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Post by 33avenue on Jan 1, 2012 18:42:38 GMT -5
Hi everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a great start to the new year. I've posted before (with the username deuxarmoires) but I accidentally deleted my account trying to modify it so I created a new user. Hope that's ok. Paris holds a special place in my heart. There’s really no logical explanation for it, it just does. I’ve been to the City of Lights more than a dozen times, yet, still get butterflies in my stomach each time I visit. Just imagine my excitement to be able to experience, for once, Christmas in Paris. We spent our four-day vacation taking relaxing strolls around the 8th arrondissement and it’s neighboring surroundings. We wanted to experience everyday life in the city and none of the tourist frenzy. We spent our time walking along the River Seine, marveling at the Eiffel Tower (at least for me), and on the look out for carousels for our toddler. While most Parisians were probably celebrating Christmas somewhere else, noted by the closed blinds in many of the apartments buildings, there was never a lack of tourists. I've posted pictures in my Paris travelogue here: www.33avenue.com/paris/
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Post by Jody on Jan 2, 2012 4:28:43 GMT -5
Saw on facebook you had a mishap with the computer! glad to have you back Soundsw like a great trip
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Post by 33avenue on Jan 2, 2012 14:55:08 GMT -5
Thank you Jody. Yeah, that was not very clever of me ... ooops! I've been scouring my computer for some old blog posts that I might have saved somewhere. Oh, well, what better way to start a new one than the new year.
Hope you had an amazing holiday celebration.
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Post by Belladonna on Jan 2, 2012 22:37:10 GMT -5
Your photos are really lovely and a great way to start the New Year ! Sorry to hear about your mishap with the account but glad you're back on board.
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Post by Shoesy on Jan 3, 2012 1:45:00 GMT -5
Hi there! I'm not surprised that your Christmas was magical since you and your loved ones were in Paris, and you stayed and dined at the magnificent Plaza Athenee. Sounds like a real dream ! Wishing you many more beautiful holidays such as that one...
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Post by 33avenue on Jan 3, 2012 6:36:10 GMT -5
Thank you! The weather was also great ... quite warm I might say for winter and glad it didn't rain. I posted a new image and travelogue on the River Seine. Hope you like it! www.33avenue.com/riverseine/
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Post by 33avenue on Jan 5, 2012 5:14:04 GMT -5
I just added a new picture on the Christmas lights in Champs-Elysees. They were really bizarre! www.33avenue.com/ufo/
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Post by Jody on Jan 5, 2012 6:16:54 GMT -5
Afraid I have to agree with you. Aliens have landed or else the trees are using hula hoops!!
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Post by mez on Jan 5, 2012 6:49:27 GMT -5
Were these lights are one-off or are they here for the foreseeable future? Or will we need to wait until Christmas 2012 to find out?
I do not like them. Give me twinkle lights any day.
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Post by 33avenue on Jan 5, 2012 8:02:54 GMT -5
I truly hope these lights are just for this year. They're very bizarre and do not, at all, reflect a festive spirit. Ok, maybe if you're a Star Wars or Star Trek fanatic lol!
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Post by geordy on Jan 5, 2012 8:16:01 GMT -5
I remember being disappointed when I first went to Paris in January and the lights were no longer lit on the Champs Elysees...I had seen the photos and was looking forward to seeing in person. Then the first time I went btw Christmas and New Year's being so enchanted by the twinkly fairy land effect! Then returning at that time to ring in 2010 and they had added the "dropping icicles" effect" lovely! If this year's display was anyone's first view...they are missing the magic! (well Paris at the Holidays, okay Paris anytime is magical but you know what I mean!
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Post by 33avenue on Jan 5, 2012 9:09:11 GMT -5
Totally agree with you georgy. When I first saw the Christmas lights in 2008 (though it was late November), they were very nice. Even though they were blue, the fairy lights were wrapped around the trees and had a magical effect. Even the Eiffel Tower that Christmas was blue with the EU stars. I think they used this color to mark the Presidency of France in the Council of Europe.
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Post by sunshine817 on Jan 5, 2012 9:38:08 GMT -5
there was a discussion on TA about what Christmas lights are supposed to look like....I'm not sure I could express it exactly, but this year's lights aren't it!
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Post by 33avenue on Jan 5, 2012 10:35:31 GMT -5
So true! If the UFOs (or hula hoops as Jody described them) are weird, even stranger are the light displays at Rond-Point des Champs-Elysees. In real life, they looked weirder than the pictures I've seen. They must have had some galactic theme this year.
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Post by sunshine817 on Jan 5, 2012 13:28:07 GMT -5
We loved the ones at the Rond-Point...the rest of them, though, looked like a Close Encounter.
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Post by 33avenue on Jan 7, 2012 18:14:23 GMT -5
I added a new post and picture on one of my favorite sights in Paris, the Eiffel Tower. I know, I know, it's so touristic, but I absolutely adore looking at it. What a sight! www.33avenue.com/eiffel/I guess I can dream a little of it tonight.
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Post by jo on Jan 7, 2012 20:14:05 GMT -5
What a beautiful picture of the Eiffel Tower! How lucky to be able to see that sight from your hotel room. Thanks for sharing your blog with us. I envy your travel history. You are giving your little girl priceless memories.
Jo
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Post by mossie on Jan 8, 2012 3:26:37 GMT -5
An exalt for the pic. You should try going to the top of Tour Montparnasse for this view
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Post by 33avenue on Jan 8, 2012 6:01:17 GMT -5
What a beautiful picture of the Eiffel Tower! How lucky to be able to see that sight from your hotel room. Thanks for sharing your blog with us. I envy your travel history. You are giving your little girl priceless memories. Jo Thank you! My husband and I made a deal that we will not spoil our child with material goods, rather, as much as we can, travel with her. It was a wonderful feeling when we were watching the DVD of "Midnight in Paris" the other day and when she saw the ET, she screamed: "Eiffel Tower!" Also, when I asked her if she wants to go back to Paris, she immediately said, "Carousel!" Yeah, we rode the carousel many times (in three different locations) during our Christmas vacation and she absolutely loved them!
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Post by 33avenue on Jan 8, 2012 6:02:17 GMT -5
An exalt for the pic. You should try going to the top of Tour Montparnasse for this view Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely try it out next time I visit Paris. The view looks amazing!
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