Sunday's picture and a song - Signs of Christmas and Autumn Leaves in Paris


Take a close look at the people in the photo. Do you see the plastic tubes that they're putting around the tree? Those are the Christmas lights that will adorn the Avenue des Champs Elysees during the holiday season.

I'm not sure when they'll illuminate the lights on the Champs Elysees, but British singer Charlie Winston will illuminate the Christmas tree and the store front windows at Galeries Lafayette on Blvd. Haussmann at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday (November 8), while Karl Lagerfield and Vanessa Paradis will do the honors for Printemps on Blvd Haussmann on Wednesday (November 9) evening.

As "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" in Paris, I thought about including a YouTube video of that song. Family tradition, however, strictly prohibits me from listening to Christmas carols until we're doing the dishes after stuffing ourselves with Thanksgiving dinner. So, I'll just have to wait...

In the meantime, here's French singer and actor Yves Montand singing Les Feuilles Morts "Autumn Leaves". Along with "California Dreamin'", it's the song that I found myself humming last week as golden leaves drifted to the ground.

When will you start decorating for the holidays -- or is it too early to think about it?


And here's Edith Piaf singing it in English:


Thanks to "my friends in Boston" who recommended Eva Cassidy's version.
 It's hauntingly beautiful.

Comments

  1. Oh mince! I'm going to miss Charlie Winston and Karl/Vanessa! I love Christmas lighting ceremonies!

    My iPod was on shuffle the other day and The Waitresses' 'Christmas Wrapping' came on. I didn't press skip. I'm such a wild child! But I agree to wait until after T-gives! But sometimes you just can't resist!

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  2. Oh, you are a wild child! Let's just hope that Santa (or one of his elves!) didn't see you listening to "Christmas Wrapping" before Thanksgiving.

    Take care of yourself and get better soon. That so-called nurse doesn't look as if she's doing her job.

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  3. I'm SO excited to experience Christmas in Paris. We're not traveling AT ALL (i slept in JFK during last year's NYC storm and Sir L spent christmas eve/morning on an overnight train from Paris to Barcelona after the Paris "storm"), so we're staying put and taking in the beauty of the city we live in! no guests/no plans! just time to relax with Christmas spirit!

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  4. Oh, no - you were one of the people stranded at JFK! We were stuck in London for a week while transiting through Heathrow on our way from Switzerland to Boston last Christmas. Fortunately, we could finally get two seats on a plane to JFK (not Boston) and arrived late in the evening on December 23. We had just enough time to find one of the last Christmas trees and decorate it.

    The thought of being far from our loved ones made us realize that being with them is the best Christmas present of all. Sir L and you have the right idea.

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  5. Your Friends in Boston can strongly recommend Eva Cassidy's version of this beautiful song:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSXYu-3r1S8.

    Unbelievably poignant.

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  6. This is my third time listening to Eva Cassidy and I have to admit that it's the only version that brought tears to my eyes. "Unbelievably poignant" is the perfect description. I uploaded it to the body of the post for easier access. Thanks for telling me about it.

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