Christmas windows and illuminations; festive magic

As the Christmas season approaches, Paris immerses itself once more in the magical and unique Yuletide atmosphere that the city is famous for. With gorgeous and innovative shop windows, Christmas lights sparkling throughout the city and the welcoming ambiance of the picturesque Christmas markets, the capital is imbued with a wealth of good cheer and festive spirit.

When windows come alive...

At Christmas time, the shop windows of the Parisian department stores become more than ever a magnet for onlookers. If you enjoy a shopping session with the opportunity for a break in a lovely tea room, this is where you need to be.

The department stores on the Boulevard Haussmann take great pride in assigning top artists and designers to conceive and create gorgeous Christmas window displays based around a specific theme while telling a heart-warming tale. Automatons, loveable characters, clever lighting and lovingly built sets summon up a world of the imagination where magic is real, and the Christmas spirit reigns supreme.

If the themes of this year’s Galeries Lafayette and Printemps Haussmann Christmas windows have yet to be unveiled, we know that Bon Marché Rive Gauche will be celebrating the Christmas tree. A forest of firs has sprung up throughout the department store’s windows and other spaces, with the stalls at the foot of the trees laden with gifts. As for BHV Marais, the store has invited Mary Poppins for the festive season. The famous nanny will land on the Rue de Rivoli on November 14th, 2018, accompanied by her magic bag and her penguin friends, who will take the opportunity to enliven the windows and facade of this iconic establishment.

The dazzling spectacle of the Christmas lights

The illuminations of the main arteries and the most beautiful monuments of Paris is a tradition and an institution as eagerly awaited by visitors to the capital as it is by Parisians themselves. The Hotel Les Tournelles invites you to discover Paris in a new light, literally, as the city is illuminated by thousands of multicoloured bulbs, shooting stars, shimmering fir trees and glittering fireflies. The magic of Christmas is everywhere and deliciously palpable. Don’t miss this unforgettable show, a luminous symphony that will be unveiled from the Champs-Elysées to the Avenue Montaigne via the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Place Vendôme, Bercy Village and some of the capital’s most dynamic districts, making a glittering constellation of more than 150 Parisian streets!

Christmas markets offering a magical shopping experience

To delight the eyes as well as the taste buds, you should visit one or more of the capital’s many Christmas markets. Here you’ll find everything you need to decorate your home for the festive season and to lay on a feast fit for royalty on Christmas Day and beyond. The pretty wooden chalets of the markets also provide handcrafted and original gifts and fine foods to offer to those you love. And if the frost nips at your nose and ears, you can always warm up with a delicious crêpe, tasty roasted chestnuts and a reinvigorating glass of steaming mulled wine laced with cinnamon.

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Fore more information:

- Christmas Windows
- Christmas Markets

Crédit photo : © patrick janicek - Flickr

Hotel Les Tournelles, a 3-star hotel at the heart of Marais