Crazy, crazy. I was…read moreexpecting more of a Christmas market- craft vendors and seasonal food. It was more like an American carnival midway. Lots of rides and tons of people. Salmon don't work that hard to move. This was really crowded. But I was there on a Friday evening, and I believe the trees were being lit on The Champs d'Elyse. The carnival rides were funny. All the ones we have seen in the states, but dressed up with Santa's, tinsel, and red fabric. There were several large and small food and drink booths. You could get hot wine, hot chocolate, raclette, sausages and even funnel cakes. The other venders has Christmas cheese, scarves, wooden toys, jewelry and candies. The jardin grounds were covered with large plastic tiles so you weren't walking in mud or uneven ground. I wished it had been spread out a little better.

I'm sorry, how does this Christmas market not get every star in the universe? It's honestly the…read moretackiest thing I've seen in a long while and I loved it with all my heart. They have EVERYTHING. Crappy, made in China gifts? Check. Delicious candy everywhere? Definitely. Vin chaud every 5 feet, served in delightful collector cups? Oh yeah, they have it. I have a full set of those cups too, BTW. Very, very, very odd animatronic animal tableaux for some reason? Yep. A plastic dinosaur in the middle of it all? What the hell, why not! Tons of tempting food stalls too - selling everything from racelette to choucroute garni to saucisson. They even have Fried Christmas (IDK). You won't go hungry or thirsty. I especially enjoyed the sketchy carnival rides clearly repurposed in a "Christmas" theme. If you don't dig a Thriller zombie roller coaster with all the zombies (on all levels, the sign gleefully promises!) dressed in Santa suits, there's just no help for you And can we talk about the very interesting Santa decorations? For 2018, the Marche is in the Tuleries gardens. It's everything I wanted it to be, and that's not just a gallon of vin chaud talking.w

Stopped by before our evening reservation at the Louvre, and boy was this market crowded! This is…read moreby far the largest market we went to in Paris, and the most kid-friendly, with plenty of rides and activities. We arrived at around 6pm, and it was so crowded that it was difficult to walk in some areas. Prepare to wait in line if you're ordering food. Similar to most of the other Parisian Christmas markets, there seems to be 5-10 unique food options, and plenty of vendors selling the same food items around the market. We ordered the raclette sandwich, which is delicious as always. Love that they scrape off the melted cheese in front of you, always a fun thing to watch. One stand that we saw here that I hadn't seen in the other markets is the ribs stand - the scent was wafting throughout the air around the stand! The meat was super tender, and the bbq sauce was honestly really good. Beware that your hair and clothes may smell like smoke afterward though, but well worth it! Would definitely visit again, maybe just during the daytime when there's more space to move around :)

This is a very large Christmas Market, has a large Ferris wheel that can be seen in some movies…read more It was shown in a new Netflix movie 'Champagne Problems'. It was packed with people. This market had the usual food items like sausage, chicken in cream sauce, but had churros very good. Had ice skating, games and rides. It was like going to the State Fair in California but cold.

The Paris Jazz Festival is a small festival in a beautiful location. It normally operates from…read moreearly June to late July each year. I went in 2013 and had a good time. Ticket prices are around 5EUR and you get some surprisingly good bands playing. If you're in the area I would recommend checking it out but wouldn't fly in especially for the 'event'. A good effort by France none-the-less. 6/10.

Late entry, I attended July 2012. The most magnificent music festival experience ever! The Parc…read moreFloral de Paris is an ideal setting for this great event. The National Jazz Orchestra is phenomenal.

After visiting Afropunk Brooklyn, then coming to Afropunk Paris (2017)... I will say that this…read morefestival was a bit smaller by comparison, however, the culture, fashion, food, vendors, artist line up, pride and overall vibes were the same in scale to the aforementioned. I enjoyed myself. Locals were surprising receptive to Americans (a lot of us were there) and I made tons of new friends to share experiences with going forward. I had the VIP treatment, unfortunately, most others did not, so it was quiet in that section by comparison to prior experience, so I would say that a general admission ticket will suffice. While the Brooklyn experience was the best, Paris is not short of a good time... The African Diaspora was global, in the US, and in more recent times, I believe that we have just created a bigger culture of activism... which in turn brings larger crowds. I highly recommend this experience no matter where in the world the festivities happen. Don't get me wrong, the crowd was large, but Brooklyn is epic.