Bonne Année!

September 28, 2015 2:30 PM

I am rewarding myself with my first-ever trip to Paris, the last week of December - which means I'll be there for New Year's Eve. What's the best way for me (and the conditions below the fold) to ring in the New Year?

The guide books I've seen only mention big splashy shows (which would be expensive), or standing around the Champs Elysee to watch the light show on the Eiffel Tower (and I'd freeze my butt off). Ideally, if there is a weird little bar somewhere with friendly people where I could hang out with maybe just one or two cocktails and see the light show out the window (or even on TV) and then go back to chatting with people, that'd be ideal. Or, if there's some weird tradition some other place has (a museum that has a costume party? a church that has some really special mass?) I'd consider that too.

Lemme know what's out there. Merci!

posted by EmpressCallipygos to Travel & Transportation around Paris, France (4 answers total)

I've done the watching the light show at trocadero a couple of years ago - it's not as freezing as it sounds if you have champagne to keep you company, and people are generally friendly.

Many bars and restaurants will require a reservation, or may be private for the evening, so if you find a place, it's better to check specifically that they are open on this date.

It's a bit early for now, but the city's site usually has a good selection of interesting events/places.
posted by motdiem2 at 2:12 AM on September 29, 2015

I've been in Paris for New Year's a few times, and gone to Trocadero once - it was okay, pretty cold and crowded, but as motdiem2 said, people were friendly. If you're really bent on seeing the Eiffel Tower at midnight but don't want to brave the masses or figure out where to go, why not just try to book a hotel room or Air BnB with a view of the tower? We've also done this and it worked well -- dinner out, back to hotel for champagne toast & light show at midnight from our window (or balcony if you're lucky enough to have one) then back out again to hit the bars/cafes.
posted by ladybird at 2:26 AM on September 29, 2015

I've spent New Year's in Paris at a random bar that had a great vibe, small and friendly. It was somewhere in the 19th/20th, but don't remember its name and it didn't have a view of the light show. I'd say that for that kind of low-key experience, spend some time looking the week you're there, and you'll find something. I don't think you'll find that kind of experience this far out.
posted by benbenson at 7:40 AM on September 29, 2015

Response by poster: Just to re-direct: I don't necessarily need to see the light show at the Eiffel tower. To draw a comparison to my own city: I get the sense that the Eiffel Tower stuff is like the Ball dropping at Times Square. But New York City also has things like a New Year's Eve concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, a midnight 5-K race in costume in Central Park, a January 1st swim in the Atlantic sponsored by the city's "Polar Bear Club", etc.

I'm more asking "is there more stuff like the St. John the Divine concert, or is it just the light show at the Eiffel Tower and the bars and that's it".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:19 AM on September 29, 2015