Lifestyle · 3 min read
Christmas in Paris, the Holidays at Home
The windows of boulevard Haussmann, the lit-up streets, the festive dinners you prepare yourself: the holidays in Paris are better lived with a table, a kitchen and a living room of your own. Where and how to spend them.
From late November to the first days of January, Paris transforms. The department stores unveil their windows, the avenues light up, the streets fill in the evening with people who are no longer in a hurry. For visitors, it is a rare city: festive and intimate at once. Provided you have a place of your own to come home to when night falls early.
The lights of the city
The illuminations trace a route across Paris. The Champs-Élysées, from the Concorde to the Étoile. The Faubourg Saint-Honoré and its fashion houses. The Place Vendôme. And above all, on boulevard Haussmann, the animated windows of the department stores, where children and adults alike press their noses to the glass, and the great tree under the dome of the Galeries Lafayette.
In the heart of Paris, the Opéra and the department stores are never far: you walk there and come back laden with parcels. On the Left Bank, Saint-Germain-des-Prés lives the season more discreetly, in its bookshop windows, its pastry shops and its cafés.
Markets and the flavours of December
Every year, Christmas markets set up in several neighbourhoods of Paris, notably around the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Which ones, and when, changes from one season to the next: ask us about this year's when you stay.
December is something you taste as well: the oysters and champagne of the festive dinners, the pastry chefs' bûches, a hot chocolate after a walk. Rue Montorgueil, in the 2nd, and the Marché des Enfants Rouges, in the Upper Marais, are good places to shop for a celebration meal.
Réveillon at home
For the Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve dinners, many Parisian restaurants are fully booked well in advance, and serve a single set menu. The alternative is simpler, and often lovelier: hosting at home.
An apartment makes that possible. A large table for dinners of six or eight, an equipped kitchen, a living room to open the presents in, bedrooms so that everyone can retire. Our apartments have two to four bedrooms; several have as many bathrooms as bedrooms, which matters when the whole family is together. Our concierge can book a table or arrange whatever will make the evening simpler.
Where to spend the holidays
In the heart of Paris, the holidays are lived on foot: the department stores, the Opéra and the covered passages; the designer boutiques of the Marais, its well-chosen gifts and its museums; the elegant, quiet Left Bank of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, its pastry chefs and its bookshops.
Our apartments are chosen one by one across Paris, and our neighbourhood guides introduce each of our addresses.
Booking the holidays
This is one of the most sought-after periods of the year, especially for apartments with several bedrooms: it is best to book early. Direct, you get the best available rate, with no service fees added to the price, and a single point of contact from the first message to departure.
Stay in the city, not in a hotel: at Christmas, the phrase takes on its full meaning. Discover the collection, or our family apartments.
The ACT 3 Team