Dining in Paris for New Years Eve
 

I'll be arriving in Paris with my boyfriend on New Year's Eve and am trying to make some plans ahead of time. If I have a budget of about $100 - $150 per person, what is the best thing I can do for New Year's Eve? I heard that there may not be specific events going on that night and it is typical to go to a restaurant to eat and it may be accompanied by entertainment. If so, where should I make reservations at? Can someone refer me to a good list or some recommendations?

Which areas of Paris are most lively on New Year's Eve? We will be staying in the St. Germain area, so it would be nice to just walk around after a big meal.

You might try the website reservethebest.com and see what is going on at some of their restaurants.

I am the only one who finds "restaurants with entertainment" not really restaurants?

I agree in principle about "restaurants with entertainment," but my understanding is that many Parisian restaurants, including those that are definitely "real" restaurants the rest of the year, offer a kind of "packaged night" on New Year's Eve. I've never experienced New Year's Eve in Paris, though, so I can't really comment on the quality of such an evening as compared to a normal, lovely Paris restaurant experience.

Make reservations asap (today!!) We were in Paris for NYE without reservations and could not get into any place we wanted or the hotel recomended or anyplace we could walk to from our hotel in the 6thA. We ended up in a Thai restaurant which was not good by NYC standards much less what we would like to have in Paris.

Go to the restaurant Le Walt in the 7th arrondissement. It is brand new and is located at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. You can walk over to the Eiffel Tower after dinner ( a three minute walk)

AJTravel,
I'll just echo the urgency of making those New Year's restaurant reservations.
We'll be in Paris on New Year's Eve and will dine at Chez l'Ami Jean, a cozy, small, family run country Basque restaurant on the Rue Malar in the 7th which has a new chef who's received accolades in the gourmet press.
Because it's quintessential Basque, we're sure to have an enormous and lengthy meal with plenty of wine (Basques are hearty eaters and drinkers)and certainly there will be singing afterwards, as music, especially singing, is part and parcel of a Basque celebration. We may even be the only non Pays Basque natives in the house! The head of the Parisian Basque Club made our reservations for us. And since it's a Basque fete, it should go on until the wee hours. Afterwards, we'll stroll over to the Eiffel Tower. We made our reservations Dec. 1 and had to send a deposit of 100 euros immediately to secure the table. Cost is 130 euros p.p., including wines.

You may want to call your hotel concierge/desk staff today to have them help you. They should be familiar with restaurants in the 6th arrondissement that have special New Year's Eve dinners.

Maribel, the Basque place sounds great. Do you know what they'll be serving for food? And (yes I know we don't like vegetarians on this board so please don't shoot me) do you know by any chance if there are vegetarian options?

To piggyback on the OP's question - do you think it's necessary to make reservations for a lower-key, low-budget New Year's Eve dinner in Paris - such as at an ethnic restaurant? We don't have much of a budget and would like to do something along the lines of Indian or Thai... will these places be booked up as well? Thanks!

I spent nye in Paris 2 years ago. We went to the Place du Concorde after dinner where there were tons of people with bottles of champagne counting down. It was quite fun as we walked along the Seine to get there and every bridge had people on it.

Have fun!!!

I also have a question about making reservations for NYE. I made a reservation through a website: www.alloresto-resa.com. They contacted the restaurant for me, and told me that Le Buisson Ardent was available and accepted my reservation for NYE. I was then told that I was supposed to send a 60 Euro deposit to hold the reservation to the restaurant. Well, I called the restaurant and they didn't have my reservation. So, I made a reservation with them right then on the phone, but I'm concerned about the fact that I didn't have to spell my name or anything. The person I talked to spoke english pretty well, but I'm worried about actually having a reservation. I guess I'll just call next week and make sure it's still there. Has anyone heard of the website I mentioned or having to send a deposit to restaurants? I'm not sending the deposit and the website hasn't responded to any of my questions that I emailed to them. I'm not sure what the deal is. Should I be confident with the reservation I made over the phone?

katie, I probably wouldn't be worried about not spelling my name, but it is very normal to request a deposit for NY eve restaurant reservations. That is primo night of the year, they can't afford to just book reservations and have people not show up. It's possible that site didn't make the reservation because you never gave them the money -- they can't, really. Although you said they took it without one, but I might be a little nervous about that myself. I think just to recheck is a good idea.

AS for Balbadas' question -- I don't consider Thai and Indian restaurants cheap in Paris. They aren't as common as others, and I haven't seen hardly any (Vietnamese is more common, as well as North African, of course; and Italian is common). I wouldn't know if you'd need to reserve at places like that, but I suspect it won't be impossible to dine at very casual places that aren't putting on a big NY eve to-do and might be in the less posh areas. I'm just guessing, but I would think you can find something although you might want to branch out to some less trendy areas and restaurants will be cheaper there, anyway.

I would caution against using middlemen for anything that requires money exchanged. Christina is correct, most restaurants require a deposit to hold a reservation on NYE and I always send a check via Fed Ex with a clearly written cover letter. It costs a bit more to send overnight but it gets there quickly and shipment is guaranteed. The restaurant will take you seriously, for sure. Correspond with the restaurant directly. Most have fax numbers and be sure to get the name of the person if you speak to someone by phone. I've always received a confirmation fax or e-mail soon after the check cleared.

OR if you have a Diners' Club or AmEx card, there IS a concierge service you might contact and ask them to work out the details for you....OR you could ask your hotel for concierge assistance. My fav restaurant in St Germain is Chez Maitre Paul (google them, there's a website). In the Marais, my other fav restaurant in Paris is Le Fou d'en Face. They have an amazing wine list and are a real cozy, friendly spot. I'd bet they have a wonderful NYE celebration planned.