A very Parisian New Year?

Who wouldn't want to be in Paris for the strike of midnight on New Year's Eve? We had heard nothing but great reviews of the celebration that takes place in Paris, and thought this would be the perfect place to share our first New Years as husband and wife.

Australians had told us of the Champs-Elysees being closed to traffic, with people converging on the street with their bottles of champagne and their own fireworks to ring in the New Year. With the Arc de Triomphe at one end of the famous street, and the Eiffel Tower in sight from various vantage points, we had very high hopes for a great Parisian celebration.

While in Paris, however, we were advised by two residents on different occasions to avoid the Champs-Elysees, as it was not an ideal place to celebrate; there was no justification of why, but we have to admit that we were warned.

It was about 9.30pm on New Year's Eve that we set out. We took the metro to the station at the bottom end of the Champs-Elysees and decided to walk up the Avenue toward the Arc to get a good vantage point.

The Champs-Elysees is almost two kilometres long. Couple that with the street still being open to traffic at this point, and we had a very long and crowded walk.

As we got toward the top end of the Avenue, we noticed that Police vehicles were parked three or four deep in each side avenue, and Police officers, armed with full riot gear, were lining the street as far as we could see. It was perhaps supposed to fill us with confidence, but didn't.

We were looking for something to have for dinner, however noticed that McDonald's had closed early for the night, possibly due to the smashed windows at the front of the shop. Other shops - the street is full of designer boutiques and specialty stores - had been boarded up along the front to protect their windows.

We managed to find some fast food and eat it with the crowds of others who were in the same position as us, however were unable to find any shelter when it started to rain at this point.

We powered on, determined to get a good position to see in the New Year. We walked up as far as we could toward the Arc and waited. The crowd appeared to be a mixture of tourists and shady characters hanging around the unsuspecting tourists.

We weren't there for long when we heard a Policeman advise us over a megaphone that: 'there are no fireworks here tonight,' much to our disappointment and confusion. We thought this was perhaps due to the rain, and decided that we might as well walk back down the other end now before the street becomes too crowded.

Research since this night told us that there aren't any fireworks in Paris to celebrate New Year's; a fact that all of our trusted advisors had neglected to mention when telling us that it was a great place to celebrate.

So we walked the near two kilometres back down the Avenue. By this time the Police were out in force, the crowds had become thicker, the street was still open to traffic, and the rain was persisting.

On this leg of our walk we noticed that Police were checking shopping bags being carried by revellers and confiscating any bottles of champagne or other alcohol from people who were walking up the Avenue. So it appeared that champagne on the street wouldn't be happening either.

We finally made it back down the end of the Champs-Elysees, and found a place among the still-sparse crowd near the Ferris Wheel, where we could see the Eiffel Tower. This would be where we would celebrate the New Year...in an hour.

We waited, as the rain continued and the crowd built up. It wasn't until 11.45pm that we noticed they had closed off the Champs-Elysees, and it was packed with umbrellas as far as we could see. Another ten minutes passed and we noticed cars stopping on the road in front of us, parking two and three deep, in position to watch the lights of the Tower at midnight.

As we huddled together, dripping wet and freezing cold, there was a sudden sigh from the crowd; it wasn't the roar of a countdown, and it wasn't the shout of celebration: it was midnight and the Eiffel Tower was silently sparking in the distance...and the crowd was admiring it.

While there was no denying that it was a pretty sight, it was a very far cry from the explosive fireworks and collective cheer of the millions of people in the centre of Paris that we were anticipating.

The sparkling lights of the Eiffel Tower - which I'm told happen every night, not just New Year's - lasted a few minutes; long enough for us to realise that was as good as it was going to get, and it was time to go home and get dry and warm.

As we joined the herds of people headed for the metro station, we heard the familiar 'pop' of fireworks, and turned just in time to see three small bursts in the distance; let off by a reveller and no doubt enjoyed by every person present.

With our celebration over, and us curled up in our warm bed, it occurred to me that while it might not have had the million-dollar firework display, the roar and cheer of the crowd, or the celebratory drinks that we associate with New Year celebrations, the one thing it did have was the location: we welcomed in 2013 in Paris, and I'll never forget it!