Noël, my favorite time of the year!

This is my first time living in a city under the winter weather, we don't have seasons in my country, and as I expected is not as bad as everyone told me. Yes it´s a big change for us, we come from a city where you don't have to think on your outfit because it has the perfect weather, and we don't have to check the weather channel before we go out because everyday is always the same temperature (variations are minimal). But when you make a BIG decision in life, like moving to a different country, you have to be prepared for changes. You have to embrace the good and the bad, everything as a new experience to grow. If you choose your thoughts wisely you will find the beauty in all, you will love winter, you will love the cold and you will find a new way to spend Christmas far from your family.

A negative thought: It gets dark way too early. 

Yes is true, the night starts at 5pm and you think the day is over but if you go out you will find a great atmosphere in the streets. As it goes dark earlier the stores close later (in your mind) so everything is open at night. The streets are full of lights and people everywhere, the sky is clear and the bad smells disappear. 

"There is no Christmas spirit. in Paris"...A teacher told me that and is not true. After going for a walk in Champs Elysées I realized is not the only place with a few lights (that was her description) is a wonderful decoration where all the trees of the avenue are illuminated with white and blue lights. Almost every shop has its own decoration and at the end of the avenue, near to the Concorde Square, is a beautiful Marche de Noel. A Marche de Noel is very common in France during holidays an is a bazar when you can buy products made by artisans. They put a lot of white tents with Christmas decoration and music and each of them has a little store inside. You can actually see the artisan live making the products. Also you have food stops with the typical french Christmas food, must of them traditional from the region of Alsace. Hot wine (wine with spices) and churros. There's also a Marche de Noel in La Defense and in Gare de l'est.

Alsace is a region of France located in the north, border to Germany. Alsace is known for the Noel festivities, they decorate the capital Strasbourg with beautiful ornaments and the have a grand marche de noel. In that region was invented the Christmas Tree, they used to decorate the trees of the town with apples but later were replaced by glass balls ornaments to resemble the apples. Nowadays is a must to spend the holidays in that region of the country. 

When you finish walking down Champs Elysees you arrive at the Concorde Square (Where Marie Antoinette was beheaded) there is a huge wheel with lights and you can hop on for 10 euros and have a beautiful and unique view of Paris. Then you can take a stroll trough different streets that have pretty light decorations or go to the George V hotel with extravagant figures. This year is decorated with huge red bears in glass and red Christmas trees on the entrance. Another great thing you can do in Paris during Christmas Holidays is Ice Skating, you can do it in front of Hotel de Ville or this year in Le Palais Royal. The negative part is that you have to make a huge line in order to ice skate. We enjoyed Paris in this time of the year.

Hope you had a very nice christmas!

Greetings from Paris in Christmas Time