CELEBRATING the Christmas season in Guyana as a child was special and is filled with special memories obtained from unique events and occasions and I won’t trade those years for anything and I encourage Guyanese families in the diaspora to take their children for a Christmas vacation to the homeland.

I have travelled worldwide celebrating the Christmas season and I can vouch Guyanese are the best hosts.  Our people are humble and warm.  They may not have much but they go all out to please guests offering them the very best treatment that they would deny themselves.  I find Surinamese to also be like Guyanese as I spent this Christmas season in Holland with some of them.  They are also gracious hosts as I also experienced in Trinidad on numerous occasions. And I don’t think anyone can treat uninvited guests (those that just dropped in) better than Guyanese or Trinis or Surinamese. And the Christmas decorations of our

homes and businesses rival or better those anywhere in the globe (and I experienced the season in dozens of cities worldwide). I do not have very close friends in other destinations where I spent the seasonal holidays and as such those experiences were quite different from the one in Guyana.  But one is impressed with the decorations and ambience in other places if not the warmth of the people.  Paris stands out among the many places I spent the season.
But our public decorations and ambience can’t compare with most other locations and most certainly not Paris or New York or Frankfurt or London (the latter two I experienced years ago and were no comparison to NY).
The Christmas season in Paris is completely different from the one I spent some 20 years ago and not very excited and not very bright – more like Georgetown today in decorations and lights.  It was dull and boring then with not much Christmas activities, although I revisited a few other times during the non-holiday seasons and liked the city.
I always thought New York had the best decorations and ambience for the Christmas season, unrivalled in its brilliant illumination and I enjoyed spending time among and treating Guyanese and others who visited my home. And then I experienced the seasons multiple times in Bangkok, Singapore, Saigon, Mexico City drawn to them as a getaway because they all were as exciting and as beautifully decorated as N.Y and even more so than Amsterdam. But NY or Singapore or even Guyana pale in comparison with today’s Paris – though I must admit I miss the camaraderie of being among the Guyanese fraternal family enjoying a unique Guyanese seasonal meal and drinks and of course the ginger beer, sorrel or black cake.
One can see why Paris is the envy of the world. The Eifel Tower lights up and every half hour there is a sparkling display of additional clinkering lights with long lines  for a ride – like a spectacular fireworks-different from when I visited on previous occasions. The city is light-filled with appropriate music providing a festive backdrop for a romantic vacation or an enchanting holiday season. It is fitting for a family vacation or just to get away from one’s annual holiday routine.
The heart of the city in des Champs Elycees recreates an outdoor “village” of a Christmas market (new from when I was last here) of wooden booths offering gourmet treats such as cake, butter bread, all types of candies, gingerbread, gifts, decorations, hot wine, pizza, cheese, spices (cinnamon and cloves are very expensive) and so many
other delights. There is a cornucopia of hand-made products. The market attracts hundreds of thousands daily from all over the world and one bounces up Guyanese and other West Indians visiting from England or Hindustanis from Holland. There are bustling business activities in the streets with vendors doing well.
The Christmas market is one than can also do quite well in Guyana attracting visitors from around the Region or even from North America.
It first started in Germany and has now spread to several countries. I was informed that there exists some 250 in Germany (after visiting one in Dusseldorf) and dozens of small ones around France and a few in Holland as well as in Nice, Cannes, and Monaco all of which I visited. Vendors said their earnings during the Christmas season sustain them for the rest of the year. A smart businessman in Guyana should think about starting one; it would make a killing as it would be a new concept in our homeland, though a copycat from the North and Guyanese do like to imitate activities from the developed world.
Aside from the decorations and lights that dwarf those in Guyana, the season in Paris as it is in Amsterdam or Nice (the Riviera where I also spent a few days) or NY gives way to commercialism and hype just as it is in Guyana.
Unlike in Georgetown, there are no loud “Jingle Bells” blaring from store speakers but the streets have, and there are no fat Santas hawking merchandise, and no bands performing in public or masquerade dancers. There are hardly any entertainers in the streets, unlike say in NY or in Georgetown or Port-of-Spain.  But as in Guyana, people are focused around traditional Yuletide pleasures of eating.
The fast food places are jam-packed with long lines just like Guyana, but people also spend time at home with family and friends. But the people are not as warm, hospitable and friendly as Guyanese.  And while there are ethnic dishes, there is no dhal puri or black cake or curried mutton or a delicious soya. It is the decoration that stands out more than Guyana than the cuisine, for the French meal is not as delicious or as tasty as Guyana’s.
In Paris, unlike in Guyana, the numerous Churches and monuments cast a burnished glow everywhere. The entire place and all monuments and almost all the streets are festooned with colourful lights, wreaths, bows, bells, etc. It is just gorgeous and a spectacle to behold. It is worth a visit just for the experience of all the exuberance associated with the city and the season – it is cold though unlike our tropics and like Guyana is brimming with a variety of ethnic dishes though not much Caribbean types.  I fall in love with the city now so much so that a revisit is being planned to do research among immigrant communities.
And yes, there are immigrants from all over the Caribbean including
Guyanese who (I learn from my studies) made it to St. Martin, Fr. Guiana and Guadeloupe and from there to France.