeed broadened! The adventures started the moment we boarded the train. The Eurostar, a high-speed train, moved as fast as a plane. To tell the truth, I’d never travelled on either of them, but that’s how it felt. We went through the Channel Tunnel which was amazing, thrilling, and scary at the same time. The undersea section of the Channel Tunnel is 38 km long and it’s the longest undersea tunnel in the world! Going through the Tunnel makes the trip much faster than by ferry or ship of any kind but, frankly, the thought of the tons of water above made me feel a little panicky.

Anyway, that same morning, we were in the heart of Europe, ready to explore Paris. Our programme there was very intense: a bus excursion round the city, a ferryboat trip along the Seine, museums, exhibitions, and other things. There was hardly any time for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners! We had only four days and wanted to see as much of France as possible.

Certainly, the place we couldn’t miss was Disneyland. It was scheduled for the last day of our trip, and for good reason! Disneyland is a place where one can spend a week or two and will never get bored — so many fun activities and attractions are offered there. Fortunately, we didn’t have to waste our time on choosing the attractions. Our visit was planned and all the activities were paid for a long time beforehand.

The Temple of Doom was something that blew my head off! It’s an Indiana Jones themed attraction — when you speed ahead in a mining train wagon through ancient ruins. You have to face poisoned arrows and screaming mummies, and all sorts of things. Fantastic, isn't it? 

We took the train to London straight from the Disneyland station. It made our trip back about twenty minutes longer, but it was really convenient. And one more thin, the Disneyland experience did me lots of good — the journey back through the Channel Tunnel didn’t scare me any more.