Right now I am experiencing a whole lot of festive cheer but also a whole lot of extreme terror because the arrival of Christmas means that I have now been living in France for four months. FOUR WHOLE MONTHS.
Literally everyone told me that my time here would go incredibly fast and I definitely did not take them as seriously as I should have. That said however, I really think I have been making the most of my time in Paris.
December is my favourite month and thing in the world, I JUST LOVE CHRISTMAS. I’ve always gotten right into the Christmas spirit, ever since I was little and would give out cards to everyone in my class, each with a little doodle on the envelope of an object which I thought represented them. This year however it hit me a whole lot harder and actually quite a bit earlier. I usually like to keep it all under lock and key until December 1st, but literally the minute I woke up Halloween morning my thumbs just typed ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ into my iTunes all by themselves. I also finally have a light up Christmas jumper which I have wanted for more years than I care to admit.
Paris has been a magical place to spend December, and I would like to gratefully accept responsibility for forcing all my friends to do Christmas activities which they definitely enjoyed once they got into them. I’ve done a whole load of fun and festive things so I though I would include a little list of some of them (because I happened to be a fan of lists). I’ll pop in some pics too so that you can pretend you were there and hopefully it will make you happy as you read it.
1. Admired the Christmas tree at Galeries Lafayette – seriously though, look at that thing
2. Had overpriced hot chocolate on the roof of Galeries Lafayette – wasn’t the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted but it was about the experience, and mum was paying
3. Went on a Christmas decoration hunt around Paris – I very often just went for walks to find the best lights and displays, I can confirm that the city delivered the goods
4. Stood in a big bauble for a photo – there’s not too much more to say about this one really
5. Went to Disneyland Paris – this was mega expensive but we didn’t regret it one bit, we were there from about 10:30am until midnight so we definitely got our money’s worth and I think it was one of the most magical days of my life
6. Explored a fair few Christmas markets – I always wonder who buys things at these, apart from food obvs, they were very pretty nonetheless
7. Spent almost a full (paid) day at work making paper decorations because I was bored – I did it for the students, not for myself, I swear
8. Drank a whole lot of vin chaud – seriously I want this on tap, I don’t care if its supposed to be just for Christmas
9. Found Santa’s house – Paris is the new North Pole
10. Took a weekend trip to Strasbourg – oooooohhhhhhhhhh my goodness if you ever get the chance to go to Strasbourg around Christmas please please say yes for your own sake, it was spectacular
I HOPE YOUR DECEMBER HAS BEEN FULL OF MAGICAL DAYS AND THAT THE 25TH IS THE MOST MAGICALEST OF THEM ALL
Best wishes from Paris x
Lauren Robertson 