Paris for New Year's Eve

restaurants usually have fancy and somewhat expensive meal packages for NYE and you need to book that in advance.

We did it once quite a few years ago. We were four, and took some wine and sat on the sidewalk on the Champs Élysées. It was a mild evening, fortunately. People were singing and dancing, it was great fun and there were lots of gendarmes standing around, arms akimbo, watching the goings on. The not -so-nice part was the young twits setting off firecrackers everywhere among the crowds.

My wife is quite concerned about the restroom situation. Did people go to nearby restaurants or are there port-o-johns?

I know you asked specifically about what you could do near where you are staying but I thought it was worth mentioning that there is a ball at the palace in Versailles on NYE. You could train in if you wanted. I've always wanted to attend but we can't get time off in December. Just another option for you.

You will certainly want reservations. There are many places that offer prix-fixe menues.

As mentioned above, use the restroom at the restaurant as the madame pipis tend to be closed on this evening.

Last New Year's Eve my friends and were staying in Clichy (a northern burb). We decided to spend the festive part of the evening near les Invalides with thousands of our closes friends. We walked along the quais de la Seine with a fabulous Eiffel Tower view. We stayed there till about 11:30PM and when we thought about how jam-packed the metro was going to be after Friday of everyone trying to go in out direction, we decided to celebrate with champagne at the hotel. The ride to Clichy Mairie was the most empty we ever encountered. It was glorious!