Paris does Christmas big. From mid-November the department stores dress their windows, the Champs-Élysées lights up end to end, and markets fill the Tuileries and La Défense. Then come lantern walks through the gardens, Christmas at the châteaux and the big circus season. Here's what we checked, from the puppet windows at Printemps to the Beijing acrobats under Cirque Phénix's big top.
Two of Paris's big department stores fill their Boulevard Haussmann windows with moving puppet scenes, watched from the sidewalk. At Printemps, cats and mice chase a runaway ball of yarn through a house. Galeries Lafayette tells a colorful, funny tale by designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, with a giant sculpted tree under its glass dome.
The stores sit a short walk apart, so one stroll covers both.
Every winter the trees along the Champs-Élysées are wrapped in lights, turning the avenue into a long glowing walk from Place de la Concorde up to the Arc de Triomphe. There's nothing to book or queue for: kids walk, look up and spot the Arc glowing at the top.
After almost ten years away, a Christmas market returns to the lower end near Concorde, with craft and food chalets.
Disneyland Paris dresses both parks for Christmas. In Disneyland Park, Mickey's Dazzling Christmas Parade rolls down Main Street, U.S.A. by day and after dark, the giant tree in Town Square lights up with a live choir, and snow falls several times a day. This year World of Frozen joins in for the first time, with Anna and Elsa ringing the Yule Bell on the fjord and Olaf leading carols.
The biggest Christmas market in the Paris region fills the La Défense esplanade with more than 350 wooden chalets. Kids come for the ice rink, the carousels, the costumed parades and a visit to Santa and Mrs. Claus. At the elves' workshop in Santa's house, younger ones make their own Christmas decorations to take home. Grown-ups get treats and gift shopping among the office towers.
La Magie de Noël fills a corner of the Jardin des Tuileries, between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde, with 95 wooden chalets and rides. Most chalets sell goods made in France.
Kids come for the fairground: a giant slide, hook-a-duck, Santa's little train and treasure hunts for small ones, bumper cars, flying chairs and a small roller coaster for older ones, with the Grande Roue Ferris wheel overhead.
En voie d'illumination is the Jardin des Plantes' winter night walk. After dark, the garden's paths fill with giant glowing sculptures, projections and sound, built around a theme the Muséum's scientists pick each year: oceans, evolution, dinosaurs, and most recently the light that animals, plants and minerals give off themselves.
It suits kids who like animals and science, and families who don't mind a cold evening outside.
A night walk through part of the Jardin d'Acclimatation, lit by nearly 2,000 handmade lanterns: tigers, elephants, temples, deities and festival scenes from India, with music along the route. Kids see something new every few steps, from a family of tigers to a painted elephant. It ends in a food court serving Indian dishes. This is the park's fourth lantern festival, after China and Japan.
Each winter the Château de Chantilly turns its riding dome into a Christmas stage. This year's horse show, Le Noël oublié, follows a child named Vérité on a quest to bring Christmas back to an island where a Halloween witch made everyone forget it.
Riders, winter fairies, snow girls and mischievous elves share the arena with the horses. It suits kids who like a story with their spectacle.
The royal palace south of Paris dresses up for the holidays. A Christmas show plays most days of the break, and a festive table is laid in the Salle des Gardes with royal and imperial china from the collections, right on the visit route.
Concerts and family tours round out the program. It suits school-age kids happy to walk a long palace circuit.
A family version of The Nutcracker that mixes ballet and theater. Dancers and actors tell the story of Masha and her nutcracker through a run of living scenes, with new choreography and a few surprises.
The setting is intimate and the show draws the audience in. It suits kids who love dance and costumes. One who doesn't know the story may want a quick retelling first.
Volte is this season's new show at the Cirque d'Hiver, the 1852 circus building run by the Bouglione family. It is classic ring circus: a prize-winning flying trapeze troupe, slackline, diabolo, breakdancers, juggling, clowns and a horse-and-pony act, all led by Monsieur Loyal and a live orchestra.
It suits kids old enough to sit through a full-length show, and grandparents who remember the circus this way.
Odyssée is the new show from Cirque Phénix, performed by 40 acrobats from Les Étoiles du Cirque de Pékin. Expect plate spinning, hoop diving, foot juggling and balancing acts, with bold costumes, big sets and loud, modern music.
There are no animals, no ringmaster and no classic clowns, so it suits kids who want nonstop skill. It is long and loud for preschoolers.
Paris does Christmas big. From mid-November the department stores dress their windows, the Champs-Élysées lights up end to end, and markets fill the Tuileries and La Défense. Then come lantern walks through the gardens, Christmas at the châteaux and the big circus season. Here's what we checked, from the puppet windows at Printemps to the Beijing acrobats under Cirque Phénix's big top.
Two of Paris's big department stores fill their Boulevard Haussmann windows with moving puppet scenes, watched from the sidewalk. At Printemps, cats and mice chase a runaway ball of yarn through a house. Galeries Lafayette tells a colorful, funny tale by designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, with a giant sculpted tree under its glass dome.
The stores sit a short walk apart, so one stroll covers both.
Every winter the trees along the Champs-Élysées are wrapped in lights, turning the avenue into a long glowing walk from Place de la Concorde up to the Arc de Triomphe. There's nothing to book or queue for: kids walk, look up and spot the Arc glowing at the top.
After almost ten years away, a Christmas market returns to the lower end near Concorde, with craft and food chalets.
Disneyland Paris dresses both parks for Christmas. In Disneyland Park, Mickey's Dazzling Christmas Parade rolls down Main Street, U.S.A. by day and after dark, the giant tree in Town Square lights up with a live choir, and snow falls several times a day. This year World of Frozen joins in for the first time, with Anna and Elsa ringing the Yule Bell on the fjord and Olaf leading carols.
The biggest Christmas market in the Paris region fills the La Défense esplanade with more than 350 wooden chalets. Kids come for the ice rink, the carousels, the costumed parades and a visit to Santa and Mrs. Claus. At the elves' workshop in Santa's house, younger ones make their own Christmas decorations to take home. Grown-ups get treats and gift shopping among the office towers.
La Magie de Noël fills a corner of the Jardin des Tuileries, between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde, with 95 wooden chalets and rides. Most chalets sell goods made in France.
Kids come for the fairground: a giant slide, hook-a-duck, Santa's little train and treasure hunts for small ones, bumper cars, flying chairs and a small roller coaster for older ones, with the Grande Roue Ferris wheel overhead.
En voie d'illumination is the Jardin des Plantes' winter night walk. After dark, the garden's paths fill with giant glowing sculptures, projections and sound, built around a theme the Muséum's scientists pick each year: oceans, evolution, dinosaurs, and most recently the light that animals, plants and minerals give off themselves.
It suits kids who like animals and science, and families who don't mind a cold evening outside.
A night walk through part of the Jardin d'Acclimatation, lit by nearly 2,000 handmade lanterns: tigers, elephants, temples, deities and festival scenes from India, with music along the route. Kids see something new every few steps, from a family of tigers to a painted elephant. It ends in a food court serving Indian dishes. This is the park's fourth lantern festival, after China and Japan.
Each winter the Château de Chantilly turns its riding dome into a Christmas stage. This year's horse show, Le Noël oublié, follows a child named Vérité on a quest to bring Christmas back to an island where a Halloween witch made everyone forget it.
Riders, winter fairies, snow girls and mischievous elves share the arena with the horses. It suits kids who like a story with their spectacle.
The royal palace south of Paris dresses up for the holidays. A Christmas show plays most days of the break, and a festive table is laid in the Salle des Gardes with royal and imperial china from the collections, right on the visit route.
Concerts and family tours round out the program. It suits school-age kids happy to walk a long palace circuit.
A family version of The Nutcracker that mixes ballet and theater. Dancers and actors tell the story of Masha and her nutcracker through a run of living scenes, with new choreography and a few surprises.
The setting is intimate and the show draws the audience in. It suits kids who love dance and costumes. One who doesn't know the story may want a quick retelling first.
Volte is this season's new show at the Cirque d'Hiver, the 1852 circus building run by the Bouglione family. It is classic ring circus: a prize-winning flying trapeze troupe, slackline, diabolo, breakdancers, juggling, clowns and a horse-and-pony act, all led by Monsieur Loyal and a live orchestra.
It suits kids old enough to sit through a full-length show, and grandparents who remember the circus this way.
Odyssée is the new show from Cirque Phénix, performed by 40 acrobats from Les Étoiles du Cirque de Pékin. Expect plate spinning, hoop diving, foot juggling and balancing acts, with bold costumes, big sets and loud, modern music.
There are no animals, no ringmaster and no classic clowns, so it suits kids who want nonstop skill. It is long and loud for preschoolers.
