toastnjam

Hi - just got back from spending New Years eve in Paris.

What an amazing 'eye-opening' city... it is so bloody attractive, one cannot help but keep their eyes open
My boyfriend had to drag me back to end our day.. I just couldnt get myself to go back and sleep.. it just seemed like such a waste of time

I highly recommend The Tastevin restaurant in the Ile St. Louis near the Notre Dame (across the river) and just across from the famous ice-cream maker, Berthillon. We had excellent food including wonderful escargot and beef dishes. The people running the place were very friendly, spoke English as well as explained the menu to us.

We also visited Chez Agnes on my boyfriends birthday.. at first we were a little intimidated by her seeming rudeness.. but she warmed up to us.. and the food was well worth it. Try the beef in burgundy wine. The chicken in sage sauce was also delicious. I dont know how she manages to do everything there.


I have one question though.. does anyone know why after 5 minutes of blinking to ring in the New Year, the Eiffel tower went dead for the next hour?? We heard all sorts of theories aroudn the tower at that time, short circuit, time out for mourning for the victims of the tsunami, etc...
This was my first trip there and expected a whole lot more.. but I must say the New Year under the Eiffel tower was a little bit of a let down... the fireworks were very wimpy (have seen better in San Jose) and the Eiffel Tower blinking was alright.. (nothing more than the normal on the hour blinking).

All in all - I cannot wait to go back to Paris.

P_M

I don't know why it happened in Paris, but I saw on the news that many countries toned down their celebrations considerably due to mourning tsunami victims. I bet that's the reason.

Scarlett

There was a moment of silence in Times Square, perhaps that was what the Eiffel Tower was doing.

highledge

Most european cities did tone down the new years celebrations in respect of the victims of the tsunami. I was in London on boxing day but was in the US until after the New Year. The press coverage is very different. In the UK the press ia more personal- there are many names and faces in the papers. In the US it's more of a global coverage and human interest story. The connection to the region is a bit stronger in europe due to tourism.

On a lighter note. My first thought as to why the Eiffel Tower went dark is that they had to change the light bulbs.

sandi_travelnut

Wow- if Rome toned it down, I'd really hate to be there when they were going wild. Non-stop fireworks for over 4 hours.

toastnjam

Yeah - my initial thought was the Eiffel tower was going to observe a moment of silence.. but the lights were out for more than an hour, after which time, my boyfriend and I decided to walk the long walk back to our hotel.

Sandi - you say Rome had 4 hours of fireworks.. wow.. that sounds awesome.

Comparatively, the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower were really sad... I think it must have lasted 2 minutes if at all.. Was disappointed to say the least.

Underhill

The main firework display in Paris on New Year's Eve was at the Place de la Concorde.

francophile03

Hey toastnjam, I was in Paris at New Year's Eve and I noticed the tower going dark just after midnight too. But the fireworks display was awesome coming from the Place de la Concorde though. I was at Notre Dame and the crowd was tremendous but more or less well-behaved. Lots of people with champagne bottles and glasses toasting each other-great atmosphere!

I ate NYE dinner at Le Tastevin and I highly recommend this restaurant too. The lady who owns the restaurant is really nice and so are the waiters. And the food was great. Had a nice filet of beef with foie gras topping.

Robert2533

From what we observed, the lights seemed to be on a regular schedule. The special display of twinkling lights left over from the millennium celebration, were on for the first 10 minutes of each hour on the night on the 1st of January, just as they were during the rest of the week.

Chatters

Even the fireworks in my small town were cancelled out of respect for the victims and families of the Asian disaster. I imagined the French people working on the Eiffel Tower may had decided to do the same?

jeffwill4you

While we were in Paris the Eiffel Tower
was closed! due to a labor strike for 2 days Sept 16-18 '04. The restaurants were open but, you could not go up the tower unless you had dinner reservations
and then only to the first level.