France

We’re going to break the order of our travels with this post to wish everyone a Happy New Year.  We arrived in Paris at the end of December, and were surprised by my parents and brother.  Paul and I were sitting in a cafe, and up walked my family.  Well, it wasn’t exactly a surprise, as it’s hard to keep something secret in the age of Facebook, but nonetheless, it was wonderful to see them.  

Paris is a fabulous city.  The buildings are beautiful and the culture is vibrant.  There are so many iconic monuments scattered all over the large metropolitan area.

We ate delicious French food, and as my family was there, we dined at a higher caliber than we are used to, which was nice.

The five of us spent an exhausting half day at the Louvre.  It is such a big museum, that we walked 4 miles while looking at exhibits.  

We elected to spend New Year’s Eve here, as the city is famed for its NYE celebrations.  Like New York and Sydney, hundreds of thousands of people gather in the street to watch the fireworks display.  This year, in the wake of terrorist attacks, the festivities were scaled way back.  Unfortunately the fireworks were cancelled, but that didn’t stop people from gathering in the Champs élysées to party.  The main street, beautifully decorated with lights, was closed to traffic.  There was a video projection on the Arc de Triomphe, displaying snippets of Paris.  Security was really beefed up.  1,600 policemen were stationed along the Champs Elysees alone, and there were checkpoints at every entrance.  Yet, even with all the security concerns, everyone around us was in a joyous mood.

It was incredibly special to be able to ring in the New Year with my family, and we are thrilled to explore a new city together.  We’re so grateful to have such wonderful family and friends, and to be able to travel the world with some of them.  Here’s to a great 2016.  Happy New Year!

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Beer of choice:  Wine