Noël à Paris !

I awoke early this morning, smugly congratulated myself on making a smooth transition with the time, and promptly fell back asleep for two hours.

I ran around and did some errands this morning in the neighborhood (it’s like I never left), found a distributeur, and got some euros, and went to the one Franprix that sells my favorite Haribo « Orangina » gummies. Don’t judge me! I love these little candies, and they are NOT available in the U.S.A. (I’m fairly certain I posted about them in the summer.) Anyway, they were on my list. Check.

After my errands and a salad lunch, with bread bien sûr, I had plans for a 5pm Christmas lights and history tour. We were to meet up on Rue Étienne Marcel, so I just had two short hops on two métros to get there. Piece of cake. And then, on train #2, as the door was closing, I realized that that was my stop. Oops. I shrugged, got off at the next stop and headed back. But I made sure to take a moment to remember when that small mistake would have scared the bejesus out of me 3 years ago.

The tour was filled with lots of history, it turns out, as my young guide has studied architecture, and so we moved through the centuries of kings and revolutions as we walked and talked for two hours. Fascinating!

Alexandre was my guide, and lucky me, the other person was a no-show, so I had him all to myself. He insisted we speak French, and he told me I was the first American he’d met who could actually speak French using full sentences, adding that most know only words. This wasn’t a slam, I had asked him for his observations. (I hope it’s ok that I smiled inside. You all know how hard I’ve worked at this language, and I don’t even consider myself fluent. I digress.)

He was completely charming and hospitable, taking me into any and every shop I admired. He introduced me to the oldest patisserie in Paris (Patisserie Stohrer, 1730), as well as the oldest family-owned chocolate shop in Paris, too (1761) called À la Mère de Famille. Of course, there were plenty of new shops, to take in, as well!

Alexandre treated me to a delicious hot chocolate, and bought me a seasonal treat – un marron glacé classique, which is a chestnut crème, candied in sugar syrup, and glazed.

We walked all around the 2ème arrondissement, and took in all the lights and sights. We visited a humble church with 32,000 engravings from parishioners who wrote to thank the Parish for the specific prayers that had been answered.

In contrast, but the same neighborhood, on a fait du léche-vitrine of various luxury brands of jewelry and clothing. (That’s an idiomatic expression for window shopping – literally, it means we licked the windows – a favorite expression of mine.)

As I type, I hear the bells of Saint Paul.

What a beautiful day and night it was. The sun shone all morning and afternoon, and the temperatures were seasonally chilly, lending to the festive scenery.