Paris is cold and damp in the fall, but I think it is more beautiful at this time of year than at any other time. The city is lit up with what seems like billions of little Christmas lights and displays, giving it a magical, almost unreal appearance and feel.

There is a Christmas craft and food sale that runs all along both sides of the Champs Elysées, with vendors selling everything from flea-market trinkets to Russian Christmas ornaments, from hand-crafted leather goods to novelty scarves made in China, from Spanish sausages to Canadian maple syrup! C and I said “bonjour” to the vendors at a large chalet with a Canadian flag on prominent display. They were selling the same maple syrup that we buy here at home in the grocery store all year round. We were immediately identified by one of the vendors as Canadians, no doubt due to our accented French!