A Parisian Christmas
Why Parisian do it differently...and here's how. Plus every place I visited last weekend
I have never been to Paris at Christmas. I have never seen the Avenue Montaigne lit up by thousands of fairy lights, or seen the Eiffel Tower turn green. I have never watched Parisians carting Christmas trees about in the streets or buying bundles of mimosa to fill their homes for the holidays. But last week I did..and boy am I glad.
Because as one Parisian friend told me recently, Paris is best at Christmas. Sure, it’s lovely in spring with the public gardens in full bloom; and it’s heaps of fun in the summer when every dog, man and teenager lounges along the banks of the Seine. But at Christmas Paris glows. As the nights draw in the buildings- the Academie Francaise, the Louvre, The Pantheon, Notre Dame (I could go on) are bathed in light. Patisserie shop windows meanwhile are filled with bouches de Noels and marshmallows fashioned into the shape of Santa Claus; whilst window ledges are edged with spruce and ribbons and the words Joyeuses Noel hang from every lamp post.
So anyway, last weekend my husband and I took the Friday evening Eurostar and headed to my favourite city on earth. Here is how we spent a magical, deeply festive 48 hours in Paris.
The Hotel
I have stayed in many hotels in Paris, from teeny tiny shoe box cheapies to grand dames like Le Meurice and The Ritz Paris. So where to stay for somewhere Christmassy and romantic? There was only one place: The Saint James. I have wanted to go here for years, mainly because it is the city’s only chateau-hotel in the super smart 16th arrondissement, so when they offered to host me and my husband I said yes. (Disclaimer: I am very funny about hosted stays unless they are somewhere I have genuinely wanted to go to for a while.) It is also part of the Relais & Chateaux group, one of the last stamps of approval that I actually trust. (Every year when we bomb it down to the south of France Relais & Chateaux has always come up trumps with smart, dog friendly hotels with lovely restaurants and good spas.)
Anyway, the Saint James is a staggeringly beautiful grand hotel a fifteen minute walk away from the Fondation Louis Vuitton, which if you have never been to you must. It’s also in one of Paris’ quieter neighbourhoods, where smart Parisians tend to live which means there are lots of lovely cafes and places for brunch with few tourists.
The hotel itself is very romantic with several large conical yews lining the stone driveway which are all lit up like Christmas trees and a lovely sweeping staircase that leads you up into the soft fug of the hallway. There are chocolates waiting for you as you check in, and beautiful rugs and sofas to fall into.
The interiors are by acclaimed interior designer Laura Gonzalez and feature elegant chinoiserie, fabric on the walls and large heavy drapes at the soaring windows. Each room is decorated individually and ours was a lovely little duplex (room 12 I think) with an enormous sofa to lounge on after dinner, as well as a huge bathtub (rarer and rarer in hotels nowadays) with an abundance of Guerlain products to use.
We wanted a real retreat from the madness of central Paris and this was it. On Saturday afternoon, after a day of shopping, I grabbed my swimsuit and padded down to the pool and hammam (there is also a very elegant Guerlain spa). Whilst before dinner we took cocktails in the library bar, which is surely one of the most romantic rooms in all of Paris with its booked-lined shelves and spiral staircase.
They have a Michelin-starred restaurant too, which I feel silly I did not go to this time around, but we will be back for sure. Definitely one of my new/old favourite hotels in Paris from now on.
FOOD
The bad news is you can no longer take cheese and meat back to the UK from Paris so that put paid to my plans of taking a giant Mont D’Or cheese back. Still the Parisian chocolatiers come completely into their own at Christmas. I would get yourself over to Cedric Grolet’s freshly opened chocolate shop on L’Avenue de L’Opera, which, I’m told, is The Willy Wonker of chocolate shops. (Seriously, there are even ten golden tickets hidden inside his chocolate bars this Christmas.) I am also a big fan of Cyril Lignac, especially his marshmallow teddy bears which make lovely gifts. I bought a tin of the assorted bears which you can only find in store. (Take a peek here.) I also have a soft spot for Paris’s oldest chocolate shop A La Mere De Famille where everything comes wrapped in a beautiful orange paper bag. There are many locations across the city and if you want something traditionally festive and French then go for a box of the papillottes which are lovely praline-filled chocolates with a joke inside.