Still trying to figure out what to do on New Year's Eve in Paris


The clock is ticking down the minutes to midnight and Stephane and I still haven't figured out how to celebrate our first New Year's Eve in Paris. There will be champagne - but not the little individual bottles called "Pop" by Pommery that seem to be all the rage right now judging by the brisk sales at Galeries Lafayette.


Whatever we do, we won't have to pay for transportation because the metro, bus and the RER are free from 5:00 pm on December 31 until 12:00 pm on January 1.

If we decide to go to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, which is where most people gather to welcome the New Year, we won't take a Velib because all of the stations in the 8th arrondissement and around the Champs des Mars are closed.

And we won't see explosions of blue and red over the Eiffel Tower because, contrary to popular belief, there aren't any official firework displays in the city.

Since Sara and Philippe have been invited to celebrate with Jean-Arthur, perhaps Stephane and I will have a quiet evening at home and play cards. Poker, anyone?


Here's a toast to the future, a toast to the past,
And a toast to our friends, far and near.
May the future be pleasant;
The past a bright dream;
May our friends remain faithful and dear.

~Anonymous

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées will be crowded with revellers tonight. Photo by Sara.

Comments

  1. Happy and Healthy New Year to you and the family, MK. Here, we watch (usually) amazing fireworks along the Intracoastal canal then head straight home. It's a bad night to be driving around. Almost as bad a St Patricks' Day in South Boston!
    nancyb

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Place de la Concorde photo is great--look a the detail on the column! And the nice transparency of L'Organerie. Love this photo.

    I think staying in on NYE is the best thing to do: you're with someone you love, you have a nice bottle of something, a nice decadent something to eat, start early and go to sleep! My neighborhood is loud on this evening, not like the lush hushed silence of the 16th--Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Mary Kay !

    Like the tone of your blog and... approve the counsel of Joseph about staying cool at home while the craze is out.

    And hum, just a detail about the photo. It does'st appear to be l'Orangerie but the Grand Palais with its gorgeous verrière.

    Dom

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear MK + Stéphane! Have a great evening and enjoy life - I think Joseph's recommendation is exactly what people like us should do on this evening (and Paul and I are going to obey)!
    I like the poem, by the way...
    Happy New Year to all of you!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Whatever you ended up doing, I hope you had a very happy start to 2012. Our son hit the streets in Limoges but here in deepest, darkest rural Creuse there wasn't a lot going on ...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nancy, I hope that the New Year got off to a wonderful start in FL and that all of your travel plans come true in 2012! The fireworks over the Intracoastal Canal sound beautiful.

    Joseph, Thanks for your comment about the photo of the Champs-Elysees. Sara took it on Christmas Day when she was on the big ferris wheel at the Place de la Concorde with Stephane. As Dom mentioned, the building on the left is the Grand Palais.

    In spite of your excellent suggestion to have a quiet evening at home, we decided to celebrate on the Champs-Elysees. It turned out to be a good way to spend our first New Year's Eve in Paris but it felt even better to drop into bed after walking home.

    Dom, Welcome - and thanks for leaving a comment. It's great to know about your blog, especially since I should read more French!

    Dearest Heidi and Paul, I hope that the two of you had a peaceful evening together. I'm happy that you liked the quotation - I almost used this one: Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to. ~Bill Vaughn

    Thanks, Steph! I hope that your new year is off to a great start, although I also liked seeing on Twitter that 2011 ended on a positive note. I had to laugh that you were still in your pjs at 11:00 am after I had just changed out of mine!

    ReplyDelete
  7. And?... What did you end up doing?

    Whatever it was I wish you the best of the New Year!

    -Mark
    www.parisinsidersguide.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment