Every year, just before Christmas, families pour into Paris to do their gift shopping and look at the entertaining (and free!) animated window displays at department stores like Les Galeries Lafayette, Le Printemps and Le Bon Marché (near our hotels).

Let’s take a look at what’s on offer this year!

For Christmas 2024 at the Bon Marché the theme is paper, “A recycled, eco-conscious Christmas”, so they say. Whether you believe that or not, we think that their animated window displays are the most fun out of all of Paris’ department stores.

You’ll see an Eiffel Tower (wearing glasses!) swooping across each scene awakening stuffed toys that start singing or dancing or both. There are no big name sponsors (or nearly none), just some very amusing quick scenes.

Inside the store, the Christmas section has probably the most expensive and gorgeous ornaments of any store in town, with giant Christmas trees dripping with decorations. If you want to spend hundreds of euros on your Christmas tree, you’ve come to the right place!

And if you are looking for present ideas, Le Bon Marché has handily made its Christmas catalogue available online. Just click the ‘fullscreen’ button at the top right of the image below for a more comfortable experience. ↘️

At Galeries Lafayette, in addition to their jaw-dropping tree inside (photos and film here), the animated windows are pretty cute. However, similarly to last year and the year before, the name of the sponsoring brands is pushed to the front, slightly spoiling the magic of it all…

But that’s just a niggle – go down and see, and if you want to know what the store has on offer for the holiday period, click here.

And this year just next door, Le Printemps, which sometimes seems to have an inferiority complex from comparisons with Galeries Lafayette, has some animated window that we absolutely adore!

With a train theme, you’ll see a lot of different and funny situations, with some hilarious puppet shenanigans! Very few brand names are present, it’s colourful, the music is well chosen… In our opinion, these windows are much more in the spirit of the season than those next door at GL.

For more info on Christmas at Le Printemps, click here.

For more info about Christmas 2024 in the main department stores in Paris, click…

— Les Galeries Lafayette,

— Le Printemps

— Le Bon Marché