WHAT IS THERE
TO SEE?

After waiting with our delicious Cacao until everyone has taken their seats, we set off!

Past the Opera Garnier (without Christmas decorations outside, but still beautiful) to Place Vendôme – which it’s truly beautifully lit! Decorated Christmas trees, facade and shop window lighting, fairy lights. The ornate Parisian street lamps fit in seamlessly.

We continue along Rue Rivoli, past the Christmas market in the Tuileries, and onto Place de la Concorde. Twice around the circle and then onto the Champs-Elysées.

In recent years, the Champs-Elysées was lit in red, but in 2021, the 400 trees were sparkling in gold and silver – for economic reasons, only from dusk until shortly before midnight.

The major department stores have, as always, beautifully decorated their shop windows and facades (it’s worth taking a walk before or after the tour, as the decorations are always very imaginative, with many sweet little details to see). And now, we’re at the Arc de Triomphe.

Perfect timing because every evening at 6:30 PM, the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is reignited. In the dark, we can see it clearly from the bus, and we also hear the Marseillaise; it’s truly atmospheric.

We return via the Champs-Elysées, then turn right onto Avenue Montaigne, where many haute couture brands have their stores, which are beautifully decorated and lit accordingly.

The next highlight of the tour is waiting for us: the Place du Trocadéro, from where you have a beautiful view of the illuminated Eiffel Tower.

Afterwards, we drive around the Jardins de Trocadéro and across the Pont d’Iéna right in front of the Eiffel Tower. And again, the timing is perfect; we arrive exactly at 7 PM when the tower starts to sparkle (which we unfortunately can’t show you here as photographing the lighting is for private use only).

We drive back along the Quai d’Orsay, cross the magnificent Pont Alexandre, return to the Place de la Concorde, and… get stuck in one of the famous Parisian traffic jams. Now, I’m glad there’s a lower deck where I find a seat until it finally moves on after 20 minutes.

From the Quai des Tuileries, we have a nice view of the Musée d’Orsay on the other side of the Seine.

Then we pass by the Louvre with its illuminated pyramid and the Palais Royal. At the end of the tour, we can admire the Christmas decorations around and inside Galeries Lafayette and Printemps (here too, it’s worth taking a closer look at the shop windows; after the tour, you have until 11 PM before the lights are turned off).