The end of year Holiday Season is pretty magical no matter where you may find yourself.
Grilling shrimp while your shoulders burn to a crisp on the Gold Coast of Australia. Snapping icicles off your mustache while ice-fishing in Quebec. Or cruising in a comfy sidecar under the twinkly and intoxicating lights hanging above the cobbled streets of Paris.
Me? Biased? Mais non!
Paris is cold, dark, and damp in the winter time. However, there is a warm and gooey center to that hard and frosty outer shell.
Every December, the local commerçants (local shop owners) all pitch in for the annual tradition of decorating their streets with Christmas lights.
The Champs Elysées is one of the most popular avenues adorned each season, with the Avenue Montaigne coming in at a close second. Yet I personally love the cozy extravagance of La Place Georges Mulot.
The spectacle of warm and bright lights lays a delicate gilded blanket over an otherwise gray city. It is so magical it is indeed difficult to describe any further, you just have to see it for yourself. Preferably after a few glasses of mulled wine (vin chaud).
And me being the glutton I am, the real treat is pre-emptively warming your insides with some steaming hot tartiflette, raclette, or soupe à l’oignon. Look those up, they’re all typical winter fare in France, and they can all be easily found in their various forms at the Christmas market in the Tuilerie Gardens.A feast for both the eyes and the tummy, Paris is a very special place during the Holidays. Merry Christmas from Txango Tours, et surtout, bon appétit!
