Winter Vacation '08 - Paris - New Year's Eve in Montmartre

Celebrating New Year's Eve up in Montmartre at Sacre Coeur was one of the main things we were looking forward to on this vacation. We had kind of stumbled into it in 2006. But this time it was a focal point of the trip. I did not pull it off as smoothly as I would have hoped, but it was a good time nonetheless. As I write this now I am inclined to swear off cold destinations for any future winter vacations, so I don't expect to be back for another NYE in Paris. But I will leave some thoughts and tips for anyone who finds this post while planning their own trip.

Be smarter about your dinner plans that I was
Almost every restaurant in Paris apparently puts together a fancier, multi-course set menu kind of event on NYE. I had read about this in the guide books and should have known better than to do what we did. But we also got lucky in 2006 when we just found a nice neighborhood place that was offering its regular menu, so I guess I was hoping to just pull the same kind of thing off this time. We expected that Corso, a place we had tried earlier in the week, was offering its regular menu. But we didn't call and check and didn't think to ask as we walked in. Found out about the set menu once we were seated and would have felt pretty dumb and impolite if we decided to leave at that point. So it was to be a fancy dinner for us -- both longer and pricier than I was looking for.

Get where you're trying to go earlier than we did
I don't know exactly how early you need to get up to Sacre Coeur to claim some of the spaces with a prime view, but I can tell you that 11:45pm isn't early enough.


Walking up the steps to Sacre Coeur

In '06 we were a bit lucky here, too, as we got to the top maybe 11:35 or 11:40 and were able to maneuver into a position that could at least glimpse the Eiffel Tower at 12. But that was standing on our toes and looking over and through rows of peoples' heads. Not ideal. This year was the same kind of thing. Due to the six course dinner we had we didn't leave the restaurant until 11:30, so we didn't get up to the top until maybe 11:50, by which time we were left to drift around in the areas with obstructed views. However, that wound up not being a huge deal this year because ...

Weather can make or break this experience
It was pretty gray for most of the week, but it was really misty and foggy on NYE. You just flat out could not see the tower except at extreme zoom levels on the camera.


This mist/fog prevented us from seeing the Eiffel Tower this time

That was kind of a buzz kill. Seeing the Eiffel Tower's lights at midnight is one of the 3 cool things about being up the hill in Montmartre on NYE. Given the weather, which wasn't a surprise, we could have gone down to the Champs-Élysées, which is supposed to be party central anyway, and been guaranteed to see it from a much closer perspective. But I'm not a fan of massive crowds and knew the schlep back to our apartment just wouldn't be fun from that part of the city. So, we missed the tower. Luckily, the other 2 cool things were still available to us.

Just about everyone has fireworks
Be alert. Every other person in the crowd seems to have bottle rockets, roman candles or some kind of novelty items that spin and sizzle around your feet.


Crowd & fireworks @ Sacre Coeur. The sequence at 1:31 - 1:38 is my favorite part.


More crowd & fireworks @ Sacre Coeur

It's definitely cool. But pay attention to your surroundings.

Public drinking is rampant
Not surprising, right? It's NYE after all. But this has something of a Bourbon Street to-go cups are okay kind of vibe that still tends to stun someone whose formative drinking years took place in the Boston area, where the authorities take a decidedly hostile stance against fun. (Some 16 years later I still recall with wonder the time I was intercepted by one of Boston's finest because I had taken literally two steps outside of a Brighton bar with a beer bottle in my hand ... good times.)


Walking along the side of Sacre Coeur, being greeted by some friendly fellow celebrants

If you're inclined to partake in the public drinking, consider the byob approach. While there is something to be said for camping out at a cafe and sitting in one of the sidewalk tables under the heat lamps just watching the parade of partiers pass you by, going byob allows you to meander freely about, following the pockets of ad hoc exuberance wherever they may lead.


Walking to Place du Tertre

Most of the action is concentrated in two areas. First is in front of Sacre Coeur, the second is in Place du Tertre. So after most of the DIY the fireworks had subsided, we made our way over to Place du Tertre.



Place du Tertre


Place du Tertre

And this is where we busted out our bottle of champagne, procured earlier that day from a Nicolas store on Rue des Abbesses.



This is also where we posed for the obligatory, I'm-drinking-champagne-in-public-on-NYE-in-Paris shots.



For entertainment, there are still some fireworks to be seen. I remember a bit more action in '06, though.


Fireworks in Place du Tertre

After enjoying some free, low scale pyrotechnics and a couple glasses of champagne, we went back over to the front of Sacre Coeur to see if anything was still going on. I don't think we did this loop back in '06 because we had gone the grab-a-table-on-the-sidelines route. I have to say the aftermath we saw diminished the magical vibe a bit. Most of the crowd had moved on and what was left was the debris of their drinking and a number of characters that seemed like wild cards.


NYE aftermath on the steps of Sacre Coeur

But we did catch one pretty cool thing before we made our way out of there and back to the apartment. These guys were putting together a home made, unmanned hot air balloon. Didn't see exactly how they were doing this, but have to admire the ingenuity. Though I do wonder what happens when it lands. Does it crash into someone's terrace, still aflame?


Revelers send a small fire up into the Parisien night. The exchange you hear between 1:28 and 2:00 or so is me deflecting some cat hopped up on Smirnoff Ice who thought Judy was unaccompanied. Wound up being pretty harmless.

Winter Vacation '08 - Paris - Views Around the City

Similar to the Brugge post, I'm not going to try and tie these shots together with any kind of unifying narrative. Just off the cuff notes about some shots that I liked from our trip.


Even the ads on the Metro struck me as more sophisticated. To be fair, though, you do see plenty of ads asking if you speak Wall Street English, I just didn't take pictures of those.

UPDATE 2/21/09:
Got my videos together on YouTube and can now embed them in these posts. Found another cool thing about the Parisien Metro - great amateur performances. I haven't taken the L in over two years since I bought the Yaris, but I can tell you I saw nothing like this in my first 9 years of taking public transportation in Chicago. And I don't recall ever seeing anything like it in D.C. either, for that matter. Also, for the record, we did drop them a 5 before we split.




We always stop here. This is where we got engaged in 2002. Crazy nerve racking at the time, but in retrospect the play-it-by-ear approach worked perfectly. We randomly stopped here, Judy mentioned it was one of her favorite spots in the city, I pulled the trigger.



Holiday lights in the streets of Montmartre.





Street corner shots in Montmartre.



Another street corner shot in Montmartre.



A look toward the small streets that wind their way to Place du Tertre in Montmartre



We didn't go up the tower this time. Really weren't planning on it and when we saw the ridiculous lines, that confirmed any outside, long shot chance of going up was just not going to happen. But it's nonetheless pretty cool to be walking around the neighborhood and suddenly see it pop out from behind a building.









Had to get some crepes, at least once. Judy went with the Nutella and banane, I opted for jamon et fromage. Both were solid.




Didn't use any bikes from the Velib program, but thought this rack made for an interesting shot. The larger shot will hopefully look good on the wall someday.


These shots are from the Rue Montorgueil area. Would be pretty cool to be able to have this kind of market within walking distance for your daily bread / fruit / fish / olive oil / etc. needs.

Winter Vacation '08 - Paris - The Neighborhood

As I noted in an earlier post, I thought I had made a huge mistake during our first trip to Paris when I realized we were going to be pretty close to the Pigalle red light district.

However, we soon determined there was nothing to worry about and that most of the area was actually pretty great. It has since become something of a 'comfort zone' for us. So when I found a good deal on an apartment just off the Pigalle square, I didn't hesitate to grab it.


View Larger Map

This turned out to be a great base for us, with good access both up the hill into Montmartre and down to Rue des Martyrs.

UPDATE 2/21/09:
Finally got my videos uploaded to YouTube so I can now embed a few in these posts. This is the walk from our apartment to the Pigalle square. And, to answer the question Judy asks at the end of this, yes, there was someone in Santa's sleigh, which is what I was trying to capture w/ the zoom.



These are just a few of the shots I snagged while walking around during the week we were there.


Just liked something about how simple this was. Was happy to get a shot of it, but glad I wasn't staying there


Le Grenier a Pain -- Judy loves bakeries. We stop and look in the window of almost every one we pass. This one was just up the hill from our place and we got some bread here as well as the reusable bag that Judy is holding.


The holiday lights on some of the main streets were pretty amazing (as seen further below). But even some of the little side streets like these had modest displays that added to the seasonal atmosphere.




This street was always bustling at night, with a number of cafes open to the sidewalk even though the temperatures were in the 20s and 20s. Hard to do the vibe justice in this shot, especially since I'm a hack with the camera. This larger shot is better, but not great.

UPDATE 2/21/09:
Adding a video that gives a bit more of a sense of the feel on Rue des Abbesses.



What was really lively was the bar in this next video. Kind of random. This was a bit further up the hill but not all the way up to Place du Tertre. It was a little sad when, after 'Jump' ended, a couple of the women tried to keep the 'look at me I'm dancing on the tables' vibe going into the next song, which wasn't anything particularly cool or fun. Just gave off that stink of trying too hard, like they were convincing themselves of how much fun they were having by staying up there on the tables.




This was cool, just catching a glimpse of Sacre Coeur as you walk along Boulevard de Clichy.


Another view of Sacre Coeur. This one is near Corso, an Italian place we tried during our stay.

Winter Vacation '08 - Paris - The Eating, Part IV (Sourire de Saigon)

We found Sourire de Saigon on our last trip to Paris in 2006. It was total chance that we found it, as it was directly across the street from the apartment we rented. And we loved it.

So it was a given that we would be eating here again on this trip, even though we had to hoof it a good bit further this time.


View Larger Map
Map of the walk from 7 Villa Guelma, our rental apartment, to Sourire de Saigon @ 54 Rue Mont de Cenis

What you don't necessarily get in that map visual is that you're dealing with a couple sets of serious stairs in the middle of it. For us this meant a return trip uphill with bellies full of Vietnamese food.


Imposing staircase, Montmartre

But on the way down you get to spot the restaurant's lights like a beacon of deliciousness.


View of Sourire de Saigon from above

We arrived a few minutes early for our reservation, so we walked downhill a bit more, getting a view from the other direction.


This angle illustrates just how in the middle of nowhere this restaurant is

We still had a couple of minutes before our table was ready, so they set us up with two glasses of champagne while we waited.



There is something about the red / violet light motif they have going one here that I really like.



It's chic, but soothing.



We ate here twice during this trip and both times the food and service were fantastic.


View of the bar, which is a tiny, one-man operation

One slight drawback of the low light ambiance is that the pictures I tried to grab with my BlackBerry were just too dark to be useful. And while I'm willing to risk being something of a conspicuous dork to get photos, I wasn't willing to put the flash on here. So there is no photographic evidence of our main courses. But I did get some shots of the side dish that fascinated us in 2006 and continues to fascinate us now: Riz Gluant (aka, 'sticky rice').


Riz Gluant - aka, the best damn rice I've ever had

They bring it out to you in these wooden cylinders and peel it open for you in a banana peeling / corn husking kind of fashion (it's far more elegant than it sounds, though, as it's performed in almost a ritualistic fashion by deft waitresses outfitted in colorful, traditional Vietnamese dresses).


A sad attempt to capture the flambe in action

There was one mild disappointment, though, which was the flaming dessert we ordered. It sounded much better than it tasted, as it was some kind of pineapple croquette soaked in a liqueur. Had the makings of something tasty, but just really didn't work for either of us.


The disappointing croquettes

Nonetheless, if we ever make it back to Paris I am sure we'll look this place up again. The atmosphere is cool, the food is amazing and we highly recommend it.

More shots from inside Sourire de Saigon


Buddha statue near the bar


French / European notables featured in the menu, none of which I recognized, exposing my cultural ignorance. But I'm glad they went with the pictures in the menu approach rather than the pictures all over the wall approach.

Even the bathroom is cool


Interior door of the bathroom


Not sure what the symbolism is of having the Chairman supervising your business in here


Good to see they keep the sink tidy


And apparently they are fans of Tintin

Winter Vacation - Paris - The Eating, Part III (Kastoori)

Kastoori is another place we found on our first trip to Paris in 2002.



It is ~100 yards from the hotel Les 3 Poussins. Somehow I have managed to not have any pictures handy of the triangular plaza it faces, which is a shame because that setting really adds to the charm of the restaurants in this little strip.


A = location of Les 3 Poussins; K = location of Kastoori; click image for Google Map of location

Neighbors and families congregate in warm weather on the benches and kids pretend to be Zidane or Henry, occasionally bouncing balls off some defenseless Smart car or scooter parked nearby. Lends a nice atmosphere to the whole casual dining experience here. But you'll have to trust me on that since pictures are nowhere to be found right now.

EDIT: Hold the phone. Light bulb went off and I grabbed a screen grab from Google Street View (I love The Internets). This is facing north toward the plaza, Kastoori is up on the right, about where that larger tree is.


Click for larger image


View of interior from our table in the window, at the end of the evening - we were the night owls closing the place down

We have a tradition of going out for Indian food every December 29th in honor of our first date (which was at since-closed Jaipur Palace in Chicago).


Colorful, cushioned banquette

We have something of a love / hate relationship with Kastoori, having had a mixed bag of experiences with them. On the one hand, the service can be spotty. A couple of years ago the guy told us "15 minutes, you'll be next table" and when we came back from a quick stroll we saw he totally slid people in front of us - just not cool.

On the other hand, it's cozy -- maybe 25 people can fit inside.


View of snug dining room

The food, in our experience, has been pretty good more often than not. And you can keep on eye on the guys making it.


View of 'the kitchen'

It's BYOB, which adds to the feel-kind-of-like-a-local vibe that I particularly enjoy. And it was our first Indian place in Paris. Plus, on this Monday night the other Indian place right next door was closed, so we had limited options if we were going to keep our anniversary tradition going.


A surprisingly tasty bottle of Pinot Noir we grabbed just up the street. Snapped a picture of it in hopes of being able to find it somewhere online but no luck thus far.


Judy - enjoying the wine, enduring me

Our experience on this night was more good than bad. Service was decent if not especially warm and welcoming. And the food was really good.



Judy got a tikka masala, which was solid. But my dish was the big winner. I can't remember the exact name, but it was a specialty of the house. Something a la Kastoori. And it was chicken in a pistachio flavored sauce that was ridiculously tasty.


If you look closely you can pick up the green sauce - that was my pistachio dish, which continued the trend of me ordering better than Judy



For dessert we got one order of gulab jamun and one mango kulfi. I'm sure both were pre-made somewhere else, but I liked them. I'm usually not a huge kulfi fan, but this agreed with me. Judy was disappointed that the gulab jamun wasn't as hot as she likes it. I still don't know why some places serve it cool while others serve it hot. Will need to get to the bottom of that mystery some day.



Net - it was a pretty good meal, but we were a little disappointed that the place next door wasn't open, as the service is stronger and food is as good if not better (though it isn't byob, so it ends up a bit pricier). Just bad luck this year that the 29th fell on a Monday.