Christmas Day in Paris

There's always SOMETHING open. There will be plenty of online resources with a list of restaurants open. TheFork.com is also a great place to look.

What area are you staying in?

Sentier, near Rue de Nil

Le Train Bleu in Gare de Lyon. Expensive but a unique bel Epoque exoerience,

Beautiful. All booked for December apparently. Taking reservations for January only.

This thread might be helpful. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/christmas-eve-dinner-in-paris. It has Christmas Eve in its title but there are suggestions there for places open on Christmas Day. Good luck.

We will also be in Paris on Christmas Day. We have lunch reservations at Le Terrasse du 7eme, a restaurant which has received positive reviews on RS. For dinner, we have reservations at Market.
We will wander around Montmartre in the morning and also visit Sacre Coeur. We visited on Christmas Day a few years ago and there were many there--it was elbow to elbow. The mass and singing were beautiful. I think that Montmartre will be somewhat lively --we'll see. The Jacquemart-Andre Museum is open on Christmas Day. We have tickets for the Eiffel Tower on Christmas Day, too. You might find this link helpful--https://www.parisinsidersguide.com/christmas-in-paris-france.html. You need to reserve meals, etc. asap, though.

https://www.parisinsidersguide.com/christmas-day-paris.html

Concerts:
https://www.classictic.com/en/sitesearch/?search=Paris&date_from=2022-12-25&date_until=2022-12-25

Check out Jewish or Arabic restaurants for meals.

For Christmas some restaurants will be closed, many others will be full for dinner and most will charge insane prices for a Christmas meal.
However you can still try the typical and very Parisian large traditional brasseries which are generally open 7/7, have a typical decor , traditional French specialties, and probably a special Christmas menu.

Two of the most famous are quite close to your accommodation (near the Opéra Garnier)
"Le Grand Café Capucines"

https://www.legrandcafe.com/en/

"Le Café de la Paix"

https://www.cafedelapaix.fr/en/

An also very well known "la Brasserie Mollard" north of the Opéra Garnier, near the Galeries Lafayette:

http://www.mollard.fr/?lang=en

Another famous brasserie near Les Halles, even closer to rue du Nil than the previous ones:
Le Pied de Cochon (open 24/7)

https://www.pieddecochon.com/en/

Bon appétit!

Paris By Mouth has a list of places that are open on Christmas. https://parisbymouth.substack.com/p/where-to-eat-during-the-holidays

We had a wonderful time in Paris on Christmas Day, because so much was open. Unlike the U.S., where everything is closed on Christmas while Americans play couch potato watching TV all day, Parisians and French visitors on their holiday were outdoors, strolling the sidewalks. We attended Mass at St Eustache, with its grand organ and beautiful choir. While offices and banks and most museums in Paris were closed, many cafes and brasseries were open for business and we didn't need reservations. We strolled the banks of the Seine and watched the Eifel Tower light up at night. A very memorable day, with plenty for us to do.

Thanks to being tipped off by the Rick Steeves team, we had made reservations well in advance for our Christmas Eve (Reveillion) dinner. Smart move.

Thank you for coming back to report your experience !