My top tips for New Year's Eve 2014

The end of the year is approaching and, like every year at this time, we are desperately looking for original ways to ring in the New Year.

Personally, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a New Year’s Eve that left a lasting memory. There is so much pressure surrounding this night, which is supposed to be unforgettable, that it often ends up being far from the top 10 (or even top 20) best parties of your year…

So, I wanted to look into some original, unusual, or just incredible plans to make us dream of a different kind of year-end celebration.

Melle Bon Plan’s dream selection:

Table of Contents

An exceptional New Year’s Eve at the Mandarin Oriental New York

This exclusive offer from the Mandarin Oriental New York suggests spending the New Year in a magical and ultra-luxurious setting. The stay (€4,200, it must be said!) includes 2 nights in a double room with breakfast and an invitation for two to the big gala evening of December 31, 2013, which will be held in the hotel’s grand ballroom, perched on the 36th floor with spectacular bay windows overlooking Central Park and Manhattan.

An open-air Club night in Méribel

The Savoyard ski resort is transforming into a giant dancefloor where everyone can groove to the mixes of DJ Antoine Clamaran, from 10 PM to 2 AM, in partnership with NRJ.

The little extra: the New Year countdown will take place under a starry sky (fingers crossed!), lit up by a traditional fireworks display.

Ending the year with music

For classical music lovers and die-hard fans of pianist Lang Lang, the Berlin Philharmonic’s New Year’s Eve Gala will once again be broadcast live this year on 12/31 at 5:30 PM in 48 movie theaters across France.

Duration: 1h30-1h45

Prices: €16.50/€12.50

A festive New Year in the heart of Belgrade or Serbia

Located just a two-hour flight from Paris, Serbia is a destination you never think of, but one that is well worth the trip.

Belgrade, incidentally named an international party capital by Lonely Planet, offers a certain change of scenery in a cinematic setting.

For cinephiles who love nature and unusual places, Kustendorf is the dream place to spend a few days. This traditional Serbian village served as a set for a Kusturica film and has since been transformed into a tourist complex. Every January, it hosts the Kustendorf Film and Music Festival, organized by the famous director. For ski enthusiasts, a small ski area was set up in 2007 (4 slopes, including 1 black).

Kopaonik is the largest mountain range in Serbia, classified as a National Park in 1981, and it hosts one of the most modern ski and snowboard resorts in the region. Numerous activities are offered to vacationers: hiking, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, activities for children, a fitness center… Huts on the slopes also welcome skiers to enjoy some good “mulled wine.”

3 things to do in Serbia for the end-of-year holidays:

Go ice skating while listening to local DJs at Nikola Pasic Square in Belgrade
On January 1st, mingle with strollers who have come to wish each other a Happy New Year on Svetogorska and Makedonska streets, renamed the “Open Heart Streets” in the center of Belgrade, and attend the many shows and the fireworks display traditionally organized since 1989
Have lunch at a traditional Salash farm near Novi Sad

The Best Tip:

To get to Belgrade, the low-cost airline Wizz Air offers 3 flights per week from Beauvais airport (from €19.99 one way).

A magical New Year’s Eve menu at Cazaudehore la Forestière

The Yvelines Relais & Château (Saint-Germain-en-Laye) Cazaudehore offers a more than mouth-watering menu (but at the price of €275/person, nonetheless) in a dream setting:

Half-cooked langoustine with Aquitaine caviar, scallop beard cream
Duck foie gras marbled with lamprey, potato terrine in jelly
Small scallop roulade with Iberian ham, smoked potato cream
Beef fillet in brioche with foie gras, parsnip mousseline, and forgotten vegetable lozenges
Or Bresse poultry with foie gras and truffle, mushroom croque-monsieur, trumpet of death mushroom mousseline
Roquefort cream with gingerbread shavings, chilled thyme parfait, nougatine, and raspberry juice
Royal dark chocolate with Grand-Marnier, praline crunch, and candied kumquats
Unlimited Pol Roger Brut Vintage 2002 Champagne

A New Year’s Eve at the Paradis Latin

To celebrate the arrival of this New Year, the Paradis Latin, a famous Cabaret built by Gustave Eiffel in 1889, offers a party program.

The evening starts with a Gala dinner with champagne in the great Eiffel room (listed as a city of Paris heritage site), accompanied by a large orchestra. As the clock strikes twelve, the Paradis Latin show will begin. Around 2 AM, the stage will turn into a dancefloor until 4 AM, and breakfast will be served afterward.

Price: €360 / Paradis Latin – 28, rue du Cardinal Lemoine Paris 75005