One of the most common, and panicked, topics on Paris travel forums centres around what to wear while on a holiday to the world’s fashion capital. Would [pause-hesitate-repeat] jeans and sneakers do…? We like to flaunt our familiarity with London, Brussels and Amsterdam —even Istanbul and Madrid these days —but le flair français intimidates us the way Audrey Tautou would an ingénue. We secretly worry over aloof Parisians, superior waiters, unconquerable pronunciation, haute cuisine and serious wine.
I should have known how far off the mark that was when Ali, our multilingual cabbie, held forth on Emmanuel Macron’s love life. Later, a more discreet, and wry, dinner companion said the newly-elected French President was fetching her country good publicity in the liberal world.
Then the agile head concierge at the Sofitel Paris Arc de Triomphe recommended an espresso before an early check-in without the raised eyebrow and silent disdain. Sorbonne alumna Nathalie Manceron, our guide to an off-beat Paris, apologised for the rain. And Angela Gala, who leads a free tour of the museum at the family-run Fragonard perfumery, said 70% of the cost we paid for famous brands went into marketing overheads.
Paris’ boulangeries are working overtime to keep up with locals queuing up for delicious oven-fresh baguettes rolled in paper that’s wonderfully warm to hold. By the time I had a snug blanket tucked over my stretched legs “like a princess” in a retro Ural motorcycle’s side car with Rémi di Nino, him of laughing eyes and camouflage togs, the stereotypes had turned into hot chocolate on a winter evening.
Light followed the warmth. Blachère Illuminations have aesthetically combined LED with ‘traditional’ lights along the shimmering Champs-Elysées. It’s easy to see why the two-kilometre expanse of renowned restaurants, flagship stores and gem-like museums is the ‘world’s most beautiful avenue’. Place Vendôme is aglow with a ‘forest of sparkling firs’; Baccarat’s chandeliers have Faubourg Saint-Honoré aglow. Rues de la Paix, de Castiglione, de Saint-Honoré and des Capucines are lit up with luminous arches, multi-coloured projections and incandescent displays. Street artist Jordane Saget’s easily recognisable chalk lines draw visitors to his new work (‘Constellation’) at Bercy Village. The dazzling façade, giant tree and elaborate window displays of Galeries Lafayette vie gamely with that of the Printemps Haussmann and Le BHV Marais. The very air is clear as crystal.
Sidewalks are grey and often wet, but warmly-lit cafés burst with bonhomie. People-watching as conversations flowed in animated French led me to a philosophical question: can sartorial elegance be genetically coded? Paris doesn’t so much as blink at jeans, although perfectly unassuming Parisians could glide past an audience with the Queen of England in the way they wear theirs.
Cities of light
Christmas markets in Europe, which usually run from mid-November till the end of December, are essential to the enjoyment of a trip thereabouts during the festive season. Paris’ dozen-plus marché de noël include over 70 wooden chalets at the Noël dans les étoiles village (‘a starry Christmas’ on Place Joachim-du-Bellay in the 1st arrondissement), and themed gatherings like the Nordic (83 boulevard Ornano) and Swedish (9 rue Médéric in the 17th arrondissement) markets. Shoppers can ice-skate beneath the Eiffel Tower at the market on the Champ de Mars; Square Rene Viviani near the Notre-Dame Cathedral has the city’s oldest Christmas tree; and the Alsace market in the courtyard of the Gare de l’Est is where Parisians go for the best pretzels, gingerbread and biscuits. But its Strasbourg, close to France’s border with Germany and Switzerland, that’s the ‘capital of Christmas’, with an enormous and real tree in the town square, and large crowds that throng its fabled market and cathedral.
Vienna celebrates Christmas with exceptional choirs, brass bands, orchestras, concerts and operas — look up the events calendar of St Peter’s Church, Vienna Boys Choir, Stephansdom and Minoritenkirche. Its legendary Christmas markets are surrounded by grand baroque architecture and best seen at the City Hall, the Belvedere Palace, and the old streets of Spittelberg.
Dresden’s 582-year-old Striezelmarkt is one among the 11 different markets that are a part of the city’s meticulous post-war resurrection. The après-ski charm of the Hüttenzauber makes it another important weihnachtsmarkt by the ‘Christmas mile’ that spills past the historic city’s Prager Strasse and Frauenkirche across Neumarkt.
Gothenburg’s nearly sunless winter is transformed into a beautiful Christmas destination by its amusement parks, carousels and ice ballets, and market stalls set in a medieval village.
It is continental Europe’s Christmas markets and mulled wines that top the season’s ‘best lists’, which inspires Manchester’s renowned German market as well, but for a uniquely British ‘fayre’ of snow sculptures, stilt walkers and Victorian themes, go to Bath, Manchester, and London’s Hyde Park.
