A Walk in the Parisian Snow

It was my first time to really see snow falling all day. I had gone out for my walk earlier in the morning, at the same time to buy flowers for the church, all bundled up in layers as we had been having negative temperatures for more than a week. So early in the season, I thought, to be having this low, cold temperatures. That was not going to keep me from getting my walking exercise done.

But today turned out differently. What started out as light shower of snow flurries picked up steam by lunchtime, and began to sound like heavy rain coming down.


But when I looked out the window, it was snowing heavily.


The snow had started to pile up. I thought that it might be fun to go out and walk in the snow. And we did, my daughter and I.


The first thing we noticed was the dirty slush. While walking on 4 inches of snow on the sidewalk, we had to be careful as it was slippery.


The use of public bikes is a popular mode of transportation for people working in the city. When we got to this bike station, I wondered how the people who relied on biking to work would be able to bike to go home.


Getting to the street from the sidewalk was not easy. We ended up soaking our boots in slushy water, when they sank deeper than we thought.


With soaking feet we continued towards the Champs Elysees, via rue Marignan, wondering how it would look like.


There were not as many people here, for a change.
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After our 2 supermarket stops, it started to get dark.
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We headed back on another route.
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The Champs Elysees rond point was all aglow with more lights plus glistening snow.


Soon, we found ourselves by the beginning of the Christmas market.


The roasted-chestnut cart was inviting...


...but we succumbed to macarons artisanales, instead.

A time check indicated we still had one hour to go to church, to hear mass in honor of the feast of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.


We had to get going as we remembered that we could only walk at a much slower pace. When we got to this corner, I looked at the display window of Chanel, slipped and lost my balance, and fell on my left knee. Thanks to an umbrella I was holding, it helped anchor me and prevented me from falling down all the way. The moral of the story is I will always have to look on the ground I walk, in this kind of condition.