Christmas Markets 2021 restrictions

I´m not familiar with ET markets but the primary Christmas market in Paris is at les Tuileries. It is open and masks are required.

I don´t really think that the Christmas markets in Paris are worth the effort, be there Covid or not - unless you have kids, and they will likely love it.

I went to a Christmas Market at the Louvre on Wednesday, just north of the museum by the ferris wheel. Everything in Paris is wide open as long as you have the health pass. There were people everywhere and if it wasn't for the masks you would have no idea there was any restrictions. Had a great trip and definitely glad we went.

The markets are enjoyable, although Strasbourg and Colmar have much larger markets. If you have time, check out Strasbourg market! It's a two hour TGV trip from Paris Est station. In any case, you can experience essentially everything that Paris has to offer. There aren't enforced distancing requirements.

The passe sanitaire/vaccine equivalency pass and the masks don't take away from France. You wear your mask indoors, public transport, and at Christmas markets. Life is otherwise normal. You show your passe sanitaire for museums, restaurants, long distance trains (they have moved to 100% enforcement on long distance trains from this past weekend, it was random before), etc.

As far as testing for the return flight to the USA in France, it's easy. Walk into a pharmacy in town (not the airport, avoid lines) and ask for the administered rapid antigen test. It's far easier than getting an administered test in the USA, honestly. The whole process takes around 20 minutes (payment, testing, preparation of the test certificate). The passe sanitaire for tourists can be obtained from a participating pharmacy and you only need it for people over 12. There is one at CDG airport and a few around the airport as well, although it might be faster to get it once in the city. You don't need it for local trains.

Here is where you can find a pharmacy that issues a vaccine equivalency pass for tourists:
https://www.sante.fr/how-to-obtain-a-french-health-pass

One thing to note is that what I have said is based on the current situation in France. Since your trip is three weeks away, you take a risk coming here that there are not new restrictions in France or returning to the USA. I don't forsee a return to some of the more restrictive measures taken earlier in the pandemic, but there are likely to be some less restrictive measures put into place such as masks in all public places. There is a meeting about this on Monday and after this council meets there are often significant changes. Whereas previous measures were usually enacted after a delay, more recent measures have quickly come into force without these council meetings.

There is also always a small chance that one of these measures will be the re-imposition of the blanket imperative reason to travel rules for flights to France from outside the EU, but I think that is unlikely due to the holidays. The internal movement restrictions (10 km without specific reasons) are also unlikely to be put back into place since it would be wildly unpopular and disrupt holiday plans. It is possible, however, that they do things in the next week to aid in holiday plans, such as closing schools a week early (Belgium announced such a measure today), etc.

How is your 4-year-old fully vaccinated? I am not being facetious or rude but genuinely want to know, for my own family? Desperately waiting for the youngest (0-4) clinical trials to be completed and approved, and beyond grateful to those who have enrolled (including you, if your child was, but it's a blind study?).
Thanks for clarifying!

Thank you all for your feedback. I will look into the Strasbourg markets. We will be in Paris for 5 days with 2 young kids and were trying to stay put instead of doing our usual pre-kid packing up and moving around. Although they would definitely enjoy some tablet time on the train :-)

Karen, both my kids were enrolled in the clinical trials for Pfizer. The 6 year old was unblinded as vaxxed when the vaccines became approved for his age range and I couldn't stand not knowing for the 4 year old so we did an antigen test for her (The study asks us not to because they don't want us to change behavior but I just had to know). So either she's vaxxed or has had it at some point unknowingly.

Jenn,
If you are looking into the Strasbourg markets and traveling by TGV, try pricing the tickets with and without a carte advantage adult discount card (you only put the card for one passenger, not all of them).
https://en.oui.sncf/en/train/train-discount-card/avantage-adulte

If it is more than 49 euros cheaper with the card, consider buying the card. One card will cover yourself, your partner, and your children. You have to register your card after purchasing it, don't forget this step. The TGV around when you're going takes 1:46.

Here is the site for Strasbourg's Christmas market. It is our favorite market and as you may know, the buildings are picturesque. You can walk from the station to all the market stalls and the entire downtown is pedestrian-only for the Christmas market period which makes it very enjoyable. They have programming too, it's a lot of fun for kids. The cathedral is beautiful and is one of the areas with market stalls.

https://noel.strasbourg.eu/en/

There is a nice playground 'island' (square Louise Weiss) that your kids would probably enjoy. It's not too busy and it's an area with with stalls.

Thank you for having your kids participate in the trials ! That is going to help a lot of people !! Wow!

We just returned from France on Saturday, with our kiddo (4, turning 5 in February, not vaxxed yet).

We went to Lyon, Beaune, Colmar (day trip to Strasbourg), and then spent a week in Paris. We found the rules to be incredibly simple and felt MUCH safer in France than we do at home (in Florida). We had no covid-related inconveniences, other than needing to remember our masks, and a little stress that we would test positive before our flight home and would need to extend our stay in France. My husband and I have been to Paris four times previously; this was our first trip with our kiddo. The city was absolutely just as magical as it always is. At no point did we find ourselves thinking that the trip wasn't worth it.

We had just come from the Christmas markets at Colmar and Strasbourg, so we didn't bother with the markets in Paris. There were a few shops set up in front of the Hotel de Ville, and those were cute. My son enjoyed the carousel there (which is free to ride in the month of December).

By far, the most crowded we were was in the elevator for the Eiffel Tower. This wasn't a surprise, and if the trip had just been me and my husband, we wouldn't have bothered, but my son REALLY wanted to go to the top. We double-masked and chose spots facing the wall/window to try and help. If you want to be extra safe, you can take the stairs to the first viewing level and avoid the escalator.

We visited the Rodin, Louve, Orangerie, Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, Petit Palais, and Sainte-Chapelle. On the whole, the museums we visited first thing in the morning were the least crowded. Not sure if you've traveled before with your kiddos, but I'm happy to share what our son enjoyed and answer any questions you have!

I was at the Tuileries market last week on Tuesday night. Masks required but not heavily enforced as you walk through (We used them but not everyone did) and no distancing at all. Lots of people, festive. Lots of food, sweets, drinks, trinkets, lights, skating area, Christmas atmosphere. I saw some kids’ rides and we rode the Ferris wheel. There was security at each entrance but I can’t remember if they checked our pass or not - are supposed to, though. It was fun and seemed normal.

No one can say whether it is worth the hassle but you. Because it IS hard to get there. It was worth it for me and I only felt like my group missed out on things because of our limited time while there - not because of anything Covid related. With little ones and only five days, I think you would be just fine staying in Paris the whole time.

As I noted elsewhere, at the Strasbourg Christmas market they will most definitely scan your PS, in fact they will scan it almost as soon as you leave the train station and start walking towards the market. They also scanned me when I popped out of the market to use the porta-potty, so that wasn't great planning.

If you're concerned about crowds, the entire downtown area of Strasbourg inside and outside the markets was standing room only on a Sunday. The trains were fine, I guess because as a TGV you can't get onboard without already having a seat. You will definitely need your PS at Gare de l'Est to board the train, and you might even need the funky blue wristband that we had to get beforehand. I told the bander that it was "tres jolie" and he thought that was quite funny.

75018 mentioned the carte advantage, I purchased the senior version on Black Friday before my trip. I had the forethought to print out my payment confirmation screen because I never got an email or card (but luckily had a card number).

Had no trouble using the carte when buying the tickets with a human at Gare de l'Est, but for some reason the conductor on the outbound Paris train really put me through the wringer. He not only inspected my boarding pass, he wanted to see my printout of the carte information AND my passport.

Perhaps he was part of the DB/German crew on the train so took his job too seriously?

For reference, here is what two seniors sitting side by each paid for the same ride: Paris-Strasbourg 107 vs. 59 euros, Strasbourg-Paris 143 vs. 98 euros. As they say, your mileage will vary. It was definitely worth it in my case, although I thought the one card would cover both passengers. I think I'm confusing this with some British rail promos I researched.