What is New Year%26#39;s Eve like in Paris? My husband and I will be spending New Year%26#39;s in Paris, arriving 31 December for three nights (our second trip to Paris, previous visit Sept. 07). Do large crowds of people tend to congregate at locations such as the Eiffel Tower or Arc de Triomphe? We would like to know what to expect so that we can wisely choose our hotel location. Ideally we would like to be within walking distance to Champs Elysees and the Eiffel Tower and have budgeted $400-500 per night. We are considering Hotel Elysees Regencia and Ares Tour Eiffel (though I know this hotel is further from Champs Elysees but looks lovely). Any others in those areas we should check out? We are both tall people so a king bed is a must.
I think that my husband has visions of Las Vegas-type crowds and craziness even though I am assuring him that this is not what we will find.
Also, what is Paris like on New Year%26#39;s Day? Are most places generally closed (shops, museums, restaurants)?
I would appreciate any ideas and responses. Thank you so much!
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Reeskers,
We were in Paris for this past New Years and we thought it would be fun to head to the Eiffel Tower at about 10 pm. This is the first time I have every experienced a true mob scene. We headed down into the metro and because of the size of the crowds building behind us there was no way we could reverse our decision. We were packed wall to wall in the metro for over an hour just waiting for a train. They were all full and the police were controlling the number of people allowed on the platform. Finally it was our turn to get on and it was a very tight fit.
The closest we could get was a grassy area just before the Troncadero. It was a spectacular sight. There were thousands of happy people. The lower part of the tower was lit like a clock and this served as the countdown. At midnight there was a deafening roar from the popping of champagne bottles.
Even though it was a nerve wracking journey, we are so glad we went. No one bothered with the metro on the way back. We just followed the crowd all the way to the Arc d%26#39;T and enjoyed the chaos.
The Christmas lights are still up during New Years and the Champs Elysees is stunning. There was a huge tree in front of Notre Dame that is a must see during the night time hours.
It was quite crowded at most of the museums as I believe this is a time for many French families to come to Paris. We had no problem finding food on New Years Day.
Because of the winter weather we figured we were not going to doing a lot of late night strolls back to the hotel so we opted to stay at the Le Merdien Etoile. We had an executive room and were only 1 block from the Porte Maillot metro stop .
It was kind of magical to be in Paris during this holiday season. Hope this helps.
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We have spent many NYEs in Paris, as recently as 2006, 2007 %26amp; 2008. We have celebrated outside, by the Eiffel Tower in 2000 when it was sheer madness, but somewhat fun %26amp; memorable because of fireworks. We decided to give it (Eiffel Tower) a shot again few years later and found it to be sheer madness, but without fireworks. Champs Elysees is not better and is also ..... sheer madness. But so is every other NYE celebration that takes place outside (having celebrated in Las Vegas a few times I can tell you that your husband%26#39;s vision is pretty spot on).
Since then we started celebrating in a restaurant and never looked back. While I can understand one%26#39;s desire to be by the Eiffel Tower or on Champs Elysees when the clock strikes 12, I would advise against it, unless your husband%26#39;s vision does appeal to you :-).
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