Christmas Stories in Paris

By James Conlon, Robert Korengold & Jonathan Bell A New Yorker’s Paris Christmas Any transplanted New Yorker might be expected to suffer pangs of separation at Christmas time. For anyone who grew up in New York and remembers the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, the store windows on Fifth Avenue or the Christmas decorations and lights that illuminate the entire city, it would seem hard for any other city to compete with Manhattan. Now as a 47-year-old father of two, I find myself experiencing the Christmas season in Paris for only the third time as a resident. Fully aware that nothing replaces one’s childhood images of the holidays, I have begun to acclimate myself to Parisian Christmas. Two years ago, while preparing my first production after assuming my new position as chief conductor of the Paris Opera, Paris had been in the grip of its most extensive strikes since 1968. Public transportation had been seriously curtailed and therefore most of us had to manage to walk to work or tolerate endless traffic jams. Out of this unpleasant reality I discovered the pleasure of getting to know Paris in December on foot. I found that despite the cold and the somewhat short tempers around me, that the tiny winding streets of the Fifth Arrondissement, the ancient buildings of the Marais, and the l’avenue de l’Opera had their special charm at this time of year. Before 1995 my only experience of Christmas Eve in Paris is perhaps the most famous operatic portrait of this great feast; the first two acts of Giacomo Puccini’s LA BOHEME! By coincidence that is exactly what I was conducting at the time. Puccini’s 1898 rendition of Henri Murger’s mid-century novella is of course one of the most romantic views of Paris’ Latin Quarter as a back drop to the beginning of great love story. I found the Paris of 1995 no less compelling. I think of the extraordinary cultural riches for children in this city. One year the larger-than-life creche (nativity scene) from Sicily, on display in front of the Hotel de Ville, another year a Venetian creche in front of Notre-Dame; I think of midnight mass at St Etienne du Mont, the perspectives of the Champs Elysees, St.Germain des Pres, awash with light. The windows of the Galeries Lafayette and La Samaritaine with their displays are worthy competitors of Macy’s. My hope of course is that someday my daughters, who are growing up with this, will look back on it with the same great affection that I do for New York. I , myself, am growing to love my adopted home at Christmas, with the same fervor as that for my native city. James Conlon is the chief conductor of the Paris Opera. “Christmas in Paris”–a great song title Even without the sleigh bells ringing and children singing — and, usually, without the snow — Christmas in Paris can be an enchanting experience. France for generations lacked the Christmas tradition one finds in, say, England or Germany or the United States. You’ll see some Pere Noels around, of course, but New Years was always a more important landmark for most French families. In recent years, however, the same commercial marketeers who this autumn suddenly discovered and exploited the trappings of Halloween have gradually made their mark on the streets and in the stores of the French capital. And it’s not such a bad thing. Paris now is aglow long in advance of the day itself with the sights and sounds of Noel — Noel all, of course, marked by the Parisian touch. Who cannot be impressed by the Champs-Elysees; the capital’s trademark boulevard, its bordering trees sparkling with breathtaking garlands of lights in a magnificent kilometers-long display stretching from the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe. Or, by the Eiffel tower, the world’s biggest iron Christmas tree, aglow with the seasonal spirit all the way to its summit. For some feet-on-the-ground Yuletide atmosphere, do as French families have done for generations. Even when they celebrated Christmas only modestly in their own homes, multitudes still make an annual pilgrimage to the center of the capital to show to their children the magnificent Christmas window displays of the Galeries Lafayette, La Samaritaine or the Printemps department stores. They’re a sight to be remembered, even for adult eyes. It’s also the season when virtually every store and the advertising pages of all French newspapers, magazines and other publications present a mouth-watering selection of stylish Christmas gift ideas for Monsieur, Madame or les enfants. Because this is France, the accent, when its not on stylish clothes, is heavily on food, particularly sumptuous hampers of delicacies with a strong tilt toward fois gras, oysters and wine and the inevitable “buches de noel”, those tasty Yule Log desserts laden with chocolate, cream and calories. You may well encounter chilly, if not necessarily snowy weather on Parisian streets as you seek those last-minute gifts from stores, many of which happily will be open relatively late on Christmas eve. Well, there’s always warmth to be had from the sidewalk vendors of hot chestnuts or a stop for coffee or a hot chocolate at one of the chic tea parlors along the rue de Rivoli, in the welcoming cafes in or around the Tuileries gardens, or along the boulevards St. Germain or St. Michel. From mid-December on, you can count on the American embassy to have one of the biggest real Christmas trees around, in its main entrance hall. But when looking for your own, don’t forget to check the many outdoor stalls around the perimeter of the Madeleine where you can get trees, garlands and Christmas decorations of all kinds with really elegant food goodies to be had just across the street at Fauchon’s and the surrounding shops. To acknowledge in some measure the religious nature of the holiday, even if you don’t attend a midnight mass, you can stop in at almost any church any time and find elaborate “creches” displaying the nativity scene with Christ in the manger. Often he will be surrounded by an unending variety of “Santons,” worshipping figures whose production is a specialty of France’s Provence region. And when that’s all done and you’ve gotten through the sumptuous turkey and trimmings, the midday meal that is a Christmas day family staple, you can start thinking about what you are going to do on a…