This has become like a tradition to us. It’s the second time we are planning a trip for New Year’s Eve.

Last year we visited Paris and although we were disappointed about the Eve itself (no ‘kaboom’) the thought itself – having a vacation in the middle of a year and not during normal holiday season, summer – is tempting. I am a huge fan of fireworks and always looking for something more outrageous. Since we live in a small contry, nothing fancy ever happens in New Year’s Eve. Plus you get tired of the same old same old.

So, for this year we decided to collect a bit money and go to Portugal. We wanted something warmer than our climate in Scandinavia and yet something cheap.

Since we are all about car and nature, photography and zero-museum treatment, we are planning driving around in mountains and picturesque places.

Now, about our trip. We are landing in Lisbon and staying in Aveiro. From our previous trips we have learned that staying in an apartment during out stay is essential. You can come and go whenever you like, cook yourself and have no cleaning or disturbance during day

We always rent a car to be more flexible in our plans and in the long run it may even be cheaper compared to public transport. Plus you can go everywhere needing less time on planning.

What we also always do is buy a big road map and an A2 sized map of the whole country. This helps in pre-trip planning and Michelin maps also give scenic routes and major tourist attractions on paper.

So as of now we have booked our tickets for the plane, an apartment from only-apartments.com and a car from easycar.com. I just can’t wait for December now )

Ok, kidding, … there still are things to wait for in closer future, but going to Portugal for New Year’s is something to wait for …

Everyone we told about our plan to stay in Paris for New Year’s Eve was at least a little bit jealous. I must admit, I would have been also. To be in the city of romance and beauty for this magical night, it’s something most don’t even dare to dream about. So yeah, we were all excited and worked up for the night. So were our expectations.

From our wonderings in previous days we had decided the spot we would welcome the New Year. It was on the bridge of Pont Neuf where there’s a perfect view to the Eiffel tower. It is in the center of Paris, so it’s the place the magic should happen. I had read so much about the New Year’s Eve in Paris and this seemed like the spot. The main thing to remember was to look towards Eiffel. So we did.

We even arrived like an hour and a half earlier. People were all moving towards Champs-Élysées – another place to party in this evening since the street is closed for cars and is packed with people. The trees are heavily decorated and all sparkly; you also get a good view to the Eiffel and Arc de Triomphe. But we decided to get more of the view and less of the party.

Eventually we started to get neighbors as well. The bridge and borders of Seine were soon full of people so we knew we were in the right place.

In case you are standing on your perfect spot and need to buy champagne, something to eat or flowers, don’t panic, there’ll soon be guys offering those essential parts of any party just on the streets from parked cars. They don’t get many customers however. I wonder why …

Anyhow, we were there for the fireworks and guess what. No fireworks. Okay, there were like two or three but certainly not enough to be the real New Year’s Eve fireworks show. And even Eiffel was boring. There was a light-show, which consisted of different color schemes and variety of sequels but this all was shown to other direction. So much for the perfect spot (“Just make sure you see the Eiffel”)!

I can say that I was utterly disappointed since for me the New Year did not arrive. We stood there and I could feel that the crowds around us were expecting the same we were and nothing happened. We were like “Okay, I guess “Happy New Year” is in place now”. And it was like 15 minutes later when we were 100% sure that it was over midnight.

A good thing about the night was the fact the subway is free starting from like 5 PM and this is so until 12 AM until the next day. Not that it matters when you have a period-card. But it matters to others and this makes getting on the train a little bit difficult. The major routes are also working through the night; just make sure the one you need to get closer to your home afterwards. And leave your car home when moving into the center, it’s not worth it.

This was 2009/2010 New Year’s Eve in Paris. I cannot imagine what will happen next year since Paris is supposedly doing something differently every year. Only this year they even did not make it to major news-channels that cover New Year’s Eve around the world.

Arriving to Paris by plane is the easiest way. Mind you, France is the country with most motorways in relation to its size. We learned it the mildly hard way. Anyways, this time we were on our feet. You can very easily find out from the Internet the Metro stations you need to use and the stations close to the place you are staying. Arriving to Paris through Charles de Gaulle airport means that you’ll have to take RER trains closer to the city in order to hop on a metro. It very well could be that you do not need to take a metro since RER trains tend to go through the city. Mind you that Paris is not as big as one may imagine. I know I thought it was bigger. Charles de Gaulle airport and all metro or train stations are full with very clear and obvious (sometimes even with translated) signs. Think you don’t know your French, well, no sweat here, trust me. In case you get into any trouble, be aware that even you are lucky enough to meet people who understand some English, they definitely won’t speak it. My best advice, learn your way and have some sense with you. Best of all, trust your instinct. That is what has led us through some very nasty and tough situations. Even the ones we thought we could not conquer. We have even had death at our sight. Well not in Paris, but it has thought us well.

So, arriving Paris is really simple. Just make sure beforehand the terminal in which you are landing, the RER that connects your metro or bus station to the place you are staying and it’s probably best that you but your tickets from the ticket stations in the second terminal. Why? They speak English. In case your plane arrives into terminal one or three, do not worry since Charles de Gaulle has a very swift and neat airport shuttle service which again is orderly marked and very hard to miss. Really, missing out on how to arrive to Paris, is something only a fool could achieve.