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Printemps and Galeries Lafayette Christmas 2022 Windows in Paris
Have you ever felt a bit of pressure to beat the clock? Looking at my photos, I found Boulevard Haussmann’s Printemps and Galeries Lafayette Christmas 2022 window, interior and sunset photos waiting for a story. As I write this, it is New Year’s Eve and 2023 is only hours away!! This year Printemps definitely won the Paris Christmas window display in the Colleen’s Paris opinion survey with their circus theme. Printemps also kept the wooden steps for the shorter members of society to see and enjoy the window displays. Galeries Lafayette did not keep the steps; maybe because of their theme: Planet Fir Tree (Planète sapin). All the trees were…
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Christmas Magic Begins at Jardin des Tuileries Market
What greets you when you enter the Annual Christmas Market at the Tuileries Gardens? Nutcracker Soldiers. And before the market opens? Where are they? Hidden, waiting to get out in the open. I noticed them while crossing the gardens on November 18. My eyes fell upon rows of black hats. The trove of Nutcracker Soldiers holding horns or standing at attention were lined up. Their expressive eyes were waiting for a magic moment. The magic moment I later learned was November 19, 2022, the opening day for the Magic of Christmas market (La Magie de Noël aux Tuileries). The Nutcracker Soldiers reminded me of the Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s funerary…
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Father Christmas at the Bastille in Paris
One day walking through the Bastille plaza, I saw the Christmas trees being set up around the green July column. By the next evening, purple was once again the sparkling color lighting up the Bastille July column. For the Christmas holiday, Pere Noël was riding the merry-go-round and another day he was dancing with a marching band. Every day is different in the Bastille!
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Blue Velvet Christmas in Paris
Three Paris monuments are wearing Blue Velvet this year. La Ville de Paris theme this year is “Paris Scintille” (Paris sparkles). Until January 3, Paris sparkles with white drops of light dripping down the façade of the Hôtel de Ville (City hall) and the Luxor Obelisk on Place de la Concorde. The Bastille Colonne de Juillet (July column) has no white drops but was my first dramatic glimpse of the blue velvet. What You Will See The Hôtel de Ville plaza is an illuminated, enchanted, fairy-tale forest with two free merry-go-rounds, including a double-decker. There are wood chalet kiosks with various treats. One kiosk is selling spiced wine, pretzels, waffles,…
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Noël Christmas Voyage in Paris
Paris Sparkles during the Holidays. Take a Paris Voyage with Colleen's Paris on small street of the Bastille, the department store decorations and rooftops, watch the lights come up on the Champs-Elysées and see Avenue Montaigne lit up, a carrousel in the Tuileries Garden and be mystified at the blue velvet column of the Bastille.
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Time to Write to the North Pole – Père Noël (Father Christmas) is Back in Business
Don't complain about a full email inbox. Last year, Père Noël (Santa Claus) received around 91,000 emails once the season opened. And it is that time again. Madame and Père Noël's post office opened November 9. This year, you can email or send a colourful paper letter. Get out the crayons and colourful ideas. The secretariat is part of la Poste France. The elves are working in Libourne in the Gironde region. According a LaDepche.fr, 1.2 million children from over 140 countries wrote paper wish letters addressed to Père Noël".
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Champs Elysées Christmas Market No More
Two events will effect somebody this latter part of 2017. Planning on the Champs-Elysées Christmas market? Stuck in traffic? It's like a soap opera or a custody fight in a divorce. Whose side will you be on? Every year Christmas markets attract 30 million people visitors in France. Fifteen million of those visit one or more of the 250 chalets along the Champs-Elysées for the Paris Christmas market. If you are stuck in traffic this week, the carnival operators are conducting an "escargot" (snail) slowing down and blocking traffic with their semi trucks on the expressways. They want to set up their chalets on the Champs-Elysées.
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Something Different for Christmas in Paris
Looking for something out of the ordinary as you prepare for Christmas in Paris? A reader asked me this question, so here are a couple of ideas: the Swedish Church (Svenska Kyrkan), Affären (the Swedish shop and café) and the AAWE bazaar: Sankta Lucia (Sainte Lucie, Saint Lucia, Santa Lucia, etc.) is a choral presentation and procession filled with candlelight. In the procession, the church choir holds candles and sings; the Lucia wears a crown of candles her head. It is a tradition that I experienced when I lived in Stockholm and one that continues here in Paris. The Swedish Church (Svenska kyrkan) (église suedoise) holds this event every year…
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Write to Christmas Santa (Père Noël) and Play Games
Sixty secretaries at the French post office, La Poste, are waiting for your letters to Santa. The Secrétariat du Père Noël office opens thousands of letters a year. The secretaries in Libourne (in the Gironde) respond to the writers with a special holiday edition La Poste-designed card. In 1962, its first year, the office received 5,000 cards. By 2014, they received over 1.2 million letters to Père Noël (Santa Claus). Père Noël's team can also be found on Facebook....
Enjoy Paris Through My Eyes
