Christmas Trees

Small Christmas tree lots are springing up all over the place here in Paris. They seem to be attached mostly to a local flower shop or to the Christmas Markets, so there is probably one close enough for most locals to carry a tree home. Most of the trees are natural green, but others have been flocked in white, red, orange, yellow, lime green and even black.

In the smaller lots most trees are still covered with a white plastic netting that holds the branches firmly to the trunk. So, what you are buying may be an interesting discovery when you unwrap the tree in your home!! In the larger lots, where the netting has been removed from the trees, they have a contraption where the employees can push the tree through a tube and renet the tree for you after you’ve made your choice.

While our apartment is not large enough for a tree I was interested in how much the trees were selling for. In the lot where I stopped the four foot plain green trees were 25-28 euros (about $40.), the five footers were 50 euro (about $75.) six footers were 75 euro ($110.) Taller trees and specialty trees were more, of course.

I’m not sure if this includes the wooden base, or not. With this base, you can’t water the tree, nor will it securely hold a larger tree upright….but it looks nice! Our big trees at the church are wired to the ceiling to secure them.

This Christmas tree lot is on the edge of the Christmas Market that is in the open square in front of St Suplice Church. There are about 30 booths selling mostly food and clothing items in this market.
As I talked to one of the English speaking booth owners this morning, I remarked that the rent must be high for the booths. She said the cost is 300 euros ($441) a day. She is working for a company that is trying to establish a market for some Christmas bread, so I don’t think she was too concerned about meeting a quota. But, there must be others who are working for themselves in order to make some extra income in the Christmas season. If you catch them when they aren’t too busy, they are eager to show you their wares and even share a few samples. Of course, they know that after you’ve taken a sample, you are much more apt to buy their items.