Midnight in Paris

I can't make up my mind about Paris. I've been to the city three times, and while I have had some very memorable and enjoyable times in the city, my overall experiences haven't been anything super fantastic (and they're supposed to be... It's Paris for goodness' sake!). I will admit that I love the beauty of the city that establishes its renown - the famous landmarks, the romantic atmosphere, and the eclectic crowd of people that roams about the streets - but yet there's always something that seems to thoroughly disappoint me while I'm there. Unfortunately, my third trip to Paris this year to participate in the epic New Year's celebrations I've heard all about only confirmed my record that things never go quite right in this city.

Since I knew I would be in Europe for the New Year again this year, I immediately began searching for another epic place to celebrate. If you remember at all from my blog last year, I had quite the New Year's celebration in Rome and knew that I wanted to experience something just as fantastic, while having a new and different experience this time as well. My best friend Madeleine was also in Europe at the time, so we made plans to fly to a city and meet up to ring in the New Year together. We started brainstorming some cities and came up with London, Barcelona, and Paris, places we knew would have incredible celebrations. I was leaning towards London or Barcelona, but a few days later my best friend Rachel from back home called me and told me that her family was going to be traveling through Paris for a few days right before New Years, on their way to a week long trip in India. I mentioned Paris again to Madeleine and she seemed quite enthusiastic about going to the romantic city. The decision was made. We bought our tickets. And I was thrilled. 

After all, I was going to be in Paris with both of my best friends in the same week (although not at the same time), both of whom I hadn't seen in at least six months.

Hanging out with Rachel at the Eiffel Tower

Unfortunately, however, I should have taken note at the very beginning, before I even left on the trip, because that's when things starting going awry. About a month before the trip Madeleine informed me that her plans had changed and she was going back to the U.S. Although I still had time with Rachel and her family to look forward to, they were going to be departing on the day before New Year's which left me with no one to celebrate the New Year with.

Disappointment #1 – going to an epic city for New Year’s… by myself.

I thought back to the chaos and madness of Rome last year on New Year's and knew that there was no way I would survive the pandemonium of holiday celebrations in such a large city by myself, so I set out to do some networking to try and make friends before I arrived. I thought about the au pair network in Rome and Florence and assumed that there must be one in Paris as well, so I did some research on Facebook to try to find a group. Fortunately, I was successful and was able to get into contact with dozens of au pairs in Paris before I even arrived. And since the au pair community is very inviting and accepting, I had no problem making plans to meet up with them and join their celebrations on New Years. My solution was perfect: Not only would I not be alone, but I would be with lots of other girls just like me who were knowledgeable travelers, experiencing life in another culture, and living a lifestyle similar to my own. 

Thank you to this awesome girl for letting me join in on her New Year's plans!

I guess I should mention that this story isn’t entirely disappointing. There were definitely some great aspects to my trip that I enjoyed very much (like there always have been)… but the unfortunate events are just sad enough to share with you as well. 

Getting ready to go out

New Year’s Eve rolled around and everything was going as planned. I met up with some other girls at the apartment of one of the au pair girls I had been in contact with and we hung out and ate dinner together before heading out into the city for a night of craziness and chaos. At 9:00, we left to go walk to the Eiffel Tower and reserve a seat for ourselves so we could have a great view of the tower at midnight. Along the way, we met up with some other au pairs, increasing the size of our group to between 20 and 25. It was great - there was tons of new friends to be made!

This is only part of the group!

 Once at the Eiffel Tower, we quickly and easily found a place with a good view. Even though it was almost 10:00, there was almost no one there (this probably should have been another clue that something was not right…). We stood around and shared wine and champagne and snacks as we waited for midnight to come. And with 25 outgoing girls, we had no problem making friends with all the people standing around us! Over the next couple hours, the grass began to fill up, and people trickled in to find a seat amidst the crowd. Before I knew it, the entire place was packed and there were thousands of people all around me, staring up expectantly at the glowing Eiffel Tower, wondering what would happen when the clock struck midnight. 

Every now and then, someone in the crowd would light a firework, and a hush would come over the crowd as they watched in anticipation, hoping that more would follow. They never did.

After fluttering around among the groups and socializing with all my new friends, it dawned on me that it must be nearly midnight. In an effort to ring in the New Year the proper way, I started desperately searching for an unopened bottle of champagne, in order to pop it open right when midnight hit. Disappointment #2 – Everyone had already opened all their champagne and drank all of it before the countdown even started. I had nothing to toast to the New Year with! 

While we were waiting for midnight, I went on a search for a good location to shoot some photographs. I found a really good spot not too far from my group, standing up on a ledge that was already filled with a row of photographers. As I waited there, the crowd started to stir and I could tell something was about to happen. I didn’t want to be off by myself when the clock struck twelve, so I jumped down and rejoined my group of friends for the Countdown that I expected to happen any minute. I had no idea what time it was still, but was simply just following everybody else, and everybody else seemed to be ready for the celebrations to begin. As I surrounded myself with the group I was with, I realized that they were quite loud and animated…. a bit noisier than all of the other thousands of people around us. Suddenly, before I knew it, someone, somewhere starting yelling: 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR.

I was confused… the countdown had not been in French, it did not start from 10, and it was also not a community event. For some reason the Countdown had only happened within my group, while the thousands of people around us stayed silent…. 

Either way, we all kissed each other and said our rounds of Happy New Year and had some more wine (since there was no more champagne), but I didn’t stick around for long. As soon as I knew that it was the New Year, I jumped up immediately back onto the ledge where I had a great view to take some pictures. Staring through my camera lens, I realized the Eiffel Tower had gone from its normal yellow glow to a sparkly blue that twinkled against the dark midnight sky. A firework shot off next to the Eiffel Tower. I snapped a picture.

Random fireworks going off... but never any show!

Here we go. This is it… this is the fireworks show I’ve been waiting for behind the Eiffel Tower … the one where I’m going to get awesome pictures and where everyone in the crowd is going to go wild because they’re celebrating New Years in Paris and they’re so excited to be here!

I waited… and waited… and waited… The Eiffel Tower continued to twinkle. Another person set off a sad little firework. But there was no show. There was no music. There was no epic event to watch. There was not even any cheering and hollering. 

Someone in my group got confused and wasn't sure if it had turned midnight yet... so they started a countdown again. Once again... our group enthusiastically and boisterously counted down, while the crowd around us stayed silent, watching and waiting. This may have happened several times as we waited... I don't think anyone really knew what time it was ;-) 

We waited for ten minutes.

                 Then fifteen.

Where was the show?? Was something going to happen?

One by one, the people slowly turned and walked away.

Our group was in denial. "No... just wait a little longer. It just hasn't started yet!"

At 12:30, we decided it was probably time to leave. 

Disappointment #3 - Absolutely no celebration, no countdown, no fireworks show, no shouting...nothing. What happened, Paris?? Was I in the wrong location? Did I go to the wrong place? But I was sitting right in front of the Eiffel Tower! Surely there should have been something going on there!

Sometime, a good deal after midnight, making a toast with wine... not champagne

At least we had the rest of the night to look forward to, and we knew that we were going to have an awesome time dancing the night away. The metros were free all until the next morning, and most lines were open all night long, with only some closing around 2, so we knew we would have no problem getting around.

Wrong.

The entire crowd that was at the Eiffel Tower, plus probably the entire rest of the city, decided to come out onto the streets right after midnight. To be honest, it was actually pretty fun walking through the buzzing city in the middle of the night, meeting and observing all the different people from all over the world, and grappling through the crowd on our way to the metro station, alongside everyone else who was doing the same. We tried with all our effort to keep our large group together, but with more than thirty of us (the group grew while we were out), the task proved almost impossible. We finally succeeded in reaching the metro station where we planned to take it to are  with all the nightlife, and I reached in my purse to grab my iPod and see what time it was.

It wasn't there.

Did I mention that I had been warned countless times about pickpockets and thieves running about in such chaotic crowds that night? I had known the risks of taking expensive things, but I figured I would just keep a close eye on my stuff and make sure no one snatched anything from me. When I found my most expensive item missing (it's also brand new), I did my best to stay calm and not panic. I thought there might be a chance that I had dropped it somewhere in the area where we were waiting for the nonexistant fireworks show, and since we weren't too far away yet, I figured I would just run back and look around to see if I could find it. Unfortunately, going back meant separating from my group in a massive mob of people and trying to find my way back to them later somehow. I knew it was going to make things difficult later on, but I had no choice but to go back and look.

Before we departed from the group, we discussed and planned to meet up at a pub on the other side of town, so I said goodbye, hoping to see them again soon. One of the new friends we made accompanied me back to our spot and all the while convinced me that I probably had the iPod in my purse the whole time. When we stopped and unsuccessfully searched the grounds for my missing iPod, I decided to prove that out of all the things in my purse, that the iPod was not there, so I took everything out one by one to demonstrate.

Hanging out with new friends

As I had said, it was not there. So we looked around some more until a sickeningly feeling began to creep into my stomach as the reality of the situation set in. I thought back long and hard to when I last had it, where I had put it, and what might have happened to it, and suddenly a thought came to me. I looked down at my purse once again and reached my hand into a massive hole that had recently formed on the side of my purse. Deep in the lining, all the way at the bottom, my iPod sat safe and sound.

It had been there the whole time, just like my friend had said. Disappointment #4 - Worried about an iPod that wasn't really missing and separated from my group for no reason at all. Although this time, it wasn't Paris' fault... just my own!

We quickly scampered back to the metro to see if we could get on one and meet up with our friends. It was packed. We literally couldn't move, and there was no possible way we could even get down the stairs to get on the metro. Our only other option was a taxi, so we set out to flag one down.

Impossible. Every taxi in the city was already taken. After attempting for almost 30 minutes to get a taxi, I finally gave up and said I was just going to brave the metro and push my way through. I said goodbye to our new friends and set off by myself to try to make it to our agreed destination.

It was insane. There were literally people everywhere, right up to the very edge of the platform. Fortunately, I'm quite good at weaving my way through crowds, so I nudged and pushed here and there and actually made my way onto a metro! A few stops later, I had to get off and change lines in order to get where I needed to go. I walked and walked and walked (or maybe it was more like ran and ran and ran) for what seemed like forever through the metro station to get to the other line, and I finally walked up to the entrance with a group of people. Right as I went to enter the tunnel that led to the metro I needed, a security man stepped in front of me and said "This line is now closed. It's 2 am. The metro isn't running anymore."

At that point, I was somewhere in the city with no clue where I was, alone, in a massive crowd of people, with absolutely no where to go for the rest of the night. (Did I mention that I didn't book a hotel or hostel that night??) The metro I needed was closed, and I had no idea how to get to where my friends were. With absolutely no other options, I put on my puppy dog eyes (more like the "I'm a poor American girl by myself that doesn't know where to go or what I'm doing" look) and begged the security man to let me through to the line I needed. Naturally, it didn't work. But I did succeed in getting him to take a minute to explain to me which lines I needed to take to get to my destination. At least there was a way to get there! A few more stops on the lines that were open all night, a few more changes, and I should be there in no time.

Of course, there was a massive line of people waiting to get on the line I needed because everyone else had been rerouted too. We waited for probably 20 minutes for hundreds of people to go up a single file escalator, and then waited even longer for the train to actually arrive.

When all was said and done, I finally arrived to our meeting point over an hour later, somewhere around 3 in the morning. I walked into the pub (that I miraculously found with no problems at all!), expecting to see all of my friends hanging out together. 

No one was there.

I searched downstairs on the dance floor, I walked all around the inside of the pub, I checked outside again. I couldn't find anyone. 

Right as I was about to freak out and give up on the night, two of the girls from my group walked in. Two. We chatted for a minute and I asked them where the rest of the group was and why they weren't there yet. They explained that apparently everyone had gotten separated while trying to get on the metro, and some people ended up going home, some people ended up trying to walk, and some people were missing and not answering their cell phones. We decided to dance and try to enjoy ourselves while we waited for everyone to get there. 

A little while later, we received a text from our friends that they were not going to come after all, but instead were going home. We tried to dance and have a good time, but by this point, I was just upset and angry. I had flown all the way out to Paris for New Year's Eve for this?? Nothing had gone as planned for the entire night and pretty much every single thing I had hoped for had disappointed me. Now it was the middle of the night, I was tired, stuck in a pub I didn't want to be in, and had no hope of meeting up with the girls that I had been hanging out with that night. Disappointment #5 - I never saw those girls again! 

I won't bore you with the details of the rest of the night because the only thing we spent our time doing was wandering, looking for food, waiting around, and trying to find the right metros. After saying goodbye to the two girls who had stuck around all night with me and after spending another hour wandering around, I finally made it back to the hotel where Rachel's mom was staying at 7 am and met her in the lobby as she was getting ready to take a taxi to the airport. Since she was leaving, she graciously let me nap in her room for a couple hours and shower before checking out of the hotel for her and getting ready to take my own flight later in the day. This was truly a lifesaver for me otherwise I would have been completely exhausted! 

When I woke up, I still didn't know what had happened to the other girls the night before and didn't really have any way to contact them, plus I figured they would be sleeping all day, so I knew I wouldn't be meeting up with them again before leaving the city (hence why I never saw them again). With a whole day to try to fill and absolutely nothing to do, I decided to walk. Paris is huge, and you can literally walk for hours and still only have seen a tiny part of the city. An hour or so into my walk, I noticed that all the shops and stores were closed and finally realized that it was Sunday. Upon that realization, I thought it might be nice to try to find a church to go to before heading back home. I remembered that there is an American Church in Paris that I learned about when I was in Paris a couple years back with Glowing Heart. We just so happened to meet the pastor of the church on the train while we were here, and he invited us then to visit his church if we were ever back in the city. Well, I was in the city, on a Sunday, by myself and with no other plans, so it was a perfect opportunity! I had just enough time to walk to the church and make it in time for the service!

The service was great and I was actually able to meet several people while I was there. Surprisingly enough, the pastor remembered me from two years ago and he and his wife prayed for me and my future and my travels. After such a disappointing and discouraging night the night before, I was quite refreshed and encouraged to finally have something good happen! 

I stayed a little too long talking to people at the church and almost missed my flight... but I ended up making it just in time. I don't think I could have been more thrilled to finally get back to Italy that evening though! It was so nice to finally be home... and get a chance to sleep!

When all is said and done, I still am quite disappointed about how the whole New Year's experience turned out, but I must admit... it was still an experience, and definitely one I won't forget! I guess sometimes things go great and sometimes they don't work out as well, but it's all part of what makes up the great story of our lives, and for this I can always be thankful! Who knows... maybe someday I might actually give Paris a chance again... maybe. ;-) After all, whoever said fourth time can't be a charm too?