Here is the Christmas in Paris 2020 Part 3 we promised you. We had so many say, “Yes, please!”, and we had so much material from this year that we decided to make this third part a retrospective look at this Christmas in Paris.
The holidays are over. It’s a new year and we wish you all a happy, productive, prosperous and healthy 2021. All that’s left of the holidays are memories and dreams. In Paris this year there are many of those. We hope in this and in the last two posts we have given you something to remember. Also something to look forward to when you consider that your next Christmas holidays might be in Paris.
The opening photo is from Galerie Vivienne which was spectacular this year. Here are some more images and a video to give you a good feel for it.
The first video is a walk-through of Galerie Vivienne before the shops opened. The second video was all taken on this New Year’s Day in Montmartre. It was a really lovely atmosphere there, busy but not crowded, and lots to eat and drink in the streets, crowned by a beautiful sunset.
Here are some images from Montmartre on New Year’s Day.
The decorations around the Panthéon were simple but fit in perfectly with the architecture, providing a very welcome band of green to soften the somewhat stark splendor of the famous monument. And at night the trees are lit and there are Christmas lights in the street.
There were Christmas services around Paris. The interior of the church of Saint Paul and Saint Louis in the Marais was beautifully decorated and the atmosphere was very peaceful.
Below is a video taken before the Christmas service at the church of Saint Paul and Saint Louis.
On a very different note is a video of the imaginative response by the famous Les Deux Magots café on Saint Germain Boulevard to the closure of cafés, restaurants and bars. They have a wonderful collection of teddy bears seated at the tables as you can see in the video and photos that follow.
While not strictly speaking Paris, the Château du Vaux-le-Vicomte is a short distance from the capital, and has always been a favorite destination for people in Paris who want to get out for the day. Over the holidays it was particularly popular with Parisian families, due to the special program with all sorts of fun for the kids and a beautiful video mapping show for everyone.
Here you can see parts of the video mapping on the rear façade of the château which was a tremendous production and the highlight of the evening.
Following is a fairly random selection of some of the highlights of the holiday season in Paris.
Place Dauphine is a lovely little oasis at all times of year, but at Christmas they have a delightful clump of beautifully decorated Christmas trees towards the east end of the Place.
Angelina and the Meurice Hotel on rue de Rivoli are always strikingly elegant with just enough decoration to let you know it’s the holidays.
Sebastian Guadard has a delightful pâtisserie and salon de thé on rue des Pyramides.
The Bristol Hotel on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré has been offering some really delicious treats in its Épicerie de Noël.
Lastly, we would like to leave you with a gallery of images from around Paris of particularly festive, elegant or photogenic shops and street scenes to give you a broader feel for what it has been like and what it will be like if you decide to visit Paris at Christmas.
That’s it for the 2020 holiday season in Paris. We have tried to share with you what it’s been like on this unusual year. As you can see, there has been LOTS of Christmas here, regardless of any restrictions, and the Parisians have managed to create their usual stylish and beautiful atmosphere.
As always, if you see any of the photos in any of the three Christmas posts that you would like to have a print or canvas of, just drop us a line and we’ll make it available to you. We’re considering adding a collection of Christmas in Paris prints to the shop. Are you interested? If so, which images (from the blog posts or Instagram) would you choose for a collection of 4 or 6 images? We’d love to know. You can leave us your comments on the post or email us directly.
Leave us a comment on the post to let us know what you think. We always like to hear from you. You can also email us with any questions or comments. We will respond promptly.
And please share this blog post with your friends.
Wishing you a wonderful 2021!
À bientôt!
Georgianna and David