New Year, New Shoes

First and foremost, Happy New Year to everyone! I hope that 2012 is prosperous and exciting and fulfilling for each of you.

I’m going to commence this tale by citing that I had grand intentions of a fabulous New Year’s Eve in Paris. I will say that events did not unravel as planned, but that what I have now is a story for the ages. I was forewarned, by a true Parisian, to at all costs stay in for New Year’s Eve in Paris. She indicated that it is typically a night full of crazies, that it is complete chaos and that it would end in peril. I should have heeded her warning.

So, the story goes…

Rhea, Rose and I decided that we wanted to close out 2011 with an unforgettable night out in Paris. We searched and pondered how exactly we were going to do this. Several Internet searches later, we came across a club that was hosting a New Year’s Eve bash. The details entailed an 80 euro entry fee which included 10 drinks per person. In addition, bottle service and a private table could be purchased for an extra 100 euros. We decided to splurge, considering this was our first and possibly last NYE in Paris.

We looked onto the night with anticipation.

Selma came back to Paris on the day of New Year’s Eve. She had just come from a ten day whirlwind travel to Germany. She was exhausted but in excited spirits to bring on 2012 in the “City of Lights”. We gathered, along with my two roommates (Rose and Rhea) as well as a second guest Ola, in the living room to discuss our plans. None of us could wait.

We started preparing hours in advance. My ensemble was a beautiful black dress with black high heels and a chic updo. Of course, dramatic make-up and matching jewelry. The other girls wore sparkly dresses.

We left the house at 10:30 with plans of heading to the Eiffel Tower for the countdown at midnight. Great intentions, bad planning.

Side note-Stupidly, 4 out of the 5 of us did not have cell phones.

The metros were absolutely crowded and it was nearly impossible to squeeze all five of us onto the same train. We did manage for the first leg of the journey, but we got split up on the second. Sadly, we celebrated the countdown underground in the metro.

 After the first leg, our group of five became separated. Rhea and Selma were together. Ola, Rose and I were together.

We decided that we would exit the metro because Rhea and Selma were nowhere to be found. We searched the metro, and wondered where they could have gone. We decided to have a seat on a park bench. With us we were carrying bottles of champagne. The police approached us. Thank goodness I’m quick on my feet; otherwise the bottles would have gone to waste. The police indicated that we could not have open intoxicants on the Champs Elysees, so I told a white lie and said that we were heading to a friend’s house. Then, a funny thing happened. The police actually helped us HIDE the bottles of champagne in our coats so that we could “transport” them to our “friend’s house”. Genius. The police helped us smuggle champagne!

So, as we sat on the park bench sipping champagne, Rose, Ola and I contemplated our next plan of action. We decided that we were going to locate the club, thinking that that is most likely where Selma and Rhea were heading. Of course, we did not know where we were going, so we asked policemen along the way. The majority of the policemen that night were not even from Paris so were absolutely no help to us. We finally found one with some knowledge of the city and he directed us to the correct road. Miraculously, we were reunited with Rhea and Selma in line.

After waiting in line for 45 minutes (so much for VIP treatment), we entered the club to find even more sweaty swarms of people. We were told that there were no more private tables left, so our group was corralled to a packed area of tables and we were given our rightful bottle of Smirnoff vodka.

I ended up losing the group somehow, so I walked around for an hour looking for them by myself. I finally found them and tried to have a good time despite everything that had already gone wrong. We danced a little but felt like prey to the men that evening. They were completely inappropriate with their behavior and finally we got fed up and left regardless of having paid 100 euros for the night.

We exited the club together and took the metro. We somehow got split up again. Ola and Rose together. Me, Rhea and Selma together. From there, Selma and I got separated from Rhea. So Rhea ended up all by herself. We all had scary encounters on the way home. Walking around for hours. Waiting for the metro to open.

It was not a good New Year’s Eve. But I am not discouraged. The year is young, and one bad night is not going to defeat me.

Sunday during the day was spent recuperating from the New Year’s Eve fiasco. Sunday night, though, I got out of the house and went with Lauren to a bar entitled W.O.S, short for Wide Open Spaces, to watch the Packer game. To my delight, the bar was full of Wisconsinites and Packer fans alike. It was a lovely time and we met a bunch of great people. I will definitely be going back to this bar for future fun endeavors!

Monday was the first great day of the new year. Rose, Ola, Selma and I had a fun filled day exploring Paris. We visited two interesting streets and had Indian food. We discovered the Pantheon, then made our way to Notre Dame and L’Arc de Triomphe. We ended our evening at Trocadero and went ice skating in front of the Eiffel Tower. Ice skating in front of the Eiffel Tower was a completely magical experience for all of us. We rediscovered a sense of childhood joy by ice skating and we felt the enchantment of the city all over again by viewing the sparkling tower.

Tuesday was back to reality after a nice long vacances. I taught for 2.5 hours and then came home. I went with Rose to her visit spot and walked through it with her. That night, I slept like a baby.

Yesterday was Selma’s last day in Paris. For dinner we went to an Italian eatery and after we walked up to Montmartre so she could see Sacre Coeur at night. It was, as always, astonishing.

This morning came fast. I woke up at 4:30 to get Selma ready for her shuttle and by 5:45 she was off to the airport. I am so happy and thankful that she came to visit me in Paris. I believe that she had a wonderful experience despite NYE being a total disaster. Ask her, I’m sure she’ll tell you that she loved spending time with me! ;)  

Today, I teach all day. I will be exhausted when I come home so I plan on relaxing tonight. A funny fact is that I am practically deaf since yesterday. I had been surviving on my one good ear for the past three days, but both ears went foggy last night. I’m afraid it’s another nasty sinus infection. I should probably get that checked out…

Anyway, the title of this blog references what are known as “les soldes” in France. Once (or twice, I’m not sure) a year, all the stores in France have gigantic sales. With this being said, you can be sure I am going to be purchasing at least ONE new pair of shoes. I’m a fiend; what can I say? J

In regards to New Year’s Resolutions… a friend inspired me to come up with one. Typically, resolutions are seen as cutting back, or reducing a certain activity, but he actually swapped that notion out for a positive one. So, I am doing the same. My resolutions are 1) to discover, visit and explore a new part of Paris every week, and 2) to do the same for a different city or country in Europe once a month. I think that my resolutions will cause me to engage with my current city and continent on a more intimate basis and also will make me realize all the magic that I have yet to encounter.

2012 is going to be a spectacular year. My outlook is positive, I'm feeling healthy (aside from a little weight gained due to holiday indulgence and 2 bum (Rose, your favorite word) ears, I am healthy as an ox!!), I'm excited to be in Europe, I'm looking forward to second semester and I am enjoying teaching... all things scream ROCK ON 2012!!! Alors, bonne années à tous!

PS--Recent photos and videos to follow!