Bonne Année!

Back from Scotland to celebrate the New Year in Paris.

We started off the night in Montmartre with hopes of seeing some fireworks from Sacré Coeur... but it was freezing cold, so we followed the line of people into the warm cathedral instead. The ambient organ music was flowing and thousands of people were already seated, waiting for the priest to come and begin the mass. Lauren and I walked around the nave and observed the beginning of the mass for a half hour or so. I was impressed with the reverence of some of the patrons, and the overall message of the mass (from what I saw) was one of new beginnings. Certainly, a unique cultural experience to have as we crossed over from 2010.

Afterwards, we sat down at a nearby café and got some hot drinks and a crêpe. We talked about the last year's ups and downs, our goals for the future, and just hung out. It seems like all the French people are either in mass, at personal parties, or out of town for New Year's because starting from the café on, we heard very little French being spoken. As midnight approached, we thought it best to head over to the Champs-Elysées, and do that whole thing for once in our lives--but, we never made it. We literally ran through the metro tunnels to try and catch the train up to the Champs, but they stopped running trains temporarily until the clock struck.

So, we kissed at midnight on the quai of line 9 at St. Augustin. It was still exciting though; people were screaming, singing, and everyone, but us, was drunk. It was funny watching the trains pull slowly by filled completely with wasted, noisy people.

The Champs-Elysées was overwhelming: people swarmed the large avenue in every direction. As we'd stop and look back over the whole street we could see hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people all in one glance. Holiday lights lined the streets, climbed the buildings, and flashed all around. There weren't more than four fireworks, which was disappointing, but we had fun. There were plenty of drunken Asians sinking "Ooo, Champs-Elysées!", tons of gross guys scamming on girls, and plenty of riot police. I'm glad we went; its one of those things that millions of people wish they could do once in their lives, and we've done it.