I was so looking forward to going home, back to England, where the fields are green, the wine mulled, the mince pies hot and the holly and the ivy plentiful. With it's frosty mornings, open fires, endless tea and milk, carol singers and it's houses distastefully smothered in flashing festive lights... I could not wait to take my plane!
But then it snowed. It snowed in Paris... And suddenly it became SO beautiful, perfect and wonderfully magical, that this Paris Pup had to revise whether or not to return to London, when gay Paris was suddenly adorned with all the Christmas charm one could hope for!
Effortlessly decorated by mother nature in lashings of fluffy neige, with sparkling frost on the windows, rooftops and balconies...(of course Paris waits for the real thing -much more classy than spray snow afterall)! Christmas has never been more Christmassy - so here is my Paris Xmas Hit List if you are lucky enough to be in the city of lights this festive season...
1. Hotel de Ville Ice Skating
Ice skating is always a wonderfully wintery thing to do with friends and my pick of Paris's patinoires has to be Hotel de Ville where the ice rink is admittedly very busy but this has the added advantage of being in the heart of the city, in front of one of Paris's most stunning building. What's more afterwards you can spend TIME in BHV and in the numerous boutiques, shops and commercial havens in the Hotel de Ville vincinity! Parfait! Alternatively why not check out the Eiffel Tower Ice Skating Rink on the 1st floor which is free once you have entry to the tower itself - what could be more quintessentially romantic?
2. Champs Elysees
Another festive must do is the Champs Elysees Market near to Place de la Concorde where you can see the Eiffel Tower, Tour Montparnasse and Invalides all at once! The market itself is again, crowded, but there are cutesome stalls, vin chaud and roasted chestnuts a plenty and lots of cute jewellery finds to be discovered, alongside animal figurines carved out of vegetable ivory and pashima venders. Be sure to take a few turns on La Grande Roue - Paris's answer to the Millenium Wheel which gives a terrific view over Paris's twinkly lights.
Outside Rue Mouffetard! Tres FESTIVE!
3. Rue Mouffetard
Being in my quartier, Rue Mouffetard is naturally often frequented by the Poodle, and at Christmas it really is something special - the well known vivacious street, with its cobbled stones and cutesy boutiques and bars, this is one road where you can meander with friends and enjoy the open air food market where you can buy the freshest of oysters to the most delicious strawberries! Further up the road and there are some very reasonable gift shops, clothes stores and shoe shops too - one of my favourite Mouffetard shops is Anoki who sell earrings from 3euros to scarves and wallets from 20euros - a great place to go to stock up on gifts or presents to self!
Let the Poodle know what your favourite festive things to do are! Wherever you are....!
That makes two of us who didn't go to London for Xmas lol- but instead of your beautiful Parisian winter I am experiencing a hot L.A. one :) Great pictures
ReplyDeleteParis looks so gorgeous in the snow! Think I would have to add to your list shopping at Bonmarche and Le Marais - but faite attention - you can spend a LOT in one go in these parts!
ReplyDeleteYou know, London and Paris are both bloody cold this time of they year.......
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