Marchés de Noël (Christmas Markets)

By the time we returned to Paris, all of the Christmas Markets had opened. Since I'm all alone this week (Lori is away on business) I decided to go out and explore a few of them. There are small markets like this one outside a church in our neighbourhood

and there are much larger markets like the one at La Defense. This is right outside Lori's building.

There are all kinds of booths. Some are corporate like Samsung, others sell junk like Shamwows but it's mostly crafts and food. I found one booth promoting Quebec tourism. They were selling poutine and maple syrup among other things. The gentleman I spoke to told me they have eight booths in markets across France and Belgium. I was very happy to buy some beer from them.

The largest market in Paris is on the Champs-Élysées. I went over in the evening so I could see the lights. It's really hard to capture an image that shows it properly. This is what you get when you have a slow camera and shaky hands.

It doesn't really show anything but I thought it looked cool. Here is the entrance to the market.

I bought some roasted chestnuts while I was there.

I needed something to wash them down with so I bought a beverage to go with them. Here's my free tip of the day: when you see a sign that says "Hot Wine", that's exactly what you get. It's not a clever name for something else. It was pretty good but I'm glad I only got the small glass.

db