Christmas in Paris

For the first time in my life, at least since 2019, I spent Christmas in Paris. I had some mixed sentiments seeing as I have always gone home for the holidays, to my parents' house where it is very cozy (and usually cold). This year, we decided to spice it up!

My recommendations:

#1. Definitely check out the Christmas decorations - I was really blown away by all of the beautiful lights around the city, it was very bright and made me think of home. There are lights hung up in the streets which are really nice. Other areas include the Dior store (near Avenue Montaigne), Rue Saint Honoré and even the Hotel de Ville. My town's mayor had lovely Christmas decor hung up between the streets all the way down the avenue, and even in front of the major's administrative building. You can also check out the amazing decor at Galérie Lafayettes, which reinvents itself every year and puts a glamorous Christmas tree in the middle of the circular building. Heads up, though - the crowds here are pretty dense !

#2. Tea - if you are interested in booking afternoon tea and you perhaps have the budget for this, I truly enjoyed my experience at the Plaza Athenée. My mom and I booked afternoon tea and we tasted a variety of sweet pastries and coffee. I really liked the coffee and the service was indeed excellent. We had a small view of the ice skating rink, which was really cool!

#3. Ballet / spectacles - in Paris, there are always a lot of cultural activities and artistic events, including operas and ballets. This year, we wanted to see the Nutcracker but unfortunately they were touring in early January 2025, so the timing did not work for us. We ended up seeing the Snow Queen with the Ukrainian ballet, and really loved it! It was at the Theatre des Champs-Elysées and the performance was marvelous. We had mid level seating and had pretty good views from our seats.

#4. Christmas markets: there are a bunch of these in Paris, I would recommend the markets at la Defense or perhaps the one market at Notre Dame. The markets at the Tuileries gardens are quite touristy (for me) and I heard great things for the la Defense market, which was apparently quite diverse and sizable.

Overall I think that Christmas is a fantastic time to be in Paris, there are always lots to do and fun end of year festivities !