'Tis the season

It is grey outside. Gone are the long, balmy evenings; a far memory the Indian summer that drew itself out to the end of October. It is now grey. Even the crowds outside the famed Louis Vuitton store on Avenue Champs Elysées are no more - Ladurée looked stark and empty, I guess nothing was drawing the crowds out into the cold for their delightful macarons. Abercrombie & Fitch; I have yet to fully understand what it is this store sells that draws the crowds so much- but from what I've read and seen, great marketing and branding can take a product a long way. Even this store did not have its usual, winding queues. The models were still there though - decked out in their winter gear, ready to welcome would-be shoppers.


I have decided that rather than let myself be defeated by the bitter-cold weather, I am taking the action indoors- to museums, art exhibitions and wherever else I can find respite from the chilly weather outside.

"Of Toys and Men"  entertained me for a couple of hours this morning. It is an exhibition currently on at the Grand Palais of and about toys and their role in society. It has an extensive collection with parts of the exhibit borrowed from museums around the world and from the Musée des Arts décoratifs. With toys ranging from the 1800s to modern day- interspersed with amusing installations by Pierrick Sorin and a fitting final installation using Pixar's "Toy Story". I bought the double ticket, which allows me entry to the current "Matisse, Cézanne, Picasso...L'aventure des Stein" but that's for tomorrow.

Was glad to see that, with the season almost upon us, the City of Light was in full preparation for its Marché de Noël- Christmas Market, which starts this saturday. The Champs Elysées Market is the first, with many arrondissements having theirs a week or so later. Even with the lights still being installed, I am curious as to what the weekend holds. Took way too many pictures of the stalls being put up and lights being hung- I shall be out with the family on saturday taking in the finished product.

Grand Palais 
Ave. Winston Churchill
75008, Paris.

Preparations for the Christmas Market