On a trip to France with her daughter, Sarah Scott is wowed by the wonders of Versailles, but disappointed by Disneyland

I had to bribe my daughter to change schools. "f you stop crying about it, we’ll definitely go to Disneyland next year," I told her. So it was that in March this year, as soon as I had our newly renewed passports in my hand, we booked.

Lastminute.com proved excellent. We would be using public transport, visiting Disneyland Paris for a day – two if we had to – whilst being based as centrally as our fairly modest budget allowed. There was masses of choice on the Lastminute.com website. The package included flights and there was a wide range of combinations involving both of Paris’s airports to and from Newcastle. I went for Orly Airport as the flight times didn’t mean an insanely early start either end of our journey and for a budget price, we were flying British Airways. For me and my daughter, staying in a three-star hotel for a week with flights, the cost was £780.15. Not bad, I thought, for August.

Our hotel was fun, in a naff sort of way, clean and adequate, even if when we arrived there was a horrid smell of air freshener. Breakfast, included, was a continental affair in the hotel’s cellar, the most character-filled area of the hotel and, bar the odd encounter with some fizzy juice and a piece of mouldy cheese, was fine.

Hotel-Theatre is in the 17th Arrondisement of Paris on a metro line a few stops away from L’Arc De Triomphe, in walking distance of Sacre Coeur and our room’s view was of the Stage Door of the Théâtre Hébertot (closed for the summer). My daughter’s experience of hotels is limited and she had been a little ruined by a recent luxury stay in Edinburgh, so she was a little disappointed, but it was pretty much as I had anticipated it would be and perfectly adequate for our needs.

I had arranged our Press tickets for the Disneyland Parks through a PR, so we had to visit on a specific day, which would be our second full day in Paris. We would be visiting both Parks - Disneyland Park, the original which opened in 1992, and Walt Disney Studios Park, which opened 20 years later.

Our guidebook for the holiday was an excellent Dorling-Kindersley Eyewitness Travel Paris guide (£14.99). I was particularly looking forward to checking out a series of short guided walks in the book, an opportunity to check out areas away from the usual tourist sites, including some of Paris’ iconic Art Nouveau architecture. Our first evening was the first of these, a walk which began in the nearby ‘lively’ district of Pigalle. For lively, read ‘sex district’. It also took in the sights of Montmartre and Sacré Coeur and a glimpse of the Moulin Rouge. We managed four of the eight walks during our holiday.

Our first full day saw us ‘do’ Ile de St Louis, joining the hordes at Notre Dame and visiting the fascinating Conciergerie, the prison used for those awaiting execution during the Revolution, and the incredible Sainte Chappelle. We also had the compulsory Riverboat tour and, like true Brits, sat on the upper deck in the rain for the whole tour.

So, back to Disneyland Paris. You know your kid is looking forward to it, so you get excited about it for them. It took ages to get there. The partial closure of an RER train line meant a 17-stop metro journey before making the connection to Chessy, where the parks are based. Paris’s transport network is, on the whole, cheap and excellent, but they do like to be a little mysterious about RER line closures that will affect you.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a privilege getting free tickets for stuff and the Disney ones saved me well over £100. However, it’s not great waiting patiently in a ‘Guest’ queue to collect them. It was as if it was better for the brand to keep us all waiting, rather than send the two people at the booths - for one-and-a-quarter hours! - packing, with their outdated/useless/obscure vouchers.

That queue was good practice for the rest of the day. You’ll spend an awfully long time queuing for rides, especially in high season. Add to that the strategy of ‘keeping the customer in the dark’ in the event of a ride breaking down, and that’s a lot of people being kept hanging about, many of them, let’s not forget, under five.

Then there’s the ‘No Picnic’ rule. We had snuck in our own snacks, which were gobbled hastily in queues. There is a range of cafes and restaurants at the resort, most offering fast food but for the time-poor day tripper are you going to devote two hours to eating exorbitantly priced food? When Trip Advisor tips are to go to the Park’s McDonalds, then something is up.

And forget the idea that you’ll just bump into Mickey, Minnie, Elsa and co. You’ll be queuing (again) or paying handsomely for that privilege. Yes, the shops are great, some of the rides are awesome and you probably still have to go, but these parks are trading off a mythical notion of what the reality is. It should be much much better.

So, Disneyland Paris done, Paris is a hectic, beautiful wonderland. My daughter instigated a ‘No Learning’ rule. Fairly difficult to adhere to in a city stuffed with some of the best art and architecture in the world.

My favourite day was Versailles. Yes, the queues are insane. The house, you may have to witness whilst shuffling around in a throng while some snap-happiers takes endless photos of anything and everything. My money is on the awesome Summer Fountains displays (a separate ticket not included in admission to the Chateau). The fountains are only in operation for limited times of the day but to see Le Grand Perspective, from the Chateau to the horizon, with a towering art installation of an extra cascade, fountains frothing? It was unforgettable and glorious.

We rowed on the lake, discovered the myths behind the many fountains named after classical characters including Apollo, Persephone, Latona and saw dazzling rainbows in the Salon de Balle. One hot day, sunburn, aching, dusty feet ; well worth it! We’ve already discussed our plan of action for our return visit. Tip: Go to the Palace first – the queue is only going to get larger and the gardens win over the over-crowded palace anytime.

Paris does have a lot to offer older children and young people. And I felt like I’d been in a cultural spa, my soul refreshed from the art, sights and stories of one of the star cities in the world.

www.lastminute.com

www.hotel-theatre.com

www.disneylandparis.co.uk

www.chateauversailles.fr