Christmas in France

This past December I went on my first group trip ever! Aside from studying abroad, I’ve never done any type of organized travel and have always planned for myself. I often travel in a small group of friends or family and I am always the default leader because of my planning skills. Until I stumbled upon Bekyy’s TikTok and her company Window Seat Club, I never really thought I would join a group trip either. Group trip pricing was always more than I could afford or wanted to spend, which can understandable for the effort and organization a group trip needs, but they’re often super inflated prices. However, Bekyy’s trips are so well thought out and honestly have great pricing for a week long trip somewhere abroad with current prices. It was impressive!

So when Bekyy announced she was doing a Christmas Market trip, I almost didn’t even think twice and joined immediately. I even got a discount for joining first :)

France was not totally on my radar for future trips because I have already been to Paris (2015) and south of France (2013) and while they were fun trips, France did not move me like other places I’ve been. However - I’ve become a Christmas girly, minus the music. I love Christmas décor, especially the Scandinavian hygge Christmas styles, and I’ve really enjoyed having my own apartments, now house, to decorate for the holidays. The trip included Paris but also the Alsace region, which is SO famous for Christmas.

I was also planning a Strasbourg, France micro wedding with a client at the time and was getting so jealous after doing all the research. So I had to see it all for myself. It was perfect timing really. And I can’t stress how glad I am that I jumped right in to sign up.

One of the big differences between this trip and regular group trips was price like I mentioned but it was also Bekyy’s platform. She posts a ton of travel content and focuses a lot on size inclusivity with travel, which is really important I think! It made her seem like a great, thoughtful guide and someone I’d actually like to hang with. Part of the reason this trip was more “affordable” was that we utilized hostels instead of the traditional hotel experience. I know so many people are afraid of hostels without realizing what they can really offer. Hostels often come with private room options, including a private bathroom, which is exactly like a hotel at a more affordable rate. We were able to choose from a private room (private bathroom), a 4 person dorm (private or communal bathroom), or a 6 person dorm (private or communal bathroom), all with different tiers of pricing. The dorms were all our group members and not strangers, which is another layer of comfort. I chose the 6 person dorm at the lowest price and had zero issues! The communal bathroom was really clean and it was nice that everyone could use the bathroom on their own schedule instead of all sharing a single bathroom in the room.

The hostels Bekyy chose were from the brand The People - we stayed in Le Marais while in Paris and then right in Strasbourg when in the Alsace region. Both locations were really great in my opinion and the hostels themselves were quite nice! They were not luxury, obviously, but the bar areas were adorably decorated, very modern and clearly geared towards younger generations, the bathrooms and showers were clean, and the beds were actually super comfortable. My favorite part as a person sensitive to light was the thick curtains each bed had, plus this helped with noise. I honestly slept great the whole trip!

The itinerary was jam packed and as a traveler who loves to do it all, this was great for me. On our first full day, we popped over to the Louvre, where I actually did not even go in because I had already been so Bekyy and myself hopped over to this cute café to chat about potentially collaborating on some future endeavors. It was so fun to meet her in person and learn more about how she sources all of the parts to these awesome trips.

We then walked over towards the Tuileries Garden area, stopping for a lunch at Angelina’s for hot chocolate and French onion soup. The meal was delicious but I do wish I had saved room to get food at the market across the street. The Tuileries Christmas Market was not supposed to be the most impressive and maybe it was because it was just the first one I got to see - but I loved it almost the most!! It was so cheeky with it’s signage and how heavily it leaned into the Alsatian foods/culture. It’s probably so American of me but the giant pans of Tartiflette (sauteed potatoes with cream and toppings), million raclette burners, and the piles of sausages was just so fun.

We all went back to the hostel to get ready for dinner because we were going on a fancier Seine river dinner cruise to end the night. As a planner, I’ve read mixed things about dinner cruises and always figured the food would be less than incredible because the cruise is really what you’re there for. But I have to say the food we had was amazing! We all got three courses included in our trip costs (we paid extra for alcohol if wanted) and I was super impressed. The boat was also very classy with minimal but nice table settings and 360 degrees of glass windows to see everything as you cruised. It was almost three hours, going up and down the river so you’re able to see the sights, like the Eiffel Tower, on your side of the boat for at least some of the trip. It felt a bit luxurious honestly. There was a live singer and it was nice background but our group also got up to sing with her and dance a little. I was very surprised with the experience and would definitely recommend Paris Seine dinner cruises to future clients.

After dinner, we stopped to check out all the Christmas lights of the luxury stores of Rue Saint-Honoré. It’s popular for the Chanel store having the giant necklace wrapping the store but there was also Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton and lots of other Christmas light displays here. We got a ton of pictures in and then walked back to the hostel to get some rest before our super busy day ahead.

The second full day in Paris we did my favorite thing - a walking food tour! These are some of the top things I recommend to clients when planning because it is almost a priceless experience in my opinion. You get guided around by a local, you get to see off the beaten path and sometimes seemingly random food places, you see all different parts of the city, you learn so much, and you get so. many. delicious. snacks! I can’t even recommend them enough. Our guide was really nice, very knowledgeable, and fun to chat with. We walked all over Le Marais neighborhood, which is even cute in the winter. We tried croissants, fresh breads, three different cheese, croque monsieur inside a restaurant, then we finished with incredible hand made chocolates and macarons. It was just the best!

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring on our own or getting coffee at a totally Emily in Paris cafe, where the waiter flirted and they played Colt 45 by Afroman for some reason. After a couple hours, we all met back up at Palais Garnier Opera House for a guided tour. I wasn’t sure if this would be something I loved, but it was actually really amazing to see in person. Learning the history was fun too because there are so many hidden things with such an old piece of history like this. One of the girls on the trip is active in theater and loves Phantom of the Opera, and it just so happened to be THIS opera house that inspired the world of the book, movie, musical, etc. There is a special booth dedicated to Phantom of the Opera, where Kendall went in and sang for us all. It was really sweet!

We ended the night going to the summit of the Eiffel Tower. I had only been to the second level in the past so it was fun to see it all from the tippy tippy top. I think I’d love to see this during the day but it was very fun to see at night as well. It was quite crowded but still a really fun experience. The elevator is a bit spooky going all the way up but it was perfectly safe and everything is caged in at the top so it’s not as scary as it seems!

The next morning after breakfast (which was included every day at the hostel), we all got ready to go take the train to Strasbourg and finally get to the Alsace region I was so excited to see. The train was about 2.5 hours and it was nice to just chill and ride since it was early. When we arrived, we got lunch at the hostel restaurant, which I really enjoyed. I got a mushroom jacket potato, which is just a baked stuffed potato. It was delicious.

Mid afternoon, we met with our guide who would stick with us the next two days as well. He walked us around the Christmas markets in Strasbourg, which was no easy feat as they are HUGE and busy. There are 13 total Christmas markets all over the city and I think we hit maybe 3 total. It’s incredible how built up it all is. It was truly amazing to see. I was not even hungry but I had to get a raclette hot dog that I saw everywhere. It was gigantic but so worth feeling full as hell. We spent the rest of the night in the markets and getting dinner on our own. I could have explored this entire area for like five days honestly.

The next day we got on a bus with our guide and toured two of the many, many small towns in the Alsace. If you ever go to this area, you MUST give yourself time to explore Strasbourg but also plan to go to some of these villages. They are seriously straight out of a fairytale storybook. We went to Colmar and Eguisheim. If I ever get back to this region, I will definitely spread out my stay to actually stay in some of these little villages if possible. I adored them. One thing about the markets is that they are a bit overwhelming in terms of how much you can buy. I kept holding off purchases to see what was coming next so I ended up not even buying much! Highly recommend bringing an extra bag to bring back goodies because there are so many unique things worth purchasing. All the markets of the region sell hot mulled wine or hot chocolate in specialty cups. Each town has their own plastic cup (used to be actual mugs) for the season so you can collect them as you go or return the cup to get your euro deposit back. I only got one hot chocolate but I wish I collected a cup from each place we went. Such a good souvenir.

The history of the region and the architecture was also interesting. This was one of the plus sides of having a guide. He taught us a lot about the different towns and their history battling between France and Germany. One really cool thing was depending on who was controlling this region, they would change the buildings. Under France control they would plaster over the Tudor style wood to have smooth, regular homes, but then when Germany had control, the plaster would come down again to reveal the Tudor style. And it was more than one time that this happened! You can really feel both countries influencing the region heavily. They have adapted so many things from both and created their own little culture. It was very cool to see so many little German inspired things, especially in the architecture, as I’ve been there and have family connection to it.

On our last full day, we went into Germany and the Black Forest since it is so close to Strasbourg. Our guide brought us to an old abandoned castle that I forget the name of but it was cool to walk to the top and see out into the Black Forest. We then headed to Baden Baden, which is actually a fancier town known for casinos and spas apparently! But they had an adorable Christmas market set up that I really enjoyed. I also got to meet up with my long term friend who lives in Germany that I haven’t seen since maybe 2018 so that was really amazing for me.

They had these adorable snow globes turned ornaments set up and inside you could pay to do an all you can eat raclette experience. While it may be expensive and touristy, it was so much fun. The food was simple but yummy and only four of us did this so it was fun to branch off in a small group and experience it. The only thing is that I didn’t get to see enough of the market because we spent time doing this but I really loved it either way!

Visually this market was really one of my faves. All of the huts were decorated in evergreen and parts were in a wooded area and so gorgeous. They had so many fun things - I bought a tiny ceramic chimenea that works with incense cones and I wish I bought ten more! I don’t know if venturing out to this area is 100% necessary while visiting the Alsace but if you could also make a spa day out of it, then it could be fun. Or if you’re also going to explore some more of Germany on top of visiting Baden Baden. It was definitely a good inclusion for the group trip though since we had easy transportation and a nice schedule going.

I flew round trip from Boston to France on PLAY Airlines, Iceland’s budget airline. With the current flight prices, I still paid more than what a budget airline should ever cost but it was cheaper than major airlines. I had a short layover in Iceland both directions, which wasn’t bad because I basically just got right on the next plane without much waiting and it was fun to see the Iceland airport. I upgraded to their top tier option after I booked and closer to when I left, which is like budget first class for only an additional $40-50 each way. It was awesome because there was basically no one around me on either flight and there was so much leg room!!! They also block out the middle seat with a tray cup holder so it is a bit dinky but nice to only have two people to a row if the flight is fully booked. I would definitely fly them again and plan to when I hopefully get back to Iceland someday soon!

Thanks for reading. Feel free to reach out if you find yourself heading to the Christmas markets in the future! I would love to help plan it with you :)