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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2012 17:54:47 GMT
I thought about starting a new thread to show New Year's on the Champs Elysées but decided that it did not warrant enough interest. I had no intention of going there, but my plans were altered when a small get-together had to be cancelled due to a sick child, so I decided to go and take a few pictures instead. The metro was in permanent rush hour mode on the evening of the 31st. One good thing about Paris is that public transportation is free in the entire metropolitan area from 5 p.m. on the 31st until noon on the 1st, and quite a few services operate all night. I'm sure that this has saved many lives. Unsure of how crowded things might be, I decided to exit at Ternes, one stop before Charles de Gaulle-Etoile, where the Arc de Triomphe is.
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Post by spindrift on Jan 2, 2012 18:02:39 GMT
Your pictures are very atmospheric. I feel like I am there!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2012 19:58:49 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2012 20:29:51 GMT
As you probably already noticed, the weather was not wonderful, although it was not cold. But there is something much more unpleasant about the Champs Elysées on New Year's eve, contrary to the myth. The police and (most, not all) store owners are so afraid of the crowds that it looks like a hurricane evacuation zone. The majority of the stores close and board themselves up, or at the very least hide what is inside (perhaps more guards and security dogs?) so that no one will be tempted. It is true that there were some bad moments about ten years ago, but now police presence is so high that most Parisians avoid the place like poison, abandoning it to the tourists.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2012 20:39:14 GMT
The Renault showroom was still open and welcoming visitors. The two tacky Italian restaurants were doing great business. Ladurée was dark. Fouquet's had no fear, in spite of being the most expensive place on the street. They were supposed to close the Champs Elysées to traffic at 21:30 but there were so few people that cars were still driving at will at 23:30.
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tallyhotravel
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It is my goal to live many lives in one lifetime.
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Post by tallyhotravel on Jan 2, 2012 20:40:57 GMT
Well, dear kerouac, you are braver than I. My second NYE in the city, and I'm as scared of the crowds on the C-E as the business owners. I'm even more scared of the crowds around the Eiffel Tower. I kept to my quartier in the 9th with which I am intimately familiar. Truthfully, all of it is not fear but I find that the older I get, the less willing I am to put up with crowds of the NYE people crush sort. OK, maybe a teensy tiny bit of fear thrown in for good measure! ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2012 21:01:46 GMT
My plan was to continue on to Concorde, where I could get a direct metro back home. I had no intention of waiting in the drizzle until midnight. To see what? Absolutely nothing. [photobucket height=240 width=320]http://s450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/Noel%202011/?action=view¤t=9ba3eef7.pbw[/photobucket]I rode home in full tranquillity. The year was ending not with a bang but a whimper. What will happen in 2012?
I left the metro at my station with other people, some probably going to wild parties and others just going to bed. I like to see my lights twinkling as I come out of the metro. They too have been stored away until next year.
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tallyhotravel
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It is my goal to live many lives in one lifetime.
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Post by tallyhotravel on Jan 2, 2012 21:25:11 GMT
When you passed thru ND de Lorette, you were at the foot of my hill. You could've hoofed it and had a toast with me at midnight. Oh, had you only known! Didn't I see in one of your photo journals that you were reared in Mississippi? Moi aussi - we could've talked about how everybody's got to be from somewhere!!!!!!!! Bonne Année my virtual friend.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2012 21:33:58 GMT
Ha! Notre Dame-de-Lorette was exactly where I was at midnight.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 3, 2012 1:21:45 GMT
Oh, that's a pity! While I like looking at the impressive Champs-Elysées illuminations, it is not a part of Paris that appeals to me (I've only been there when an artist friend took part in a show not far away, and also when friends (à la Kerouac) were working in offices there.
It rained heavily in Montréal as well - and all the way east to Halifax. No doubt in Toronto (hi Jazz!) which is a climate zone warmer than ours. No snow left at all, though it will be frigid tomorrow, so there will be ice patches.
I'm just recovering from a bout with mild flu or bad cold (I did have a fever) so I didn't go anywhere. Friends went to a most copious repast chez des amis (perhaps even outdoing imec's? ;-) but I couldn't even think of eating or drinking much, despite my fondness for things gastronomical.
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Post by fumobici on Jan 3, 2012 3:52:55 GMT
Lovely thread, quite enjoyable to tag along. This in spite of my appetite for Christmas lights being well sated now.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 3, 2012 7:28:50 GMT
Gee Kerouac, that was wonderful It certainly changed the visionary thoughts I had about New Year on the Champs Elysee's - I was thinking more in terms of the crowds we struggled through during the Tour De France. I never want to try and walk that again
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Post by Kimby on Feb 20, 2012 15:43:22 GMT
Had to revisit this thread before putting the holidays to bed for the year. Wonderful job, K2! (If I had spent more time on this thread DURING the holidays, perhaps I wouldn't have felt like such a grinch!)
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