
Updated Ideas for December Christmas and Holiday Activities
Paris Christmas Activities 2013-2014
All Christmas events on l’Officiel des spectacles
Paris tourist office for Christmas ideas
Arts Forains Another Marvelous Festival for Christmas 2013 – December 26, 2013 and January 5, 2014, at the Pavillons de Bercy, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Creches/Nativity scenes – information online at l’Officiel des spectacles (use Google translate for the page)
Notre-Dame de Paris – November 30 to February 2, 2014
Christmas Church Services – Protestant and Catholic December 24 and 25 (Messes de Noël à Paris)
Free merry-go-rounds/carrousels (Manèges) in Paris (Manèges gratuits) December 21 to January 5, 2014
Jours de fêtes au Grand Palais : December 21 to January 5, 2014
Stay current on the Christmas markets with the Paris tourist office page.
A quick glance at the Paris Christmas Markets:
THE CHAMPS-ELYSÉES
From 15 November 2013 to 5 January 2014 – 10h-18h
Avenue des Champs-Elysées – Metro : Champs Elysées – Clemenceau
Father Christmas’ Village in SAINT GERMAIN DES PRES
From 15 November 2013 to 6 January 2014 – 10h-19h
Eglise Saint-Germain-des-Prés de Paris – Metro : Saint-Germain-des-Prés
ARCH AT LA DÉFENSE IN PARIS
From 27 November to 28 December 2013
11h-20.30. 11h-21h on Friday. 10h-21h on Saturday. 11h-18h on 24 December. 11h-20:30 on 26 December. 11h-21h on 27 December. 10h-21h on 28 December.
Parvis de la Défense – Metro : La Défense
350 stands and a 400 m² tent with Christmas decorations
ABBESSES IN PARIS (Montmartre)
From 29 November 2013 to 1 January 2014 – 10h- 17h
Place des Abbesses – Metro : Abbesses
GARE SAINT-LAZARE
From 29 November 2013 to 2 January 2014
Gare de Haussmann Saint-Lazare – Metro : Saint-Lazare
PLACE DE LA NATION
From 1 to 24 December 2013
Place de la Nation – Metro : Nation
PLACE SAINT-SULPICE
From 1 to 24 Decemberre 2013 – 10h-20h
Place Saint-Sulpice – Metro : Saint-Sulpice
CHRISTMAS VILLAGE IN MONTMARTRE
From 6 December 2013 to 5 January 2014
10h-20h30. 10h-22h on Saturday and Sunday
Parvis de la Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre – Metro : Anvers
PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE
From 7 to 15 December 2013
10h-19h. 10am-midnight on Saturday
Place de la République – Metro : République
FEERIES D’AUTEUIL
From 9 to 15 December 2013 – 11h-19h
Fondation d’Auteuil – Metro : Jasmin
CHRISTMAS VILLAGE IN JARDINS DU TROCADERO
From 12 December 2013 to 5 January 2014
11h-20h30
Jardins du Trocadéro – Metro : Trocadéro
100 chalets and a skating rink
CHRISTMAS MARKET ON QUAI BRANLY- on the esplanade Ben-Gourion along the Seine
From 16/17 december 2013 to ⅖ January 2014 (information differs on different websites)
10h-19h Metro : Trocadéro
GOURMET CHRISTMAS SEASON – First time!
From 20 to 22 December 2013
11h-21h on 20 December. 10h-21h on 21 December. 10h-20h on 22 December
Place de la Bourse (Palais Brongniart) – 2nd arrondissement – Metro : Bourse
10 euros admission includes a beverage (“un verre” usually means a glass of wine)
Nativity scenes
“Nativity scenes are installed in Parisian churches. Figures range from small to life-size and these figurative and poetic scenes may be animated, inspired by local life are even be given a new look by contemporary artists.
Every year, Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, the Madeleine church, and Saint-Sulpice church welcome new Nativity scenes. Whether they be traditional, baroque or modern, these veritable works of art welcome a large number of visitors.
Saint Georges de la Villette church and the Fééries d’Auteuil invite visitors to see not just one but several Nativity scenes, which are all part of original exhibitions.” — ParisInfo (Convention and Visitors Bureau)
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris
Parvis Notre-Dame, Paris 4th – Metro Cité / Saint-Michel
Eglise de la Madeleine
14rue de Surène, Paris 8th – Metro Madeleine
Eglise Saint-Sulpice
2 rue Palatine, Paris 6th – Metro Saint-Sulpice
Christmas Nativity Scene and Figurines from Provence
From 15 December 2013 to 8 January 2014
Eglise Saint-Georges de la Villette
12 avenue Simon Bolivar, Paris 19th – Metro Bolivar / Jaurès
Exhibition of Nativity scenes created by members of the Apprentis d’Auteuil foundation
For the Féeries d’Auteuil
From 7 to 15 December 2013
Fondation Apprentis d’Auteuil
40 rue Jean de la Fontaine, Paris 16th- Metro Jasmin / Eglise d’Auteuil
Museum Exhibits That I Have Seen or Will See
❤ Recommend – Stay current with l’Officiel des spectacles online. Translation of l’Officiel magazine….
Other exhibitions at Arts décoratifs

Trickery of the eye (“Trompe-l’œil. Imitations, pastiches et autres illusions”) until January 5, 2014
❤ In the Musée des Arts Décoratifs’ Study Gallery the public can discover the wealth of its collections via selections of rarely or never previously shown works from its storerooms, shown for an 18-month period. Trompe-l’oeil, as its name indicates, is meant to trick the eye, and originated in painting, in which the illusion created by a painted object relies heavily on perspective and chiaroscuro…Read more about the Trompe-l’œil exhibit
Bring your smartphone with a QR Code application downloaded. Use the museums Wifi for the visit with a photos and an explanation in both French and English. While at the exhibit if you take a photo of the QR code, you can read the QR code on your computer with your phone and read the explanation later.
Arts décoratifs, Mode et Textile and Publicité Museums:
Tuesdays to Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays. Closed on Mondays.
Métro : Palais-Royal, Pyramides ou Tuileries
Bus : 21, 27, 39, 48, 68, 69, 72, 81, 95
Telephone. : 01 44 55 57 50
Nissim de Camondo Museum
63, rue de Monceau – 75008 PARIS
Wednesdays to Sundays from 10 am to 5:30 p.m.
The Golden Age of Posters (L’âge d’or de la gravure) – until January 12, 2014
About 100 works of Eugène Dlâtre and Alfredo Müller at the exhibition “Impressions à Montmartre”
Musée de Montmartre
12, rue Cortot 75018
Telephone: 0149258937

❤ Galliera Reopens With Alaïa Retrospective – until January 26, 2014
The Eye of Brassaï at Paris City Hall – Brassaï pour l’amour de Paris – 8 November 2013 to 8 March 2014
The Eye of Brassaï at Paris City Hall
More Brassaï photos from Ville de Paris
“Brassai, Pour l’amour de Paris”
Open Monday to Saturday: 10 am to 7 pm
Closed: December 24 and 31 at 5 pm
Hôtel de Ville de Paris, 5 rue de Lobau (4e)
Admission free of charge.
Further info on this venue
Metro: Lines 1 and 11, Hôtel de Ville station
Line 4: Cité station
A few photos of the exhibition…
❤ Désirs et volupté à l’époque victorienne – until January 20, 2014
Musée Jacquemart-André – Victorian Masterpieces from the Pérez Simón collection
Take a virtual visit of the exhibit room by room
“…Against a backdrop marked by puritanism and as the leading world power in the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), artists expressed a sensual aesthetic with paintings offering a sharp contrast to the severity and moralixing attitudes of the day: a return to Antiquity, nude women, sumptuous decorative paintings and poetic and literary expression with medieval compositions, a legacy from the Pre-Raphaelites. ..”.
1925, quand l’Art Déco séduit le monde – When Art Déco Dazzled the World – until March 3, 2014
The Art Déco exhibit is presented in three parts:
- A comparative study of differences and points in common with Art Nouveau;
- A large sequence is devoted to the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs and Industriels Modernes, the name of which led to the coining of the term «Art Déco».
- The last major section focusses on the global resonance of this aesthetic movement.
To avoid the crowds, the museum highly recommends reserving your tickets to visit between 12 and 2 pm and 4 pm and 7 pm; Closed December 25 and January 1. The exhibit has been extended to March 3, 2014.
©Colleensparis.com

