Les Lumieres de Noel a Paris

Christmas Eve eve we headed out after dinner to see the renowned Christmas lights of Paris.  We hit only two of the high spots, with a couple of lesser detours as well.  There is still time, since they will be up for at least New Year's, and we think until January 6, the end of the Christmas celebration. 

We were not really prepared  for the spectacle at the Champs Elysee.

After taking it in, and miraculously not getting killed crossing the Champs Elysee, we caught the metro to the Hotel de Ville (city hall) which has a temporary ice rink installed. 

 They had a special smaller rink for the kiddies, who could either push a small cart (with or without a smaller child in it), or a penguin figure for stability. 

 Then we went off in search of the Notre Dame Christmas market which was no where to be found, and enjoyed the tree given to the Parisian people by the Russian ambassador.  It seems that several months ago the powers that be indicated that due to austerity measures, there would be no money for the traditional tree outside Notre Dame.  The Russian ambassador wanted to show his generosity and largesse (and the economic power of the Russian economy unfazed by sanctions) so he provided the tree.  We wonder what he thinks about his expenditure now? 

A few days ago we had noticed from our window a building changing color, below in a poor photo, an intense blue, and occasionally sporting kleig lights strong enough to rival the spotlight on the Eiffel Tower. 

We got out our trusty google maps and decided it had to be the Madeleine.  So when we were taking in the evening lights, we made a small detour to check it out. 

 And we were right, it was the Madeleine, with colors changing both front and back, although the mindless google algorithm has separated the photos by color, instead of showing them blending from orange to red to purple to blue.  But still pretty cool.