What is it about this time of year that makes us reminisce about years past? Perhaps it's all the familiarity and repetition - the decorations, the movies, the music, the seasonal routines? Whatever the reason, thinking back to past Christmases always brings a smile to my face (as you know, it is my favourite time of the year), and today, I am sharing a very fond memory of Christmas in 2014 in Paris.
It was the year before our wedding, and to make the most of our three week vacations from our corporate jobs, we maximized time off by combining Christmas holidays with wedding planning, and booked ourselves for our usual Calgary to Amsterdam flight. First stop was Paris to pick up some important wedding necessities, shoes from Louboutin, accessories from Chanel, and our wedding bands from Cartier. And while we of course knew that this would be a few weeks before December 25, what we experienced in Paris that Christmas was pure magic.
literally the entire city is decorated with glistening lights
Place Vendome, Galeries Lafayette, all our favourite boutiques, our hotel, absolutely everything had been decorated. And walking down the fairytale streets of the French capital, we felt like we were in a Christmas movie. We found out later that that feeling was no accident - there is one continuous soundtrack of festive music that plays in the street and essentially 'follows' you through Paris. The city also hires a decorator each year so ensure that the lights and wreaths and ribbons and ornaments are all in unison, resulting in an incredibly aesthetic experience.
There is so much to experience in Paris at Christmas, and I am so grateful that our wedding plans and vacation schedules allowed us to experience this. In fact, the leather-look shirt I am wearing here I picked up on this trip at H&M on the Champs-Élysées.
BAG saint laurent
SHOES ecco
COAT american apparal
SHIRT h&m
SHADES polaroid
Have you been to Paris at Christmastime? Or anywhere else magical? Or do you prefer to be close to home during the holidays?