Saturday, 27 December 2014

Glimpses of a Paris Christmas Future

Sadly I've never spent a Christmas in Paris. It's definitely one of my must dos for future Paris visits. Even though John Baxter tried to dissuade me of the idea several years ago, I do still dream of a Paris Christmas. One of the many wondrous things about Paris is how very seasonal things are there. Which is good and bad of course. Visit Australia in November and you'd likely see many Christmas decorations. I was in Paris in October/November this year, a few short weeks before the Christmas preparations started in earnest. I did have some glimpses into what I would miss.

The gorgeous dome at Galeries Lafayette was without it's famous Christmas tree.

It's still gorgeous though. 
But there were early traces. I do always enjoy picking up some new Christmas decorations on my travels. 

A Nutcracker came home from the Palais Garnier.
But I did manage to resist the charms of
Madame de Pompadour
Gorgeous pink baubles filled the windows of the
 giftshop at the Palais Garnier
Touristy delights at Galeries Lafayette
Classy displays at Villeroy & Boch
BHV had a whole section devoted to decorations
You can be sure that a silver Tour Eiffel now
adorns my Australian tree

And it seems nothing says Paris Christmas
more than a Cockatoo
I was very tempted, only suitcase logistics saved me

Or Mermen Santas
We did stay in the Marais after all...

Naturally they have classier advent calendars in Paris.



Chocolats Mussy

One of these made it's way to Australia for Master Wicker
Completely impractical as a souvenir requiring transportation to Australia,
 but a sign of maternal determination.
Lovely white, milk, caramel and dark chocolate selection from
Frederic Cassell of Fontainbleu
which I visited last year with Parisbreakfasts
that day lives on in my memory
but sadly remains unblogged
Our visit to the magnificent Salon du Chocolat (a mere fraction of which was blogged here and here) also allowed more glimpses of the Christmas delights to come.

A glimpse of the buche de Noel to come from
Jean Paul Hevin
still one of my very favourite Parisian chocolatiers

Frederic Cassell's Napoleonic feves for your
gallete des rois

Christmas candles

Gorgeous Christmas baking pans
Somehow I was able to resist the 3kg tubs of Nutella, even though they were adorned with cute reindeer at BHV. I fell hard for BHV this trip, I will have to show you more of it later.


An impromptu visit to the Baccarat store in the 16th offered many delights. 


I can't wait for my real Paris Christmas one year. 

Saturday Snapshot is a wonderful weekly meme
 now hosted by 
WestMetroMommy
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from Paulita at An Accidental Blog 

13 comments:

Sean @ His And Her Hobbies said...

There is some really good decorations there for sale and my wife and I would have a hard time not spending a fortune on those items since we have nothing like that here. Thanks for sharing.

Sean at His and Her Hobbies

Susan said...

Beautiful! We spent last Christmas in London- an amazing vacation. I'd never been to England before. Paris at Christmas sounds wonderful too!

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

Fun! The mermen cracked me up!

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

Oh, nothing says Paris more than beautiful things, and delicious chocolates!

I love those dolls, too.

Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I think this was darn close to a Paris Christmas.

http://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2014/12/old-letter.html

Sandra Nachlinger said...

Now I'm dying to go to Paris for Christmas! My husband and I went to New York City one year during early December, and it's a trip I'll never forget. The store windows, tree at Rockefeller Center, and other decorations were dazzling (but the crowds were daunting). After seeing your pictures, Paris at Christmas has moved higher on my must-see list.
My Saturday Snapshots are HERE.

westmetromommy said...

Oh la la! I think Paris would be BEAUTIFUL at Christmastime!

Susan Lindquist said...

Yup ... Paris would be a fantastic place to settle the sleigh for a visit!

Brona said...

I feel like I've had a Paris Christmas now!!
We also enjoy finding Chrissy decorations on our travels. It's lovely rediscovering them everybyearvto hang on the tree.
We have a sweet Hawaiin Santa and Mrs Claus kissing from our honeymoon there, a couple of Harrods trinkets, a number of German pieces, an Empire State Building & a Scandinavian elf set. I also got given lots of decorations during my teaching years - it's lovely remembering some very children each time I hang them on the tree :-)

Ginx Craft said...

All the Paris shop displays look so lushious. But mermaid Santas - I'm not sure about them.

betty-NZ said...

These photos could persuade me to want to see Paris for myself! Lovely.

Allison said...

So much to like! I would be overwhelmed. WOW.

Paulita said...

Louise, I love all these glimpses of how Christmas is celebrated in France. I would have wanted to bring everything home with me. Thanks for playing along with Dreaming of France.