Is there anything better than Paris? Yes. Paris at Christmas.

The markets are in full swing, the vin chaud is flowing, Cartier has her bows on, and so many boulevards are decorated with Christmas trees and strings of lights.

The Champs is decked out with twinkling bulbs, it’s snowing like crazy in Le Bon Marché, Galeries Lafayette is filled with shoppers checking people off their list and stopping to admire their legendary center Christmas tree (this year is a polar bear skiing theme!).

Merci, one of my favorite shops, has their adorable little car smack in the middle of gold Christmas trees. I’m really not sure holiday decor gets any better than this scene – and look at the books in the background too!

The festive-ness ranges from big and bold to subtle and slightly twinkling.

One of our favorite things is to go out at night and track down all the hotels and stores in their finery. I have about 3,000 photos of lights at night, but I’ll spare you that and just show you two of the cutest (hiii Chanel).

Another perk (non-decor or lit-tree related) is that this time of year typically finds the city fairly empty. You can wander through Luxembourg Garden in peace.

The Palais Royal is a quiet spot for once and the Hôtel de Ville and small side gardens are exponentionally less crowded.

One thing’s for sure, holiday or not, this beauty towering over the city never goes out of style!