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.
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| 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.
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| Rue de Buci |
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| 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.
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| 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).
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Cinderella's carriage, Galeries Lafayette, 2012 |
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| 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.
