Paris is sparkling this week, and if you’re in town, you’ve picked the perfect moment to dive into the city’s winter magic.
Let’s start with today. According to Sortiraparis, the Champs-Élysées is entirely car-free this Sunday, transformed into a monumental promenade where listeners can stroll straight up the avenue, grab a hot chocolate, and take that uninterrupted selfie with the Arc de Triomphe in the background. Down by the Seine, the Eiffel Tower Christmas Village on Quai Jacques Chirac has just opened for the season, with wooden chalets, artisan gifts, and steaming raclette and mulled wine under the Iron Lady’s twinkling lights.
If you like to keep moving, Sortiraparis also highlights the 10km de la Tour Eiffel, a festive run weaving through the 7th arrondissement. Imagine jogging past the Champ-de-Mars with thousands of other runners, then warming up with a coffee in a nearby café afterward.
For pure Christmas atmosphere all week long, listeners can wander the giant La Défense Christmas Market, described by Sortiraparis as one of the biggest in the region, with over 300 chalets, a central ice rink, and daily visits from Santa. Back in central Paris, Galeries Lafayette Haussmann has gone all out: the department store’s famous dome shelters a gigantic Christmas tree and whimsical windows designed by illustrator Jeanne Detallante, while, as reported by Sortiraparis, the rooftop has been turned into a temporary ice rink with sweeping views of the Eiffel Tower.
Art and culture fans aren’t left out. Sortiraparis notes the opening of the Gallery of the Five Continents at the Louvre, a new permanent space presenting works from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania in a single global journey. Over in Montmartre, the exhibition “Ce que le temps leur doit” on Rue Audran functions like a live Advent calendar, revealing a new work by an emerging female artist each day through early January.
As the week rolls toward next weekend, plan an evening escape to Parc Floral for the Luminous Odyssey; Sortiraparis describes a two-kilometre night walk among a thousand lanterns, artificial Northern Lights, and even a drone show. Or step into Lumières en Seine at the Domaine de Saint-Cloud, another illuminated trail mixing music, projections, and light sculptures in a historic park just outside the city.
If you’re craving something a bit different, Sortiraparis reports that the Grand Rex and Pathé Palace are hosting “Vietnam Cinema – Itinéraire de Lumière” through this week, a festival of films spanning fifty years of Vietnamese cinema, complete with talks and special encounters. And for a cozy, bohemian vibe, the Hôtel Grand Amour in the 10th arrondissement hosts a one-day Christmas market featuring designers, wine, street food, and vinyl DJs, turning the lobby into a laid-back holiday salon.
However you choose to spend the next few days, Paris is offering an almost endless menu of lights, markets, culture, and late-afternoon strolls. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss what’s happening in the city of light. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
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