Helen

An evening stroll through Paris in winter

Sharing some memories from a January long weekend in Paris

I cannot quite believe how long ago it now is, but in January 2023 my partner and I spent some time in Paris. I hadn’t been since my undergraduate days, and it was lovely to return. Paris is a great city to visit in the winter, still maintaining much of its charm, and having many things to do indoors. There are more museums than you could possibly visit in a long weekend, or even a week, and you’re spoilt for choice on places to eat.

Perhaps one of the loveliest things about visiting in the winter is the dark, atmospheric evenings. There is such an evocative mood as one wonders down the Seine and catches glimpses of people’s lives through Haussmann style windows and down little streets. In this post, I’ll share some of the images I took during our trip. Most of these were from a walk down the Seine on our first night, with a few from other times in the trip. My biggest tip for visiting Paris would be to just make time for these incidental activities – you see lots of interesting things and can really soak up the spirit of the place if you give yourself time to follow your feet, in a way you can’t if you’re always heading on to the next destination, sticking to a schedule. My second biggest tip, and a seasonally specific one, is to take lots of layers! Beautiful though it may be, Paris is also freezing in the winter, and you don’t want to have to cut your wonderings short because of cold toes.

I compiled most (all?) of the images into a Reel on my Instagram, and you can scroll down for a bit of commentary on each of them. I hope it will serve as inspiration for your next winter city break!

A multi-storey ornate building with Greek columns, a clock, and a rectangular domed roof.
One of the magnificently ostentatious buildings of the Louvre.
A small shop-front with green shutters closed across it, and a picture of Shakespeare over the door, with a drinking fountain in the design of four women holding up a domed roof in the left foreground.
The Shakespeare and Company bookshop, closed up for the night with its lovely green shutters. In front you can see one of the famous ‘Wallace Fountains’, designed by Charles-Auguste Lebourg, with its four caryatids (sculptures of women which have a structural purpose) representing kindness, simplicity, charity and sobriety.
A view down a narrow street with tall townhouses leaning into it from the right, with white shutters over their windows.
The little street our hotel was on – not a great quality image but I think one that captures the quiet, atmospheric nature of the street.
A large, ornately decorated gateway next to a four-storey townhouse.
I would love a peek behind this rather handsome gateway.
A view of the facade of Notre Dame on the right, with townhouses and a small street on the left.
Notre Dame, seen from next to the Square Rene Viviani.
A huge domed building with a classical pediment at the front, faced with lots of classical columns.
The rather intimidating Insitut de France.
View of a bridge crossing the Seine , its street lights reflecting in the water below, with the Eiffel Tower visible in the distance, brightly lit and creating a point of light in the clouds.
The Eiffel Tower lighting up the clouds in the distance. The reflections make me think of a Van Gogh painting, specifically ‘Starry Night over the Rhone’, which just so happens to live along the river at the Musee d’Orsay.
A view up to a large, Greco-Roman style building, with ornately carved window surrounds.
Another imposing building of the Louvre.
A view of the facade of Notre Dame, lit up from the ground and with various smaller lights on the building itself.
Notre Dame from the Pont au Double. This was my first time in Paris since the catastrophic fire which nearly destroyed the cathedral. It is strange seeing it so thoroughly draped in scaffolding, but I was impressed and surprised by how complete it still looked.
A colonnade at the Louvre, with a row of historic looking street lamps running along it, under a dark, cloudy sky.
Another from the Louvre. Despite I. M Pei’s futuristic pyramid, the square still has a timeless quality. I love this row of ornate lamp-posts, trying to match up to the intricacy of the stone carvings behind.
View of the Shakespeare and Company bookshop building, with a small, leafless tree in front, and the five storeys of windows above the shop front.
Another view of Shakespeare and Company. Traditionally poets and writers have slept in amongst the bookshelves – I wonder how many were sleeping there that night?
A view of the facade of Notre Dame visible through leafless tree branches.
Notre Dame through the trees – you can almost forget the scaffolding and tarpaulins.
An older looking building with a rounded doorway, one small gable in the roof with orange light streaming from it, a wooden shuttered window, and a Juliet balcony with French windows. The street in front is cobbled.
This little corner made me think of ‘The Three Musketeers’ – a more historic feeling view than the towering Haussmann boulevards.
A view through a rounded, curtained window, to a wooden beamed room and a wooden, winding staircase at the back.
A sneaky window shot, I think into the back of Shakespeare and Company.
View from a large window with a painted ceiling above.
One of my favourite things about walking cities after dark is the glimpses you get into fabulous buildings like this one.
A man standing at his open window drinking a glass of wine, with ghost signs around the window.
Oh to be drinking a pleasant glass of something looking out over Paris from my gorgeous apartment…
AN art nouveau metro station entrance, with a townhouse building behind on the right.
It wouldn’t be a Paris walk without stumbling across one of the fantastical Art Nouveau metro entrances. Designed by Hector Guimard between 1900 and 1913, they have become true icons of Paris. I think this is the one on the Place Saint-Michel.

So there you have it – my winter stroll on a Parisian evening. I hope you get to enjoy one too – it’s a magical experience. Have you visited Paris? What were your impressions? What time of year did you visit? I’d love to hear your recommendations and experiences – please do share them in a comment!

One comment

  1. I just visited Paris for the first time in 40 years with my daughter who had never been there. I enjoyed comparing your post details with the places we visited. One of my special favorite spots, which you highlight here, is the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore. I loved your night views… Such a unique and beautiful perspective!

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