Christmas in Paris

I checked something off my bucket list this week. Mike and I took the Eurostar train through the Chunnel to Paris for two days this week, so that we could soak up the Christmas spirit there in the city. I have several things to share with you, but for this first post about Paris, I'll just give you some of my quick impressions.

Bumping into Pere Noel was an early treat, and got us going on the right track in our search for the quintessential French Christmas adventure.

We saw big Christmas trees like this one in front of Notre Dame Cathedral,

and small, delicate trees like this one we spied in a store window. I quite fancy this one!

The landmarks were all lit up in celebration. Notre Dame as seen here,

and L'Hotel de Ville, the city hall, where there is an ice rink located just in front.

The store windows were all dressed up in their finery,

with natural branches being a popular form of decoration,

in all colors, even red.

My favorite patisserie shop selling its infamous macarons was all ready for the holiday. Wish I could bring home samples for everyone!

French children, like children all over the world, love the animation in store windows,

and crowded close for the best view. More of these windows in a blog to come.

They were so lively!

Inside the beautiful Galeries Lafayette department store,

is an enormous Christmas tree,

reaching for the beautiful glass ceiling,

where presents are suspended in mid air.

Restaurants showed off their holiday spirit,

and even though the temperatures were at the freezing point that day, the sidewalk cafes still enticed some to pause for a coffee.

This little Christmas tree was begging to be taken home and decorated.

German Christmas markets were located in several parts of town for our shopping pleasure,

and Santa's helpers were handing out gifts.

That evening, we headed down to the Place de la Concorde, to get a close-up

view of the ferris wheel and spy the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Looking down the

Champs-Elysees, this is what we saw. Stay tuned for more sights of Paris!