With steam seeping out of festively decorated cups of hot chocolate and coffee, strings of light and pine green wreaths hanging across the streets, and families huddling in front of gold and silver Christmas trees dispersed throughout Place Vendôme, Paris was a sight to behold during the holiday season. Both tourists and locals alike joined in celebration, admiring the elaborate Christmas decorations of Les Galeries Lafayette, taking their relatives to see famous Impressionist works at the Musée d’Orsay, and grabbing seasonal sweet treats from food carts and cafés.
Shopping in Paris is unique in both the quality and availability of items found within their stores. Since my family and I visited the city during the week before Christmas, we found the shopping districts of Le Marais and luxury stores lining the Avenue des Champs-Elysées filled to the brim with people. While this often led to longer wait times and busier shopping assistants, the shops offered a variety of items typically made of higher-quality fibers such as cashmere and merino wool. From a store in Le Marias, I was able to customize an embroidered design on a hoodie. The whole process, from selecting a font, size, and color to receiving my finished clothing, took less than an hour.
I was initially concerned about the availability of vegetarian meals in Paris. However, if given early notice, the restaurants we tried were very amenable to accommodating dietary restrictions. My favorite restaurant offered a sweet onion ravioli with candied lemon, hazelnut emulsion, and black truffle that was among the best dishes I have tasted. We especially enjoyed decadent desserts, including macarons from Pierre Hermé and chocolate from La Maison du Chocolat.
Despite sampling new foods and spending days wandering its shops, the most enjoyable aspect of visiting Paris was the treasure trove of historical art and monuments we visited. I was fascinated by extravagant rooms embellished with velvet and gold trim at the Palace of Versailles, the dazzling beauty of the French Crown Jewels at the Louvre’s Galerie d’Apollon, and the natural beauty decorating the cobblestone roads of the island of Mont Saint Michel in Normandy.
Paris is often glamorized in films and novels as a place of mystery and romance that cannot be found elsewhere in the world. Even with high expectations for our visit set by glamorous media, I found that Paris truly is a city like no other.
