We loath Xmas and love France. So this year we avoided the whole Xmas mess and took the Eurostar to Paris on Christmas eve.

We’re huge fans of the Hotel Costes CD’s (funky funky lounge music) so we booked ourselves into the new Hotel Costes K because the older one is tres tres expensive! But the new one is wonderfully luxurious and ultra modern for about a third of the price. We did go to the original Hotel Costes for dinner and a cocktail and it was super gorgeous and not snooty at all.

I think the best thing for me was getting up very late on Christmas morning, wandering down to the Eiffel Tower for a delicious ham and cheese crepe fresh from one of the stalls for Xmas lunch and munching it as we strolled along the Seine.

Pretty much nothing is open on Christmas eve in Paris - that is the big important meal for them. Many things are closed on Xmas day as well, but Paris is much more lively on the 25th than central London; most of the cafes were open on the Champs Elysee and I even noticed the tour buses were running. Or you can always live on Crepes from the stalls around the Eiffel Tower.