Paris pre Christmas 2008

We don't know if it is the storms in Kos, or the festive Christmas atmosphere, but one morning we look at each other and say "lets do it... lets go home for Xmas!" Perhaps it was always going to be too tempting to know that we still have our booking and all we have to do is get to Paris to connect with our return flight to NZ.

So here we are in Paris and it is Christmas, probably the most wonderful time to be here. The city is aflame with festive lighting and decoration with Christmas trees being sold in every street corner store. We have trouble deciding the highlight for us. Maybe it is Galleries Lafayette Department store with its Christmas Tree the height of several stories through the central atrium... or maybe it is the Eiffel Tower shining blue in the night sky... and then again, what about the trees lit up on the Champs Elyses - or the storefront window displays especially for the children...? Oh well, maybe we are in culture shock... from the Greek Islands to Paris?

Now, how on earth do they manage to get those chooks to look so real in the window? -When you have a close look their bums are plucked!

Emily is busy making Christmas fruit mince pies for her many customers and followers of her culinary website www.dernieremiette.com, so we go exploring. Our glee is completely bubbliing over when we find a boutique selling hand knitted childrens' finger puppets. We spend ages in there choosing which ones we will buy and for who...

Helen, Emily and Marc make us very welcome and organise for us to 'house sit' a friend's house in a posh gated community in the centre of Paris - the 16th Arondisment. It is a real treat. We feel as though we are riding a magic carpet.

We also ride the Metro to Marc and Emily's apartment in the 11th Arondisment, very quickly becoming familiar with the 'system'. We spend a flying visit catching up with Helen who drives us all over Paris to make sure we have seen all the sights, and in one particular excursion we have a mission to purchase the best macaroons in Paris. As the light fades at 4pm on our last day, Helen and Emily queue for the Holy Grail of macaroons so we can take some back to NZ for the family.