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Staying in Paris over Christmas

My husband and I are considering a trip to Paris over Christmas this year. We would be taking our young adult niece as this is something she’s always wanted to do. I’d love it to be magical, but not break the bank. We generally travel light and stay local. Wondered if anyone had any experiences as a tourist in Paris over the holidays who could recommend fun places to stay, or any other info to share.

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Get tickets for the Musee des Arts Forains which usually at Christmas opens to the public and has the rides and booths running (it is a museum of circus arts). I managed to latch onto a French tour 10 years ago and it was fun -- but it would be more fun if fully running. https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/magic-at-musee-des-arts-forains/

See if there is ice skating on the Eiffel Tower or at the Hotel de Ville.

Do a cheese/wine tasting. We enjoyed this one where the emphasis is on learning about cheese with some discussion of wine pairing and 3 wines. We signed up for a class in English. https://parolesdefromagers.com/en/formations/introduction-cheese-and-wine-tasting-paris/

Consider an apartment and catering your own Christmas dinner -- the shops are full of cool things specially for Christmas -- we did a duck stuffed with pate, deboned and oven ready and a variety of wonderful sides and desserts from local shops. It is a fun time to shop for food. And with an apartment you have the incredible luxury of breakfast in -- where for a fraction of a boring hotel breakfast, you can select from a dozen or more breakfast pastries plus breads at local bakeries and have coffee and juice and yogurt and such on hand. The highlight of our day is going to the bakery for the morning bread.