"THROUGH THE THORKS TO THE STARS" or "HOW TO SEE PARIS AND NOT DIE OF HAPPINESS", Part 2
Part 2. "PARIS, PARIS ... "
We flew to Paris from Krakow, which we reached by transfer from Katowice. In Krakow, we were supposed to have almost a day, but the Kyiv bad weather "ate" it. We got to the hotel hungry and tired, like dogs, only by eleven in the evening. On the way, having changed some money at a predatory rate, we bought a local shawarma - we didn’t have to count on anything else, and we didn’t have the strength to search. Moreover, while my husband was waiting for me with luggage near this shawarma, local thugs quickly jumped up to him and, surrounding him, for some reason began to demand money. The husband, as an experienced one, realizing that only normal human contact can prevent conflict, began to communicate with them with a smile. Strange, but as soon as they heard during the conversation that we were from Ukraine, after almost hugging, we left, not forgetting to wish you a good rest.
The owner personally settled us in the hotel, who explained a lot about the keys and everything else related to the hotel, but our heads were already bad at that moment. True, we still dared to ask him about how best to get to the airport tomorrow morning. I planned at home that we would go by bus 292 - its stop is very close to the hotel, and the final one is right at the entrance to the terminal. But our new friend dissuaded us from this idea, explaining that this bus is taking too long, it is better to take the train. We decided to listen to the "local" and go that way.
Trains to the airport run every half hour from the main railway station in Krakow Dworzec Gł ó wny Wschó d from the first platform, the issue price is 12 zł per person. The ride there is about fifteen minutes, but then another transfer (free) is taken to the terminal, first to the first, and then to the second, which we needed.
I don’t know how much time we won, but there were definitely more gestures. Anyway, the main thing is that we are already at the goal - Paris is waiting for us!
And he met us with magnificent weather - warm and dazzling sun. After the bad weather in Kyiv, it seemed to us that we were in the summer, we wanted to take off all our clothes, right at the Charles de Gaulle airport, especially since I arrived there in a ski suit and looked like a dinosaur. But we decided to endure this moment before the hotel and set off. And he lay through the RER + metro (9.50 Euros from each). We had to walk decently to it, and it was a little difficult, since our bag was mutilated on the flight Kyiv-Katowice, and it stopped moving on wheels. Not only that, it was also "sorted out" and something was stolen - alas!
Nevertheless, we successfully (there were running tapes to help us), but slowly, reached this very RER and, after standing decently in line to buy tickets, we safely reached (of course, with a change to the metro) to our Cadet stop. Already on the way, I was impressed by the number of African ... , Latino ...etc. people. And I was especially puzzled by a young mother, most likely of Latin origin, who, with a baby in her arms, walked around the cars and begged for alms. It’s not clear to me, knowing how much they pay for children in Europe, how does she manage to beg and where does the money go? She should be given the allowance that our mothers are paid for children and let her "twist". I drove these sad thoughts away from me, because I didn’t come here for this at all.
Coming out into the light of God from the Parisian dungeon called "metropolitan", we immediately realized that this is a noisy, densely populated with residents, and especially tourists, running and dirty city.
But in it from the first second one felt its own and special atmosphere.
THE FIRST DAY
Just 2 hours after our plane landed, we checked into the hotel. Having quickly changed clothes, as lightly as possible, taking off our hats and even unfastening the hoods from our jackets, we set off to explore the Great City.
I made up routes for myself in advance, where and when we go and what we watch, since there is nothing at all, but I want to see a lot - in general, as always, we are trying to embrace the immensity. Well, I didn’t know how it would turn out there, but I made detailed plans for hikes and trips, and they really helped us not to get lost and see the maximum possible.
So, the plan for the first day (or rather, already half):
"Opera, Place Vendô me, Grands Boulevards, Madeleine Church, Bourbon Palace Palais Bourbon, L'Universite Street, Invalides Les Invalides, Avenue de Tourville, Champ de Mars parc de Champ du Mars, Eiffel Tower (river walk along the Seine with Bateauх Parisiens) , Trocadero"
According to the plan, we moved towards acquaintance with magnificent Paris. As a result, the route turned out to be twice as long as I calculated it on the map, due to the fact that it was constantly pulling somewhere to the side, and we went there as if spellbound. But why "how"? The city really fascinates - it is magnificent! How wonderful that all this beauty has been preserved! It is not only preserved, but it is also preserved for real.
I dreamed of seeing Paris, and especially the Seine, ever since I fell in love with V. Hugo's "Notre Dame Cathedral" as a child. It's good when dreams come true - we are in Paris and even on the banks of the Seine! The river amazed us with its power. It seemed that it was a seething stream, which, like a giant squeezed in a concrete vise, was trying to break out. Seeing her, I understood why Hugo paid so much attention to the description of the Seine in his eternal romance.
Just by the river, when the sun began to set, we already felt that it was getting colder and a rather cold wind was blowing. I immediately thought that it was necessary at least not to unfasten the hoods, because there was still stomp and stomp. But will this stop us? By evening, we approached the Champ de Mars, at the end of which we were solemnly met by the whole sparkling and sparkling Eiffel Tower. We simply stretched out the pleasure, approaching her, slowly moving forward and enjoying the spectacle. It turned out to be a truly monumental structure, the greatness of which cannot be conveyed by any photo or video. Everything is fine, but we were already so cold that it seemed that our brains were already blown through. Well, nothing, now we will go down to the Seine and sail on it in a boat to admire the city from its muddy and fast waters. It wasn't there! There were a great many like us - it was terrible to look at this crowd.
I realized that my "purged brains" could not stand it - even crying. But, there was an idea to buy tickets via the Internet while still at home, but another share of bad luck played a cruel joke here, because just before leaving, there were attempts to hack my card and its bank blocked it, I received a new one just before leaving and didn’t have time to do anything - how it's embarrassing, to tears! Well, if so, let's admire the tower with the Trocadero and move towards the hotel, as the legs are no longer walking well, and they still have two more days of "work".
Plan: "Square Verte-Gallen, Pont Neuf, Place Dauphine, Palace of Justice, Concierges (visit), Sainte-Chapelle Church (visit), Notre Dame Notre Dame de Paris (arrive at two o'clock, excursion), square behind Notre Dame and St. Louis Island
Sant Severin Church, Sorbonne University, Pantheon, Sufflot Street, Luxembourg Gardens and Palace"
We got a lot of positive emotions and pleasant impressions from our acquaintance with the island of Cité.
As planned, we visited the Concierges and Sainte-Chapelle - I highly recommend it, especially the magnificent stained-glass windows of Sainte-Chapelle. Tickets for two objects cost 13 Euros, and it is better to buy them at the Concierge - there is a much shorter queue. Slowly, admiring and enjoying, we got to the famous Notre Dame, where we planned to get on a volunteer Russian-speaking tour with Lidia Semyonovna. I read a lot of rave reviews about this excursion on the Internet and really wanted to visit it. It happens on Tuesday at 2:00 pm and on Saturday at 2:30 pm. Unfortunately, she wasn't there that day, perhaps (not sure, just a guess), the reason is that it was Holy Week and the schedule of events was changed. There are also Russian-language excursions on Wednesdays and Saturdays with other guides, but we wanted to get to Lidia Semyonovna, but, alas.
The queue inside Notre Dame is a frightening length, but it must be defended - it's worth it!
You should definitely visit there, especially since it moves quite quickly, admission is free. There in the middle there is such a spirit of the times, such magnificence, such scales - the heart stops in pleasant excitement! We didn’t want to leave there, but the plan moved us to the exit, at which we saw an amazing picture - a decent-looking granny is sitting, a real Frenchwoman, clean, well-groomed, with manicure, hair, and in front of her is a magnificent-looking hat in which she collects alms. The same seditious thought hit my head again: "You, madam, would like our grandmothers' pension, then you would understand how much roofing material costs. " And again we drive away all these nonsense from ourselves and go on admiring the many-sided Paris.
On our second day, we ended our journey in the Luxembourg Gardens - it is magnificent! The flowerbeds, as if drawn, were pleasing to the eye, the pond with birds pacified, and the palace itself looked like a dollhouse.
It was a great pleasure to wander along the paths and sit on the chairs that stand there in huge numbers and, oddly enough, it never occurs to anyone to steal them and sell them for scrap. In my head, for some reason, the well-known melody, once performed by Joe Dassin, sounded all the time. Although, perhaps, these are only our associations.
The only pity is that perfectly trimmed chestnuts have not yet bloomed. Eh! Natural disasters, what can I say.
Plan: Montmartre, Place Tertre, Museum of Montmartre, Dali Museum, sculpture "Passing through the Wall", Wall of Love, Sacre Coeure Basilica.
Place de la Bastille (column and Opera), Rue St. Antoine, Mansion Sully, Place des Vosges, Rue Bourgeois, Carnavalet Museum and Park, Picasso Museum, the oldest house in Paris, Jewish Quarter and Synagogue, Pompidou Center and Stravinsky Fountain, Hotel de Ville (City Hall of Paris), Tower of St. Jacques, The Womb of Paris, Church of St. Eustache, Exchange.
Arc de Triomphe, continue along Avenue des Champ Elysee, Champs Elysees and Champs Elysees, Petit Palais and Grand Palais, Place de la Concorde, Rue Rivoli and Tuileries garden, Carrousel garden, Louvre (arrive at six o'clock, visit)"
Naturally, we started this day with glorious Montmartre. We realized that this is where the real Paris is - not pompous and chic, but lively and natural. This is where the true French flavor is! Amazing narrow and steep streets with stairs led us to the extraordinary Sacre Kerr. Of course, it would have been necessary to wander along the streets longer, but further plans did not allow us to do this. Nevertheless, we had enough impressions - you can see a lot of interesting things on the stairs of the wonderful Basilica. That's where Paris is!
At some point, our plan led us to the Georges Pompidou Center - this is something, and in the full sense of the word! How could "it" be pushed into "old" Paris? ! It seemed to me that it was there, like an eyesore.
But, apparently, not everyone thinks so, and there are quite a lot of happy visitors and "earners".
And here we are at the Arc de Triomphe ...You know, famously! A very impressive and large-scale building, and the bas-reliefs on it are simply masterpieces! There it is necessary to consider everything in detail - works of art! I was touched by a house with trees on the roof - there are many similar ones in Paris, but it was there, for some reason, that it looked especially touching.
And here they are, the Champs Elysees...Oh! So this is not a field at all, as we imagined! This is a wide boulevard with crazy traffic, with chic shops and stately buildings on the sides - that's it! I was also surprised that there are much more "ours" wandering there than everyone else (at least, it seemed to us so). And in general, there are a lot of Russian-speaking tourists in Paris, and there are enough excursions and no one will stop you from joining them and listening to interesting stories.
Right behind Place de la Concorde, which is simply delightful for its pomposity, a garden begins, leading directly to it - to the Louvre. We are right there now. Very interesting in the garden, everything is planned and equipped. I can imagine what mass festivities there are at the height of the season! We admired all this beauty, especially examined all the statues and, tired to death in three days, approached the goal. What good fellows we are! Everything is clearly on schedule - it is scheduled to be at the Louvre by six, and we are like bayonets in place, well, there are simply no words: "Oh, Stirlitz, oh, yes, you son of a bitch! " Here it is the pyramid, behind which is the entrance. We should move there, because in advance I decided to go to the museum on Wednesday evening, because there is an extended day and these couple of hours for the first time after such a busy program are enough for us.
But we, who could hardly move our feet, which were simply trampled down to the knees, stopped and realized that we should not spoil the impression of a masterpiece, which the Louvre as a whole is. Our organisms, already tired physically and emotionally, will no longer be able to perceive all the beauty and value of great luxury. Of course, you will have to come back here. We limited ourselves to visiting the Carousel and headed to the metro, which will take us to the hotel - we still need to pack our things, we hope that we will have enough strength.
I didn't start listing and describing sights, because they can be found in any guidebook, I just wanted to convey my most vivid impressions. It is my deep conviction that everyone should discover their own Paris and understand WHAT is the most interesting and exciting thing for him.
A little tip for those who are going to visit the city - wherever you pass in Paris, be sure to go to every church that comes your way. I'm sure you won't regret it! They are all different, but all worthy of attention.
Before the trip, I planned everything, even shopping (naive). But, in the end, we felt sorry for wasting precious time and energy on this. In general, we practically did not go to the shops. We regularly visited only supermarkets and food markets in order to "grab" food there and, of course, extraordinary French wine. For information, one of the purchases:
Cheese, Camembert type (350 g), sliced ham (200 g), fresh salad ready to eat (500 g), creme brulee (2x125), baguette, three bottles of dry wine - all for 12 Euro. How are you? Translate into our prices, the "poor" French live! ?
But be careful, on the last day they tried to deceive us in one of the supermarkets - we took 4 packages of identical cheeses as souvenirs for our loved ones, so they counted them 5. I apologized - there is not always a loyal attitude towards tourists, I can understand, since such a number will get any local resident. But we showed such vigilance after we were blatantly deceived on the first day. And it was like this - we were tired and frozen and decided to "dilute" our dry ration with wine, bought in the nearest market, with something hot. It occurred to me to buy fries at a McDonald's not far from the hotel (for all our dislike for this business, there were no other options closer). That's where we went.
Not only were we ignored in the queue for some time, serving those who came later, they also put small ones in the bag instead of two medium portions of potatoes. We discovered this annoying nuisance already in the room and, of course, no one went anywhere to find out anything - forces cost more. So they do not disdain to "swindle" the tourists they see from afar. Yes! Almost forgot! The croissants are a must! Eat and wonder why they don’t evoke a strong association with paper, like we do? Real croissants do not need to be washed down at all, because they do not need to be pushed, they melt in your mouth.
I cannot but say at least a few words about the Paris metro. It is arranged very thoughtfully and it will be quite easy for a more or less prepared visitor to get used to it. The main thing is to figure out which line you need to take and in which direction to go on it, and, of course, at which stop to get off.
It is better to have a diagram that you will be given at any ticket office or information point where a live person is sitting (there are simply stations where only machines "live" instead of them). One trip costs 1.7 Euros, when you buy ten tickets (called "cornet"), pay for nine. You also need to know that on different lines the doors open differently - somewhere you need to press the button, somewhere you pull the lever, and somewhere they will open automatically. And another important detail is the word "sortie", which in French means "exit". This is important, because you can not get there.
Despite some moments, Paris is an unusually beautiful and unique city, its beauty and grandeur cannot be overestimated. Even my husband, a big "unlover" of Europe, who has been to her, an old woman, many times, uttered a sacramental phrase: "Yes, there is something in this Paris! " But there is a lot of things in it!
I knew in advance that Paris is a museum city, but I didn’t even imagine that it was so literal. There you want to consider every house, every curlicue, every flashlight! Wandering around Paris, images from world-famous and ingenious favorite novels invariably appear in my head, I think everyone has such ones. It’s also nice to walk along restaurants and cafes and see through the windows how cute French old men sit at tables and sip a glass of wine. Now I understand that people either fall in love with this city immediately and forever, or do not accept it at all, but it is IMPOSSIBLE to remain indifferent to it!
GOODBYE, PARIS! ! !
