Joyeux Noël!

We spent Christmas in Paris. Wow.

Sunset view on our walk Christmas Day.

Brice and I slept in on Christmas morning and then went for a run through our neighborhood. Fun fact: our hotel had an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower (from all windows AND the shower, no less) which meant that our run had to include a trip around it. (FYI, we stayed in the 7th arrondissement in Paris at the Hotel Le Walt.) I refused to take pictures on the run for a few reasons: (1) I really wanted to just take in the experience and not live through a series of pictures, (2) it would have been cumbersome, and (3)Brice is faster than me and would likely have left me to get lost in the throngs of people without knowing it. Anyway, we ran by the Tower and then across the river on the Pont de l’Alma bridge, and then back into our neighborhood via Rue Cler. I LOVED feeling less like a tourist and more like a local on the run, and yes, I even got a little frustrated by the crowds by the Tower — um, can there BE any more people out there, and why do tourists feel the need to STOP in the middle of the f-ing sidewalk when there are people behind them! Oblivious much?

Brice and I at the Arc. Loving the sky behind us.

After the run, we got ready gussied up for a fancy Christmas meal at La Marée, an amazing seafood restaurant in the 8th arrondissement. Everything we ate and drank here was incredible, and we ate everything on our plates and drank every drop of wine that we were given — so delicious. I will never forget the look on Karen’s face when she was served her meal — so much joy and excitement!

We decided to take a walk up to the (very close) Arc de Triomphe and then down the Champs de Élysées, thinking that maybe the tourists would be the only ones out, since it was Christmas Day, but I’m thinking now that that particular part of town is slammed regardless of holidays, because it was crazy-busy! We snapped a few pictures, and then walked back over to the Christmas Market we’d seen on the first full day in Paris. Still crazy-busy — any tourists not at the Arc or at the Tower or on the Champs were at the Christmas Market! SO. MANY. PEOPLE. Holy smokes. Since there were too many people for the Market to be enjoyable, we got the heck outta there and took the long way back to the 7th arrondissement and to Rue Cler for a nightcap and a final, leisurely stroll through the streets of Paris.

The light show at the Eiffel Tower on Christmas Eve night.

Un Noël inoubliable. A Christmas to remember.