How to Spend the Festive Season on the Left Bank

During the festive season, the City of Light really lives up to its name, with ornately sparkling shop windows, streets lined with twinkling lights, and historic buildings beautifully illuminated. The Left Bank, whose elegant sophistication is rooted in its old-world bohemian charm, becomes a winter wonderland where families ice skate beneath the Eiffel Tower and couples browse Christmas markets brimming with seasonal treats. Here’s how to spend a festive Paris break on our historic side of the Seine.

Winter delights

Christmas markets are a wonderful opportunity to experience some of Paris’s traditional festive gifts and foods. The aroma of mulled wine, roasting chestnuts and gingerbread sits lightly in the air, while artisanal stalls showcase traditional local gifts and customs.

For over twenty years, the Saint-Germain-des-Prés Christmas Market has lined Paris’s Boulevard Saint-Germain with charming wooden chalets serving handmade toys and presents, or wonderfully tasty culinary treats. This bustling village is perfect for the wandering gourmet, who might like to taste everything from delicate caviar and hearty tartiflette to golden pretzels. The perfect family outing with carol performances echoing in the streets and Santa Claus himself likely to make an appearance.

For more seasonal delicacies, come out from the cold and into salon Saint-Germain at Lutetia Paris, the only palace hotel on the Left Bank. Pastry Chef Nicolas Guercio has reimagined a quintessential Afternoon Tea for the festive season, with miniature creations served beneath our beautiful stained glass ceiling. Even take home a Christmas dessert that will remind you of Paris – Guercio’s limited edition King’s Cake and Snowflake Yule Log are available to order and collect at reception.

Winter Senerity at Akasha Spa

Alongside the joy the festive season brings, the whirlwind of shopping, family gatherings, and parties can be exhausting. Make sure you prioritise your own wellbeing to keep stress at bay. The Winter Serenity treatment at Akasha Spa offers the perfect escape from the holiday frenzy.

An invitation to completely unwind, this sixty-minute ritual for one or two people includes a soothing back massage followed by a lifting and sculpting facial that will leave you glowing. With a relaxing scalp massage melting away any tension, you’ll emerge revitalised, de-stressed, and ready to embrace the festivities with renewed energy and a calm mind.

The perfect gift for a friend or family member – a Lutetia Paris gift voucher tailored to them. From a hydration-boosting facial or sculpting massage to a Romantic Akasha Experience complete with Champagne, a world of relaxation awaits.

Shopping Spree at Le Bon Marché

With skin radiant, gifts under the tree, and soiree season well underway, time to treat yourself to something special. As Paris’s department stores dress their windows and deck their halls with stunning Christmas displays, shopping becomes an uplifting experience. Le Bon Marché, the Grande Dame of department stores, is a feast for the eyes throughout winter when magical Parisian starlit scenes greet shoppers with this year’s Christmas in Paris theme.

Treat yourself to a stay that’s dedicated to shopping, with limousine transfers, Champagne on arrival, and a VIP welcome in the store’s Private Salons, each designed like a Parisian apartment, where you can relax and be guided by your own personal shopper. Continue your shopping spree at Bon Marché beneath the store’s soaring glass ceiling and candy cane-lined central staircase, amid a treasure trove of clothing, beauty, and bags.

For a taste of the Left Bank’s signature bohemian energy and Belle Époque architecture, venture further into the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighbourhood to explore its many independent boutiques and vintage shops. Pick up a unique gift for you or a loved one that can range from handcrafted shoes to menswear tailored with vintage sewing machines.

Literary district

A Christmas gift that never goes out of style is a book, and the Left Bank is the right place to find something special. The area’s literary history is renowned, with centuries of the world’s most influential writers and thinkers finding solace, camaraderie, and inspiration here. Les bouquinistes de Paris are a part of the cityscape, lining the banks of the Seine with hundreds of small open-air ‘box’ shops from the Quai de la Tournelle to the Quai Voltaire.

Another literary landmark to visit while you’re in Paris is Shakespeare and Company. The independent English language bookshop on Rue de la Bûcherie, one of the oldest Left Bank streets, has been a meeting place for communities of readers and writers for more than seventy years. This intellectual haven is known for its quirky offer that once allowed artists and writers to sleep among the bookshelves if they agreed to help out at the shop, read a book a day, and produce a one-page autobiography.

Among the bookshop’s illustrious patrons were historic Lutetia Paris’ guests Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce. Pick up a copy of Ulysses – some of which Joyce penned while staying at Lutetia Paris – or A Moveable Feast, Hemingway’s classic memoir filled with references to the Left Bank’s free-spirited atmosphere and vibrant literary scene.

Explore Paris’s lively Left Bank this season with a festive stay at Lutetia Paris.