Day 5: Paris NYE

12/31/10

New Year's Eve, the moment we've been waiting for! We started the day with breakfast at Cafe Cherie, one of the cafes by our hotel, and we finally got our crepe fix. There really isn't anything that compares to a crepe and latte in a little french cafe :)

We wanted to picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower while waiting for the stroke of midnight so we stopped by a market and bought a baguette, some stinky cheese, hot chocolate mix, and champagne. We made some hot cocoa, put it in a thermos, and packed the rest of our picnic before heading out. Everything we read about New Year's Eve in Paris said that Champs-Elysee was the place to be so went down there to check it out for ourselves. There were tons of people there shopping but no one really lining up yet. We went into Nike Paris, a tradition everywhere we travel. Marcus got his Nike souvenir and we finished walking Champs-Elysee to the Arc de Triumph. The Arc was beautiful and people were starting to line up around it for the New Year's Celebration. From the Arc we could see the top of the Eiffel Tower and we knew that wasn't going to be good enough for us, so we headed over to Trocadero Square. We had taken some photos there the night before and knew it had an incredible view of the tower. We arrived at Trocadero around 1900 and we were definitely some of the first people to grab a spot. It didn't really start to get crowded until closer to 2200. We grabbed a seat on a ledge, set up our picnic, and gazed at the Eiffel Tower in disbelief. There were many moments over the passed two weeks where we didn't think we were going to be able to take this trip because of the weather and airport situations. But at that moment it became real, we had made it. With the help of our hot cocoa and hand warmers (which we also shoved in our new warm shoes to double as foot warmers) we managed to stay frostbite free as we waited for midnight to arrive.

As more people arrived to Trocadero Square so did the police. They were out in full force, some undercover and others suited up with shoulder pads, helmets, and weapons. I was happy to see them actually, it made me feel a little safer in the wake of the terror threats that have occurred through out Europe. However, with protection also comes regulation. We watched as an undercover cop walked up to the couple sitting next to us and told them, in French, to get rid of it. The couple was from Brazil and didn't understand what he was saying. The cop then repreated himself it in English. When the couple still didn't understand he grabbed the freshly opened bottle, poured it out on the cement in from him, and said "Now you understand??" Needless to say we kept our champagne hidden after that and took it out just in time for a midnight toast.

We made plenty of new friends while sitting around all night. We met a couple from Maryland who was in the Army and currently serving in Germany, an adorable couple from England who were going to University near York, and a really cool couple from London and Quebec that we later went out with that night. The girls all had a quick introduction and bonding as we went in search of our own makeshift "water closet" (restroom.)

At midnight the tower lit up in a shimmering light show. While there were no fireworks at the Eiffel itself, we could see fireworks shows that were going on near by. There were also plenty of amateurs setting them off right by us since they are legal in France and anyone can buy them. After midnight we walked along the Seine River in search of a pub with our new friends Simba & Claudine. We grabbed a beer from a street vendor and continued on our searched. I couldn't tell you where we ended up or how we got back, but it was damn fun. We stayed out until 5am drinking and laughing, finally making it home around 6... I think.

It was by far the most romantic and memorable New Years Celebration I have ever experienced. I will cherish the memories made that night for the rest of my life.