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Paris Gets into the Festive Spirit

By Hayley Pedrick
Last updated at 16:45:00 PM on 09 December 2011

Paris is often considered the “fashion capital of the world”. So it seems only fitting that such a city would celebrate the festive season in style, adding a splash of glamour to the tree-decorating tradition by draping them in designer creations.

Every year the Intercontinental Hotel hosts a Designer Christmas Tree Display within the walls of its winter garden. The chic spruces are decked in original creations from the students of Paris’ fashion colleges – the fashiondesigners of tomorrow who get a rare chance to showcase their talents and raise their public profiles.

The Intercontinental event is no match for the infamous A-list fashion designer version, which sees top designers and fashion labels dress Christmas trees for private auction. The private auction event is the ingenious endeavour of the “Association Les Sapins de Noël des Créateurs” and this year over 30 trees are expected to be received from fashion labels and designers including Chanel, Stella McCartney and Trussadi. There are no creative restrictions placed on the entries and designers are free to work with bright colours and extraordinary textures and materials to deliver a personal and unique piece. All proceeds from the 2011 event will be donated to the Association pour la Vie-Espoircontre le Cancer, a charity founded by Professor David Khayat to fight cancer in children. The A-list version of the event is usually hugely popular and raises funds in excess of 41,500 Euros.

Paris appears to go “fir-crazy” over the Christmas period and thousands of Christmas trees are erected along its boulevards, in the quartiers and outside ordinarily dull, official buildings. Around 270 trees line the famous Champs-Elysees and a further 180 are established at the Place de la Bastille. The Notre Dame Cathedral is the site of an enormous tree, patriotically clad in blue and silver decorations and Christmas trees are even delivered to barges on the Seine, where a charity celebration is held to welcome-in the New Year for the underprivileged.

Paris’ obsession with the firs is not a new trend and actually dates back as far as the 19^th century. So dedicated are the French to this tradition that the erection of the trees is planned far in advance, with the firs being carefully cultivated in the Jura.

Paris is a remarkable city all year round but visiting it when it is clad in green fir trees that glisten with tinsel and sparkle is particularly special. Staying at a centrally based hotel makes it easy to access its many tourist attractions as well as soak up the festive atmosphere of its Christmas markets, view the many different light displays, marvel at the majestic shop windows of grand department stores and take a twirl on one of the large outdoor ice rinks. Online booking sites are the best place to look for cheap hotel deals and special offers which often make luxury hotels accessible to holiday bargain-hunters looking for an indulgent, low-cost break.

To find out more about the festive sights and special events in French capital this December do an internet search on “what’s on in Paris”.