To get you into the holiday spirit a special Swedish-style musical event is held in Paris. The event is always held at the Swedish Church (Svenska kyrkan) and most years at a large church in Paris; Paroisse de la Madeleine, Notre-Dame de Paris. The event is a musical Swedish tradition celebrating lightness during the winter darkness.
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”.
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.
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…
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….
A week after the Paris attacks I went out to see if anyone else was out. Along the Champs-Elysées the cars were moving along as usual, the Ferris wheel was turning. They switched on the lights along the avenue a day later than planned. Not many wandered the the Village de Noël Christmas market lanes and sidewalks. Walking toward the Seine, Dior along the Avenue Montaigne had the most spectacular decoration among illuminated trees. Catching the bus from Alma-Marceau to Trocadéro, the Eiffel Tower …
Paris was paralyzed on December 9, 2010. Small trucks at Place Pigalle were spinning their tires. Men had to get out and push them through the stop lights. The roads were full of ice. The buses could not move because…
Tissus Reine 5 Place St Pierre 75018 Paris, France Metro: Abbesses, Anvers Bus: Montmartre bus Open Monday: 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to Friday: 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday: 9:45 to 7 p.m. Facebook © 2010 Colleensparis.com Your…
The plans for the actress Melanié Laurent to light up the Champs-Elysées at 6 p.m., November 22, 2010, was on “French Time”. They threw the switch at 6:20 p.m. After rushing out of the metro stop, Clemenceau, thinking that I…
