Europes greatest cities.
Paris 2011 New Years Day in Paris can be savoured in real style with a helicopter or hot air ballon ride over the city offering a birds eye view of its inspiring momuments or follow the crowds to Disneyland Paris for the traditional New Year street party, always a highlight for young families.Paris, the City of Love, is without a doubt one of Europe’s greatest cities. A wonderful place to visit on any occasion, Paris offers so much to see and do. Full of corner cafes and a bevy of monuments and museums, the city impresses tourists who are looking for a truly wonderful European vacation.
New Years in Paris is a wonderful affair, and the City of Lights is truly one of the special places to be to usher in the New Year. The Paris metro is free on New Years Eve until around 12:30 a.m., and if you don’t mind a packed metro car, you could certainly arrive that way. But Paris is such a great walking city that your own two feet might be the best way to go. People generally start to arrive at Champs-Elysees at around 9 p.m., and usually they are armed with champagne bottles and plastic flute glasses.
As night draws in on New Year’s Eve in Paris, crowds head to the Eiffel Tower – join in the champagne cork popping as the clock strikes 12:00.
If you want a less crowded locale to take it all in from, then the plaza at the Sacre Coeur Cathedral is the place to go. The atmosphere is a bit more laid back than at Champs-Elysees, and the views of the Paris skyline are hard to beat.
Just be prepared for the fireworks going off around you too.
French people start wishing each other cheerful Bonne Annees and exchanging bises (small kisses on each cheek) at the stroke of midnight January 1st, and mailboxes are flooded with greeting cards and gifts throughout the month.
So don’t be surprised if you hear wishes for the new year throughout January- and feel free to return them! They really know how to celebrate New Year’s, whether it’s clubbing in Paris or the sublime midnight grape-picking event in the Midi Pyrenees or an upscale, medieval celebration in a Loire castle.
Find out how to plan a New Year’s Eve visit to France, and which events and festivals are planned for the turn of the new year. It’s traditional to eat with friends on New Year’s Eve in Paris so dine with amis on prix fixe menus across town.
If diets feature heavily on your list of New Year’s resolutions, remember that French women don’t get fat – excuse enough to indulge in a little food shopping at epicurean delight Fauchon (Place de la Madeleine).
