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Notre-Dame de Paris, Swedish Music and Candlelight
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.
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Time to Write to the North Pole – Père Noël 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 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....
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Paris Scenes – A Rainy November Night
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 ...
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December Snow Storm In Paris
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 the cars could not move. The city was falling apart! The finger pointing started almost immediately. The debates were in full swing on radio and television whether or not Metéo France had given sufficient warnings (they had)! Television weather people were interviewed about their presentations. Aeroports de Paris (ADP) had to refute the claim of unpreparedness. Ile-de-France was being attacked by giant snow flakes! The snow arrived during late morning…
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Cute Christmas Decorations In Montmartre
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 HOTEL and APARTMENT RESERVATION is a contribution to maintenance costs of my Web site. Using GOOGLE helps, too. THANKS!
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Champs-Elysées Lights Up
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 had missed it all, in a blink of an eye, the dark trees began dripping their energy-efficient drops of light through the leaves. The lights cost about one million euros and are financed by the merchants, commercial sponsors and the city of Paris. The city, having its own financial difficulties, reduced its share this year. The Holiday lights on the Champs-Elysées are lighting the 2.2 kilometer avenue and 415 trees.…
