Paris was dressed up again this Christmas in her usual sparkling couture. Lights were strung up across streets. The square in front of Hôtel de Ville was dotted with Christmas trees and small stands selling mulled wine and souvenirs. The window set-ups of chocolate shops like Patrick Roger, La Maison du Chocolat and À La Mère de Famille were so creative and decadent-looking that they gave new meaning to lèche-vitrines, the French phrase for “window-shopping,” which translates literally as “lick the windows.” And the display at Galeries Lafayette on Boulevard Haussmann was over the top (in a good way) and drew what seemed like every tourist in the city. Dozens of souls with time to kill (myself included) waited to have their turn on the Glasswalk, a walkway that juts out into the atrium on the third floor and allows you to get close to the gigantic Christmas tree surrounded by angels and bees–they appeared to be the theme this year.

Due to the extended metro strike, we spent a lot of time near our Airbnb in the 3rd arrondissement–not a difficult thing to do because there are so many restaurants and shops and museums and other things to see. On one of our last nights, though, we wandered a bit further afield, down to the Jardin des Plantes in the 5th for the exposition Ocean en Voie d’Illumination. This sprawling show brought the undersea and undersea-adjacent world to bright, colorful life throughout the garden, with enormous whales, octopuses, penguins, fish and other creatures. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and the strike and rain had already worn me down a bit, but this was just the thing to lift spirts and inspire awe . . . and aws.

Here’s a look at the beings that greeted us. I’m crossing my fingers that there’s another exhibit next Christmas; I can see this becoming a regular stop on our Paris itinerary.