Special Christmas Edition!

Just like Downton Abbey, the Rubintrek blog has a Christmas special.

At the main Galleries Lafayette department store, they now have a giant upside-down Christmas tree.  As impressive as it is, it blocks the extremely beautiful Art Nouveau glass ceiling/dome. 

 Christmas tree--Galleries Lafayette

Here's another tree in front of Notre Dame:

 

Notre Dame Christmas tree

I found this crew decorating this tree outside the Palais Luxembourg in the Luxembourg Gardens.  Obviously, they take their tree decorating VERY seriously--notice the hard hats and heavy equipment.

 Christmas tree in Luxembourg Gardens

Fete Noel:  Every year along the Champs Elysees from the Grand Palais to the Place de la Concorde, there is a city of little white wooden booths set up to sell Christmas gift items and regional foods.

 

 Fete Noel crowds

It's a real treasure-trove of colors/sights/smells/sounds.  Here are some of my favorite booths:

 Little felt balls to cover light bulbs

 Crepes, waffles, churros and doughnuts

 Chocolate bark

 Gingerbread and other sweets

 Raclette sandwiches

A wedge of raclette cheese is placed under a small grill and once cooked, the cheese is scraped off and smeared onto a baguette--YUM!

 Kiddie train

 Ice skating rink

Not surprising that jelly doughnuts and latkes for Hannukah were not among the holiday delicacies!