Christmas in Paris – oh the lights!

Each year business associations get together with town halls to illuminate our holiday season evenings. A large portion of the budget comes from the businesses on the illuminated streets. On rue de Sevrès and Saint Placide this is quite clear as the names of the businesses are actually suspended in luminous red letters as part of the decoration. Most of the other displays however are simply for the beauty of the lights and the gaiety that they provide to shopping areas. Nearly all are done with LED technology to keep costs and energy use to a minimum. There are about 100 streets and many monuments which are illuminated in Paris, not to mention the newest displays which are the light trails. The lights will be on through the first week in January. Each year the offering gets better and better.  Here’s a few of our favorite displays.

Christmas in Paris Light Trails

Jardin des Plantes

Every year, the Jardin des Plantes presents a night time light festival in a magical setting! Gigantic lit statues of animals take over the place at nightfall. This year, enjoy the « Illuminated Jungle », a new night time walk including giant flower, fearsome felines and chameleon surprises from the rain forests on four continents. Until January 21, 2024.

Thoiry Chateau and Safari

Just 40 minutes from Paris is the drive through safari at Thoiry. During the winter you can add their evening light show to your visit. 2000 illuminated animals, characters and scenes are set up in the chateau’s gardens for a magical time called Thoiry Lumière Sauvages.  This year’s addition is a symbolic labyrith. An even more exciting time can be had if you stay overnight in one of the animal’s dens! Yes! From your cozy space you might see a coyote walk by, or the night time activities  of a bear or even wolf. Plus you can visit the safari park at sunrise. Just imagine! Book in advance of course.

Lumières en Seine

One of the light displays this year comes to Paris from Germany. It’s a concept called a light trail or Christmas garden and it is now in it’s third Paris year. It’s titled Lumières en Seine and is on display every night at the Parc de Saint-Cloud until 9 January. Lumières en Seine is a unique experience inspired by Christmas and year end celebrations. there’s a whole new display this year, so even if you went during the past two years you’ll be marveled once again.

Christmas in ParisEasily accessible by public transport (at the end of the metro line 10!), this historical park, on a hillside above the Seine with views over Paris, is transformed every evening at dusk into an artistic and sensory discovery with spectacular scenography. It is an illuminated, musical immersion trail of 2 kilometres which wanders through the park to displays with different themes. A maze of paths, passageways, tree and water features within the Parc de Saint-Cloud are awash with hundreds of thousands of lights, lasers and projections. It is an enchanting experience to share with friends or for a romantic night out. The variety of scenes have something for every taste and style. Each person will have their own favorite. Last year mine was the hologram of the historic chateau, my husband’s was the lasers in the fog.

Located to the west of Paris on a hillside bordering the Seine, the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud estate stretches across 1,100 acres and enjoys an exceptional setting on the capital’s doorstep. As a favourite holiday spot with princely, royal and imperial families who reigned over the centuries, the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud still bears witness to the leading historical events that took place here and is a great place to explore during the daylight as well.

Don’t forget your hats and gloves (it’s chillier in the dark amongst the vegetation that it is on the city streets), sturdy shoes recommended too! Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the park.

Christmas in Paris

Other light displays include

  • L’Odyssée Lumineuse in the Parc Floral of the bois de Vincennes
  • ‘Art in nature’, works by surrealist artist Salvador Dali illuminated in the Parc de la Villette
  • Lueurs de Mantes: a free artistic light trail in Yvelines
  • Le Grand Noël at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte
  • Dragons and Lanterns Festival: a luminous stroll and Chinese legends at the Jardin d’Acclimatation

 

Christmas in Paris Neighborhoods

Place Marcel Sembat – Boulogne-Billancourt, M° Marcel Sembat
This traffic circle was previously decorated by a giant champagne glass, but the folks in Boulogne were not too partial towards the glass and so the structure was transformed in 2009 to a 12 meter tall Christmas tree. In fact the tree is not one tree but many trees… stacked. It was the only way to be able to have a huge tree in the middle of this large traffic circle which is also above a tunnel. A single tree would have been simply too heavy for the tunnel to support. A single tree is also very costly and complicated to put up. So Boulogne stacks 120 trees on a 5 tiered structure that used to be a champagne glass. The process is done at night to avoid complications at this busy intersection of eight streets. It takes seven people five nights to build the tree and decorate it complete with a star on the top. Boulogne has many other lovely decorations on streets and squares. 25 kilometers of garlands and strings all together! There is a Christmas market with stalls and carnival amusements at the Grande Place too. Boulogne is well worth a tour – but of course we’re partial sinc our office is in Boulogne.

Les Champs-Elysées
As in previous years the lights are designed by Blachère Illuminations, a long standing family owned French company which exists for Christmas. 98% of their business is in connection to light displays on the Champs, in hotels and even in the department stores.  The company has an ecofriendly approach and the lights on the Champs can be used for three to five seasons. In all, 400 trees are covered in string lights which fan out from each trunk in the shape of a balloon wine glass. They say the energy used to light the Champs is the equivalent a typical Parisian family of 4 over 6 weeks.

Christmas in ParisRue Lecourbe, 15th arrondissement – A personal favorite
Each year I make a trip to rue Lecourbe to see what they have conjured up. The ribbons of light that zigzag down rue Lecourbe are stunning. They seem endless, but in fact cover about 600 meters. Rue Lecourbe is one of the longest streets in Paris at 2.4 kilometers total, it is a very wide street too at 17 meters in breadth. When you stand at the top of rue Lecourbe where it intersects with avenue Pasteur (Mo Sevrès-Lecourbe) and look to the south the effect of the light ribbons is as if it were a continuous canopy over the street. Nowhere have I seen lights this dense and the result gets my vote for the best individual street.

Other spectacular displays in the City of Light

Forum des Halles A twenty two meter tall Christmas tree decorates the Forum des Halles and on December 16, singer Valentina will give a free concert at the foot of the tree

Christmas in Paris wouldn’t be Christmas without a stop at the very crowded windows of Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, the Bon Marché and new this year: the Samaritaine, of course!

Don’t forget to poke your nose into the elegance of the 5 star hotels. A walk through the lovely lobby and rooftop bar of The Peninsula will make your jaw drop.

Bercy Village, Viaduc des Arts, Place Vendome and Avenue Montaigne (another personal favorite) all have extraordinary lights.

Get out and enjoy the Christmas in Paris magic at dusk!

Visit this site for a list of Christmas Nativity scenes and French Christmas masses, for worship in English click here

14 décembre 2023 8 h 23 min

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