And so that was Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all! Our much hoped-for white Christmas didn't eventuate. The weather in Paris has been very mild (around 10 degrees) and a little rainy. Luckily, we had a clear evening for Christmas Eve, when we climbed the Eiffel Tower.

It's Boxing Day today in some parts of the world but not here in Paris where many of the businesses in our local area were open as normal. In fact, when my niece and I went for a wander through the Marais yesterday (Christmas Day), many cafes and galleries were open then too. I guess that's what you do in a neighbourhood popular with the Jewish community and tourists. On our walk, we saw Jewish newly-weds posing for photos with a stretch limo, visited a funky group exhibition that featured recycled materials, and listened to a counter-tenor sing in Place des Vosges.

We are leaving Paris in a couple of days and there are so many things I could be writing about - our stroll around Canal Saint Martin, sitting in Renoir's gardens in Montmartre, visiting Versailles or the Musee Rodin. I'll save those for another time. As the Christmas season draws to an end, I thought I'd show you a little more of Christmas in Paris.

Over the past few weeks, Marche Noels have popped up everywhere. Some, such as the one in the church on Rue du Temple, are little more than secondhand stalls or craft markets. Others are collections of specially constructed huts, with stalls selling vin chaud every few feet, as well as souvenirs and local crafts.

We found this Christmas decoration at a Marche Noel near Notre Dame Cathedral. The market was specialising in handmade goods and food and was very small.

We also found a Christmas market at Sacre-Coeur - a little bigger but still a mix of craft, food, wine and souvenirs.

The Christmas market at Jardins du Trocadero is much bigger and includes an ice-skating rink. Not bad, being able to skate in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

There are, of course, lights all over this City of Light. The Champs Elysee is probably the focal point for Christmas lights. We visited these on Christmas Eve, after climbing the Eiffel Tower and enjoying vin chaud from the Marche Noel on Quai Branly.

The hotels in the 8th arrondisement seem to be in quiet competition for best lights. Here is my favourite - I forgot to write down it's name but I think it's Plaza-Athenee on Avenue Montaigne. I think the combination of a panda (there is one on either side of the hotel entrance), fairy lights and a beautiful tree in the foyer is quite special.

But dazzling as the lights can be, my favourite Christmas images have been much more modest and often unexpected. When my niece and I were walking in the 19th on Sunday, we passed Cafe La Fontaine, which had a delightful display of miniature buildings, many moving, in its window.

Nothing, though, beats discovering this community garden and Christmas tree in Jardins Anne Frank. The garden is tucked away at the end of an 'impasse' (dead end) about 5 minutes away from us. When we first visited it, the garden was quite bare and the community vege patch was struggling. It must be lovely in spring and summer when the trellises are covered with vines. But when we visited on the weekend, look what we found: a Santa Scarecrow (or a Pere Noel Scarecrow) and a community Christmas tree covered in decorations made out of recycled materials such as plastic bottles and old cds.

Joyeux Noel et Bonne Annee!

The New Neighbourhood

Twelve days ago (I can't believe it!) we moved from the Left Bank to the Right Bank and into our new second-floor apartment wedged on the corner of a cobbled street on the northern edge of the Marais. We have a corner apartment - you can see it's windows at the top of the pic below.

The building is so old, it is moving - probably trying to fall down. Each year the windows have to be rehung to accommodate the slight shift in the building's walls. The floor slopes too - from the outer wall to the rock inner wall, which was most likely an outer wall at some stage in it's life.

The Marais has had a mixed history. It was originally marshland that became market gardens. The nobility moved in once Henri IV created what is now called Place des Vosges. The Knights Templar had their enclave a block away from us and, in the other direction, alchemist Nicolas Flamel had his house, conveniently on the edge of the cemetery, which was thought to have magical properties. For much of its life, though, the Marais has been home to migrant communities, including Paris' Jewish community.

We live in 'Bags' Ville', which happens to be the name of one of the shops on the street. Most of the street below us is filled with handbag wholesalers (no retail). It's a narrow one-way street, often blocked by delivery trucks who just stop and unload because there is nowhere for them to park. This is the view of Bags' Ville from our window.

The Marais is full of narrow streets like this. And full of wholesalers. A short walk takes you past jewellery wholesalers and Paris souvenir wholesalers too. You can buy shop fittings and display items and, at the moment, Christmas decorations in bulk. These shops seem to be run by the Asian community, so we have a street nearby full of Asian eateries - and what must be one of the last wooden buildings in Paris (Henri IV banned wooden buildings because of their tendency to burn down).

In the Marais, the past and the present collide. A few doors down the cobbled street (which is mercifully restricted to traffic other than motor scooters most of the time) is a public school. All the schools in the Marais have a plaque like this on their walls.

Eleven thousand children were deported from France by the Nazis between 1942 and 1944 - 500 of them from the 3rd arrondisement which the Marais straddles. Many buildings around the neighbourhood have plaques noting the deaths during World War 2 of the people who live in them.

The Marais is on the move. The Centre G. Pompidou and the outrageous mechanical fountain in Place Igor-Stravinsky (less than 10 minutes walk away) and the beautiful symmetry of Place des Vosges have brought tourism to the area.

So the Marais is changing. There are lots of galleries and you can be walking down a narrow street and suddenly find yourself amidst hip clothing shops, including one we found that provided clothing and other essentials for your dog and cat. And across the road from us is Hotel Jules et Jim, one of the hippest of the Marais' new boutique hotels (according to Time Out Paris) and named for Francois Truffaut's classic film. But you still have to get your designer luggage down a very narrow street to reach it.

PS I owe all my knowledge of the history of the Marais to Andrew Hussey's Paris - The Secret History, a copy of which I have unread at home. But someone very kindly left another copy in the apartment. It's riveting.

Christmas in Paris

Christmas for us began with a visit to Paris Disneyland a couple of weeks ago. Every evening, the Disneyland Christmas Tree is lit, somewhere between the Disney Parade and the Disney Dreams grand finale. And although it was our first taste of Christmas, I was told by a sales assistant in one of the many Disney shops that they have been lighting the tree since the end of August. He sounded a tad weary.

The Paris Disneyland Christmas Tree, 2012

Christmas has been hard to ignore ever since. Men have been hanging lights across the streets of the 6th arrondisement from mid-November. Here are just two of the results.

Rue de Buci

Rue de Saint-Peres

Everywhere we go, trees are piled outside the doors of the florists, the marches, and in Monoprix too. We are getting used to seeing folk carrying their trees home on their shoulders, or under their arms, or balanced precariously across the top of strollers, small children hidden beneath trees, blankets, and wet weather protectors.

The florist on Rue des Saint-Peres

It seems that everyone in the 6th gets into the Christmas spirit. The boulangerie, the candlemaker, the pistachio shop, all decorated. But the seasonal celebrations aren't limited to Saint-Germain-des-Pres. Across the river, the Champs Elysee hosts a large Christmas market, claiming to have over 200 stalls. We walked along it last Sunday, amongst a swarm of people, unable to really see the stalls and too early for the lights. But we did see Santa's sleigh getting ready for the big night (I hope he picks up his speed).

Santa's sleigh flying over the Champs Elysee

The guidebooks recommend a visit to the Grand Magasins (the big department stores) to view their Christmas windows. So on Tuesday we walked from our new apartment in the Marais to Galeries Lafayette. The windows were sponsored by Louis Vuitton and were full of dancing bears, penguins, ostriches and handbags. Not sure what they have to do with Christmas but they were entrancing.

Christmas windows, Galeries Lafayette, 2012

The highlights, though, were the Cinderella carriage, sponsored by Disney, and the crystal Christmas Tree, sponsored by Swarovski, sitting beneath the stained glass dome at the heart of the store.

Cinderella's carriage, Galeries Lafayette, 2012

Swarovski Crystal Christmas Tree, Galeries Lafayette, 2012

We've been to see our first Christmas movie, Les Cinqs Legendes (The Rise of the Guardians), in English with French subtitles. Miles has two advent calendars on the go and, when we remember, we are lighting the advent candle.

Yep, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. All we need now is snow.