This time of year the City of Light takes its second name seriously. Paris is lit up like … well, a Christmas tree.

The above photo isn’t sharp, because it was dark and we were aiming the little camera down the length of the Champs Elysees, but perhaps you get an idea of all the lights.

The Ferris wheel at the end of the street is the exclamation point, but along each side of the street are oodles of decorations in the commercial establishments, as well as tri-color hoops hung on nearly every tree along the length of the city’s most famous street.

The photo doesn’t show all the silver squares also dangling in the trees, geometric shapes that twist in the wind and reflect light in all directions. But you do get an idea of the traffic on the Champs — just after sundown on a Sunday. The headlights and taillights actually contribute to the festive look.

Department stores are kicking out the jambs with their window displays, too. BHV, the department store across the Rue de Rivoli from city hall, has a series of windows with “bunny” themes, with little rabbits working, playing, decorating Christmas trees, hitting each other on the head with hammers and fencing with forks for ownership of a stick of butter. BHV’s overall campaign is entitled “a Quebecois Christmas.” Below, a whimsical window in the Louis Vuitton flagship store on the Champs Elysees.

It was the Germans who invented the idea of Christmas trees in the house, but the French are going along with it, circa 2011. Little trees can be purchased all over town.

Also, at the Place de la Concorde end of the Champs is a long block of Christmas-themed temporary shops selling comestibles like mulled wine and winter comfort food (aligot, cassoulet, etc.), as well as seasonal geegaws — like Hello Kitty ear muffs.

The lights somehow make the city warmer, even when the streets are wet from rain (as above). Not that it’s cold, really …

As the darkest days of winter approach, Paris earns that “City of Light” title.