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With colder temperatures and shorter days come the holiday lights. Paris is now ready for the holiday spirit, from the Champs Elysées glowing red all along, to Place Vendome and its beautiful Christmas trees, the many Christmas markets (Villette, Gare de l’Est, Tuileries, Abbesses, Notre Dame…), the whole city has put on its decorations for the pleasure of visitors and children alike.

Our favorite this year is the Boulevard Haussmann, where many kids marvel at the animated windows of both Printemps and Galleries Lafayette. The trees of the avenue named after the man who transformed Paris 150 years ago are all covered it wonderful lights.

Paris is once again “une fête” for the season.

If you wish to take a trip to a seaside resort and be carried away by poetic scenery, then head to Normandy and its world-famous Etretat cliffs by the English Channel!

Should you want to show the sea to a friend, Etretat always leaves you feeling the same way, you feel empowered by a sense of freedom and humbled by the sheer beauty of the surroundings.

Let’s follow the path of great artists such as Turner, Courbet, Boudin, Monet, Offenbach, the reknowned writers Guy de Maupassant and of course Maurice Leblanc with his legendary novel Arsene Lupin, the famous gentleman-thief whom mansion can be visited !

These chalk Cliffs, with their unusual shape, sparks the imagination, like a setting for a postcard, and are a small gem on the Alabaster Coast, or « Côte d’Albâtre » just 3 hours away from Paris.

They include three natural Arches and a pointed formation called « L’Aiguille » or « The Needle » which rises 70 metres above the sea. The three arches even have names, such as the « Porte d’Aval », (or Cliff of « Aval »), « Porte d’ Amont » and the « Manneporte ». One of the way to enjoy looking at these majestic cliffs that never seem to end is to trek up to the two surrounding cliffs seeing terrific sunrise or sunset.

You could also discover Etretat in other exciting ways by heading out on a paddle board to explore the cliffs, ride along the velomaritime cycle route (which goes from Tréport to the Mont Saint-Michel), walk on the most popular GR 21 trail, and swim by the pebble beach. You will be enchanted by the cormorants and silver gulls along the coast.

And then, a real treat is to explore what used to be the old fishing village, and have a sip of cider of course ! For lunch, you can enjoy the charming seafood cafés. From Paris, you can book a Flixbus to Fécamp and Etretat or hop on the train From Saint-Lazare to Bréauté-Beuzeville and the Nomad 504 Bus to Etretat with a combined Etretat-Normandie Ticket.

The Orsay Museum is well known for its extensive collection of turn-of-the-century art, also called la Belle Epoque, around 1900, among which is Impressionnism. A number of those impressionists actually started making a few francs by working in … advertising !

The museum’s current temporary exhibition focusses on the billboards and newspaper ads produced by Steinlen, Toulouse-Lautrec and many others in Paris between 1850 and 1910, and how they changed the city’s landscape. Whether they advertised a political party or a cabaret show, the whole city was covered in them.

The fact that they were all painted by hand make them real pieces of art, and are treated as such by the curators. They also reveal much about the era, good or bad, such as the open racism and antisemitism that were existing back then in the French society.

Of course they are written in French, but the translations and explainations provided make this exhibition fascinating and accessible. Well worth a visit.

The RER B train is expected to go under track renovation on a number of weeknights and weekends this Spring. There will be replacement bus services from Aulnay to CDG and the RER B will depart from ground level platforms at Gare du Nord on certain weekends.

If you don’t want to go through this bus hassle, then hop on other transportation options, such as the CDG Bus from Opera Garnier. Remember there is a fixed flat rate to the airport on regular taxis, which is around 60 euros. The 2€50 RER B + Bus option is obviously much more economical, particularly now that regular RER B price to CDG is 13€.

So on which days should you be allowing more time to the airport. Here is the full list.

WEEKNIGHTS: Service is suspended shortly after 10pm, until end of April, except most weekends.

WEEKENDS: All day on March 29 (trains go to the airport, but fewer and from the upper platforms at Gare du Nord). Not train at all all day on April 19, 20, 21, May 3 and May 4.

You can also use RER D to Goussainville and use a bus or Uber/Bolt/Heetch to reach the nearby airport.

If you head to the Orly Airport on line 14, you will also face closures on most nights after 10pm, and all day on April 5 & 6, May 30 & 31, June 15 & 29, and August 4 to 8.

World Radio Paris has joined the acclaimed radio distribution platform RADIOPLAYER France. This cross media service allows listeners to tune in on phones, TVs, and cars through RadioPlayer apps.

One of the most useful feature offered by RadioPlayer is the continuous playback in cars combining DAB+ reception from the airwaves and the IP internet streaming. This means that listeners never loose the signal, even when driving in a tunnel or underground carpark. This technology is called Hybrid Radio.

You can download the RadioPlayer app from any app store.

Each year we ask our listeners to contribute to our budget for next year. To operate, WRP needs about 30,000 euros each year. We receive a government grant to operate, like all community radio stations in France, covering about a third of that budget. We need our listeners to send financial contributions to cover the rest of the funding needs.

We are asking you to please click on the paypal link (at the bottom of this page) and donate whatever you can to our community station. With each donation over 60 euros we will send you a tax deduction form (you can deduct 60% of your donation from your 2025 income tax in France).

This year, WRP particularly needs your help. We are having a hard time reaching our donation goals and really count on you. We are about 2,000 euros short and need to raise this much before Dec 31st.

Many thanks !