Christmas in Paris

In New York City, the shop windows along 5th Avenue, particularly the major department stores like Macys and Gimbels, are often superbly decorated for Christmas with long lines of people slowing strolling by. We found the same was true at Printemps, one of Paris' major department stores. We went there the last day to look for a few items not yet found and on our lists and were amazed at the crowds, the warmth (temperature) of the store, and the amazing amazing decor. It seemed to be a Russian theme and we were able to see some dancers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christmas trees are available throughout the city outside florist shops and in the large outdoor food markets. We noticed that many trees were sprayed painted to a fluffly texture with red or white paint.

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Ice Magic, a fabulous show of ice carvings, was located at the Christmas market. While it was cooling to evening as we went in, it was FREEZING inside. Of course! The temperature had to be kept low to maintain the carvings! Silly me!

The theme appeared to be Parisian and French buildings and other items of note, such as the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), Notre Dame with the Hunchback and many other things.

Sue taking a photo of herself in "Versaille's Hall of Mirrors"

The worker here was using sand paper on the ice, to get it to show a clear surface. This is Santa in his sleigh.

Right before the exit was this bar made all of ice, service a variety of drinks. When we were there, no one had "bellied up to the bar", I think, perhaps, because it was so darn cold in there!!!

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Paris has several Christmas markets with the largest one along the Avenue Champs-Élysées in the 8th arrondissemont. This is one of Paris's grand avenues, one end at the Arc de Triomphe (just visible in the bottom photo) with many fine shops. The market stretches about 5 blocks and has many booths with food to buy, including cheese and meat. In addition, there are a number of crepe booths and places where you can buy mulled wine.

In 1981-82 I had the good fortune to get a six month work assignment in Germany and was there from October to April. The Christmas markets had lots of ornaments and I was hoping to find some here to purchase as a souvenir for this trip. We saw no ornaments at all at this market. This could be a function of the difference in the German and French cultures, or it could be a difference in the 1980s and 2009.