Christmas in Paris...the little things

The Christmas markets are touristy, but I love them. I also really like the department store window displays and inside decorations. And I don't know if they'll have it again this year, but I loved riding the (pricy - ouch!) Paris Roue (Ferris Wheel) at the Place de la Concorde. Don't forget to have a mulled wine and some roasted chestnuts (which are horrible tasting IMO, but a part of the experience.)

What I remember with great pleasure is going to see the window of the big department stores on Boul. Hausman the first weekend of their Christmas window displays. It seems Parisian grandmothers take their young grandchildren then, and the little ones are all beautifully & expensively clothed and shod (no jeans or baseball caps). Both generations are delighted with what they see. The stores provide little steps so that the smallest can see all the action in the windows. And you know what else I remember? None of the children shrieked or yelled or carried on.

Strolling down the Champs des Elysees on Christmas Eve and either that day or the day before (sorry it's been a number of years), a visit to the Le Hammam steam baths at the Paris Mosque. Something completely different and most enjoyable!

People-watching at the Christmas markets.... so many families (grandparents, kids, their kids) posing for annual holiday pictures around the flocked fir trees that line each block. So adorable! The ice skating teenaged girls on the rink outside l'Hotel de Ville. Having so much delighted fun - and playing hockey! Getting a tot of Calvados or rum in my vin chaud for 1 extra Euro! Screeching kiddies on the roller coasters at the Christmas markets. Santa is added to the decoration on the carousels at either end of the Pont d'Iena. My husband, who was FAMISHED from a day out in the cold, getting a hot dog at Cafe Diane in the Tuilleries, and wolfing it down under the lights of the giant ferris wheel. Thanks for asking! Brings back such warm memories....

The decorations and lighting displays... understated and tasteful. You won't find a giant inflatable snow globes or light-up Santas.

Guess what Tom: one of the favorite Christmas decorations in France is an illuminated Santa hung on the outside of a chimney, looking as if he's about to climb inside. You'll see them in villages; I've never noticed one in Paris, but who looks up a chimneys in Paris.

Bets - I have seen the little chimney climbing Santa in Paris! I think we were in the Marais. I will have to check my Flickr streasm to be sure. I think maybe Tom was making the point that, in contrast to much of America, European decorations seem rather elegant and tasteful. :D