Day 1: Foire du Trône

After a quick stop to collect room keys and drop off bags we returned to the coach for a short drive back over the river to the Foire du Trône, because obviously we hadn't already spent long enough sitting on our arses.

This was my first experience of a proper European fair, and this apparently is one of the largest. With this in mind, the more experienced among you dear readers will have to forgive my overexcited overawedness.

We began with a spin on the rapids - my water magnet properties failed, redirecting all the water towards Tom and Steve and keeping me perfectly dry

Spinning wild mice are about the largest travelling coasters I've come across in the UK ...

... which are nothing compared to the 92ft high King!

People were raving about King and how good it had been at previous fairs. Unfortunately the old lapbars have been swapped for overhead restraints making it a very uncomfortable head banger. Unless something changes, I can't see myself ever riding it again.

After a bite to eat, something more sedate was needed. We elected to ride one of the fair's two big wheels.

The top afforded some incredible views of the fair laid out below. Even so, the photos don't give accurate testament to the scale of the thing!

Two of the coasters (King in the background) and other fair rides stretching into the distance. This is less than 1/3 of the area the fair took up.

The wheel also provided excellent views over Paris - here's the Eiffel Tower sticking up (or however you want to describe it).

Typhoon was a homemade Star Flyer with a difference ...

... no seats! Call me chicken, but no thanks.

Infernal Toboggan is one of those standard coaster designs manufactured by the likes of Pinfari and SDC which you see littering seaside resorts and smaller parks throughout the UK, but it was nice to see this version with a slight twist: Instead of the second major drop diving underneath the first in a headchopper effect, it is enclosed in a tunnel which provides a totally different experience. The idea was the tunnel should be filled with smoke, but they left it a little late to switch the smoke machine on during our run. Instead of a mist filled cavern we burst through something approaching somebody's smouldering fag end. Still more impressive than Nemesis: Inferno's tunnel on occasion.

Kiddie coaster! Tom didn't want to ride so took these pictures with my camera.

Some people ride kiddie coasters just because they want the credit. I ride them because they're good fun in themselves - certainly much more comfortable than King!

The French seem obsessed with putting tunnels on their coasters, not that that's a bad thing. Even so, much as I love kiddie coasters made more fun with tunnels, six circuits is a little too much.

Nobody would ride Jamming with me, so I rode it on my own. Supposedly it's like Toboggan in that it's painful and you'd never want to ride it more than once. Well, just like Toboggan, I thought it was a brilliant ride. People think I'm weird.

Last ride of the night was NewComer - kind of a top scan with a different seating arrangement. I'll admit to being a bit unsure about the ride, seeing as some programs on Samurai can leave me feeling ill. I needn't have worried: the ride was incredibly good. I regret not re-riding it on Sunday, but I'm sure I'll see it somewhere else someday.

We took the Metro back to the hotel - something else I hadn't ridden before.

The Paris Metro system is way more advanced than the London tube. For a start, it seems to work properly. Their equivalent of the DLR's driverless trains has the distinct advantage of not emergency-braking at every corner, making for a much smoother ride. The Metro is much more comparable to Athens' underground system which, being much newer, still remains the best I've experienced.

A short walk back to the hotel and we decided to pop into the bar for a quick drink before heading upstairs for some rest. At the prices they were charging, you wouldn't have wanted anything more substantial than a quick drink either.

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