We have a travel package and will be in Paris and the Loire Valley right after Christmas and News Years. The package includes lunch at the Eiffel Tower and a river Seine cruise. We know it will be cold and will prepare clothing-wise. What other advice about things we shouldn't do given the cold or something that we should not miss during the Christmas season is out there? Should we try to exchange some of those included items?
Did I mention that we live in Florida?
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
"We have a travel package and will be in Paris and the Loire Valley right after Christmas and News Years." To be clear, does your trip start after New Year's or does it include part of the time between Christmas and New Years? If the latter case and if possible, try to schedule the Paris portion before New Years so that you can see some of the holiday atmosphere. It of course won't be as warm as you are accustomed to, but it likely won't be as cold as you might expect either. Dress warm enough, but don't overdo it. Keep in mind that you'll likely spend most of your days inside. If you dress in too many layers, you'll probably sweat through your clothes, and thus, you'll be even colder when you go outside again. The cold won't be your limiting factor, the short hours of daylight and damp atmosphere will have a larger effect. What this means is that the brightly colored postcard views of the countryside that you see in photographs simply won't be there. This won't affect your site-seeing in Paris much, and it won't hinder you from visiting chateaux in the Loire area. But if you're expecting stunning rurual scenery... don't. Everything will look kind of dull and gray. "Did I mention that we live in Florida?" Isn't that what Texans usually say right after you meet them (of course, substituting "Florida" for "Texas")?