So, after my fabulous two weeks at home, I left Logan Airport once more to return to France on December 30th. I finally landed in Paris, after a layover in Frankfurt, early on December 31st and made my way from the airport to the hotel to meet up with my friend, Melinda. Melinda is one my good friends that I met while studying abroad together back in 2009! She’s from Colorado so this was the first time we had seen each other since leaving Paris two years ago. Her parents recently moved to Denmark so she was already in Europe for the holiday season and a few months back we made plans to spend New Year’s together in our favorite city! Although we’ve kept in touch thanks to Facebook, Skype, and all other sorts of technology I was very excited to finally see her again in person!
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| Melinda & I back in 2009 on a carrousel by the Louvre |
I arrived at the hotel a few hours before Melinda so I settled in and chatted with the concierge to find out some info about New Year’s in Paris. He informed me, to my surprise, that there are no firework displays and the police will be handing out 300+ euro fines to people with open alcoholic containers. Needless to say my visions of drinking champagne as fireworks lit up the Parisian sky near the Eiffel Tower came to a screeching halt. As if that info wasn’t enough of a buzz kill, he went on to warn that streets are beyond crowded (expected) with mainly tourists and pickpockets but also that it gets very sketchy, very quickly after midnight so it’s best not to stay out too late. (At first I thought he was saying this to me because I’m younger but he was saying it to everyone.) I was feeling a bit dejected at this point but went on to ask what the French typically do for New Year’s Eve and he informed me that they stay in and have a long dinner with either friends or family and very rarely go out. I thanked him for his advice and soon after he informed me that the room was ready.
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| Our hotel (Same place I stay with my Mom in 2007!) |
Our room was on the 7th floor giving a lovely view of the city- the top of Notre Dame, the top of the Pantheon, and the Eiffel Tower could all be seen! After checking out the view, I relaxed for a little in the room and before I knew it Melinda had arrived! It was so nice to finally be reunited! After chatting for a bit we went out and wandered around the City of Light. It was so nice to just walk the streets of Paris with no agenda- we could really just take it all in and enjoy simply being in Paris. We visited some touristy places (and quickly left due to the insane number of people), discovered new places we hadn’t seen before, and reunited with the smelly metro! Paris was cloudy and rainy as usual but Melinda and I both agreed that this city looks beautiful in any weather. It was such a treat to roam about Paris with someone who also understands how you feel for it- there’s no rush to go see a certain site, no need to take five thousand pictures- you just get to be there in the moment.
So, as we finished up our day of walking all over we were both quite tired, (she woke up very early to catch her trains; I was jetlagged) we decided that since there were no fireworks or light shows maybe it’d be best to have our own version of a French New Year’s and just stay in. As quasi-Parisians at one point in our life this suited both of us quite well. We returned to our hotel and then set out to a couple of boulangeries to get dinner and treats. We ended up getting quiches for dinner and a buchette de Noël for dessert! Melinda had brought some champagne so we had everything we needed- dinner, dessert, champagne, good company, oh, and a view of the Eiffel Tower! Our hotel room had a nice TV so we watched the news and saw New Year’s around the world until it was finally our turn to countdown in French. At midnight we opened our windows to hear the excitement on the streets, and we even wore little New Year’s crowns while doing so! We were a bit disappointed that the Eiffel Tower did not do anything spectacular at midnight (just simply sparked like it does at the beginning of every hour) however, we were still happy to be able to see it! Then as luck would have it one of the TV channels was showing Britney Spears’ Femme Fatale tour so we continued to drink our champagne and watch/critique Britney lip sync and struggle to dance. (We still love her, of course.) It was one of the most relaxed New Year’s I’ve had- but with out a doubt one of my favorites.
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| Champagne & New Year's nonsense! |
On New Year’s Day we got up and wandered around a bit more before we each had to leave the city. This time we went down memory lane and visited our former university, the cafés we used to frequent, the St Sulpice area, and more! We even stopped in a café by school to have a coffee just for old times sake. To our dismay they had remodeled the exterior and interior décor and it had lost its charm by looking so modern. The coffee and tea were still delicious but as we were finishing up we noticed the table next to us, a husband wife and their son, had ordered what looked like American club sandwiches. Why were these in Paris!? (Don’t get me wrong, I have no issues with club sandwiches except that they should just stay in the U.S.) So, as we were getting up to leave I noticed the little boy was struggling with his Heinz 57 bottle and decided to break all French social codes and offer some advice. I told them, in French, that if they hit the little 57s on the bottle then the ketchup would come out better and quickly added that I was American and this little trick has helped me. At first the father was very confused as to why I approached them but once the ketchup came out with ease the mom was laughing the dad was all smiles and the little boy was happily munching away-- we were wishing each other happy new year like we had known each other for years. And while I was a bit sad they were eating club sandwiches and using Heinz 57 I was still happy to share a little bit of American "culture" with them! After that we walked around a bit more just enjoying the cobblestone streets and the smells of the boulangeries we passed. Paris may be massive, and the metro may be one of the world’s best, but walking is by far the most enjoyable way to get around the city. We finally ended up in my old neighborhood, Bastille. Here we had lunch and reminisced about all the fun we had during our semester abroad as well as the need to have a reunion with everyone. (Seriously Fall '09 girls- it needs to happen.) Before we knew it, we both needed to head to our different train stations- our New Year’s in Paris had come to a close.
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| Bastille! |
Now, this is probably not what you expected to read about for a New Year’s in Paris but isn’t that the way it goes with New Year’s no matter what country you are in? So much hype often leads to disappointment so it was very refreshing to have a simple, enjoyable New Year’s with such a great friend! It’s not very often you get to begin the new year in your favorite city in the world, and with such a fabulous start I imagine that 2012 will bring so many great things!
Word of the Post: Bonne année! -- Happy New Year!
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