A secret I now will reveal.

The final few days in Paris, when it had gotten rainy, and even darker … I was looking forward to getting back to Abu Dhabi. Seriously. My preference, there at the end, was to leave Paris … and go to Abu Dhabi. Yes. Seems a bit daft.

But we are entering the best time to be in Abu Dhabi, and I think this calls for a list of the top 10 reasons why.

1.  It’s warm, but not hot. The predicted highs for five days, according to the Weather Underground site, beginning Thursday: 79, 75, 73, 75, 77. And temps in the 70s (21-26 Celsius) are just about perfect. I believe most of the human race is with me on this.

2. At night, it’s cool but not cold. The same site, predicting the lows, beginning Thursday: 59, 59, 59, 59, 61. What that means is … you turn off the air conditioners at night. You could wear a sweater, at night, if you went outside, but you probably don’t need to.

3. It’s winter, but it’s still not raining. Abu Dhabi, and the UAE, get about 2.5 inches of rain a year, and it tends to come in a couple of great gouts — 1-2 intense, 15-minute storms. Rest of the year? Sun. OK, maybe about 2 percent cloudy.

4. The place gets more lively. This is when sun-starved Europeans begin to show up in numbers, particularly in tourist-oriented Dubai, to our north. Even more of them will be arriving after the new year.

5. Things pick up in local sports, which means more interesting stuff for The National to cover. We have elite men’s and women’s tennis coming through in the next few months. As well as elite men’s and women’s golf.

6. The weather is so mild, we have a triathlon and marathon planned in the coming months.

7. We live in a Muslim nation, but it still is a bit festive for the “holiday” season. And not in the “twinkle overkill, can’t escape Christmas” way of North America. Some lights are up, a Lebanese restaurant here in Abu Dhabi had up a big Christmas tree. We know what season it is, but it isn’t hammered into our heads.

8. The “depth of winter” … but we’re still wearing shorts and flip-flops when hanging around the house. Not having to “dress” for winter — I’m all for it.

9. Outside barbecues! Great idea — for these coming three months of the year only, we must concede.

10. Eating on the terrace! Nine months of the year here; we’re inside and buttoned up, beating the heat. Not now. At the Lebanese Flower resto last night we were out on the patio, listening to the sweet (if dissonant, if loud, if braying … OK, it was a menace) sound of impatient customers banging on their horns while waiting impatiently in their cars to pick up their carry-out orders. But it was a nice scene, with the waning moon above, and the sweet smell of shisha, and sitting in the open without sweating.

Abu Dhabi, UAE in late December. No complaints. Really. None.