Never one to conform
to the conventional holiday routine, actress and adventuress
Angelina
Jolie has decided to spend each Christmas season with
her son Maddox exploring the beauty of the world's most exotic
locales. Vacation snapshots of the traveling twosome's trip
to Beirut can now be placed alongside photos of the Egyptian
sojourn they undertook in December 2003.
A-list celebrities
may be invited to all the chic soirees, but for many stars
there's still no place like home for the holidays. The roads
of Charleston, West Virginia led "Alias" actress
Jennifer Garner back to the residence of her parents,
where the action star spent Christmas canoodling with beau
Ben Affleck.
Meanwhile, country
crooner Keith Urban enjoyed a balmy holiday at the
home of his brother in Australia, where Christmas is celebrated
under the summer sun.
Some stars felt that winter's chill only added to the enchantment
of the season. A blanket of newly fallen snow awaited ski
enthusiasts in Aspen, Colorado, but actress
Jamie-Lynn Discala was lured inside by all
the ice on display at the grand opening of the jewelry boutique
Chopard's. The "Sopranos" star helped to ring in
the New Year atop Aspen Mountain along with the proprietors
of the store. In fact, Aspen was a virtual Mecca for celebrity
sightings over the holidays, with both the romantic duo of
Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith and newly
engaged "Desperate Housewives" star Nicollette
Sheridan and fiancé Nicklas Soderblom spotted
at The Little Nell Hotel. Meanwhile, many of society's elite
trekked to Europe, including superstar Sting and his
family and supermodel Linda Evangelista and her beau,
Formula One racer Paolo Barilla, who took to the powdery
slopes at the Cortina D'Ampezzo resort, located less than
two hours from Venice.
Other celebrities chose to escape the winter doldrums in a
warmer climate. Naomi Campbell welcomed the arrival
of 2005 the South American way, at Punta del Este in Uruguay,
where the queen of the catwalk worshipped the sun on Jose
Ignacio beach.
Charlize Theron
and long time paramour Stuart Townsend locked lips on
New Year's Eve in Itacare, Brazil.
A Caribbean Christmas was on the wish list of many celebrities,
including acid-tongued "American Idol" judge Simon
Cowell and his girlfriend, Terri Seymour, who vacationed
at Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados, where golfing phenom Tiger
Woods tied the knot months before. Lovebirds Hugh
Grant and Jemima Khan later kissed at the stroke of midnight
at the same idyllic resort. Beyonce and her boo Jay-Z
were spotted at the ultra-chic Altamer resort in Anguilla,
the same retreat used by Brad
Pitt and Jennifer Aniston for their farewell vacation.
French, the language of love, is the official tongue of the
tropical paradise known as St. Barts, which was the top holiday
choice for several of Hollywood's leading ladies, including
Kirsten Dunst, who frolicked on the sandy shores with
pals; a bikini-clad Tara Reid, who watched the waves
roll in from the comfort of her beach blanket; and "Kill
Bill" star Uma Thurman, who enjoyed a romantic
rendezvous with beau Andre Balazs.
"Titanic" villain Billy Zane and his girlfriend,
model Kelly Brook, exchanged Christmas presents in Sydney,
Australia, where the pair were spotted enjoying the myriad
of specialty stores in Double Bay before jetting off to Fiji
to say farewell to 2004.
The Big Apple
was the place to be for many stars, including Ashlee Simpson,
who danced the night away with on-again, off-again boyfriend
Ryan Cabrera at Capitale, while Tinseltown's latest "It"
girl, Scarlett Johansson and "Blade Trinity" heroine
Jessica Biel were seen tripping the light fantastic
at Marquee.
Love is in the air at The Fairmont Kea Lani Maui, where
Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey spent a
romantic second honeymoon in early December and Jennifer
Love Hewitt reveled in the luxury of the resort during
the latter part of the month with her boyfriend, Scott Austin.
Meanwhile, "O.C." star Mischa Barton and
her millionaire man Brandon Davis stayed at the Four Seasons
Resort Maui at Wailea.
The Christmas holidays are a time to form family memories
that last a lifetime, so couple Lance Armstrong and
Sheryl Crow bonded with the Tour de France champion's
children at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The House of
Mouse also brought back memories of her days in The Mickey
Mouse Club for singer Christina Aguilera, who when
spent a play day at the theme park in mid December.
Finally, the words "party" and "Paris Hilton"
are synonymous, and during the final days of 2004 the heiress
jetted from her post-Christmas ski trip to the Swiss Alps
straight to the opening of her own nightclub, aptly named
Club Paris, in Orlando, Florida. Although six hours late,
the tabloid temptress managed to party into the wee hours
at the boite before spending New Year's Eve in sultry Miami
Beach, where she flitted between the festivities held at The
Shelborne Hotel and The Raleigh Hotel, where she greeted 2005
alongside pal Lindsay Lohan.
