Paris: Day Two - New Year's Eve

We woke up early, enjoying a truly amazing breakfast at the hotel restaurant before wandering out into the bright chilly morning. Since we had no specific agenda, we decided to stroll back along the Jardins Tuilieres to the Place de la Concorde and onward to the Eiffel Tower.

The walk was refreshing, though we were both pretty chilly once we arrived at the Eiffel Tower. The lines for the tower were 3 hours long (!) and there were a couple thousand folks milling around, so we enjoyed the gardens, took some photos and then hopped in a cab back to the Louvre.

We explored the shops and cafes in our home neighborhood and enjoyed a light lunch in one of the cafes, but our clocks were winding down pretty quickly. We didn't sleep much on the plane and had a short night's sleep, so we both decided to catch a nap before the New Year's Eve festivities kicked off.

We woke up late, around 6 pm, and groggily prepared to ring in the new year. A short stroll from the hotel we found a fantastic restaurant and dined on roast chicken with french onion soup. The food was amazing and thus revived we headed out toward the Champs Elysees for the third time since our arrival.

The crowd was HUGE - I would estimate about 50,000 at least. We settled in to a spot for the big event and watched the Eiffel Tower as it lit up at midnight, sending sparkling light all over Paris. Champagne corks popped everywhere and the celebration started really cranking as the alcohol kicked in. Within 20 minutes Nightengale and I were scrambling for cover as revelers began shooting fireworks of all kinds - in every direction, including into the crowd. The air became thick with the smell of champagne and black powder, and for a few minutes I thought it likely that one or both of us would be hit with either a rocket or a flying champgne bottle!

We made a safe escape to the Jardins Tuilieres and enjoyed a more orderly procession back to the Louvre. On arrival at the hotel, we watched TV coverage of other European celebrations and settled in for a long night's sleep.