Many great writers, painters, and composers have celebrated Paris in their works. People who arrive on their first visit to the city fall in love with it forever. Paris is beautiful in different seasons, but if you have an opportunity to go to France, spring is the best time. The tourist boom has not started, with crowds of people from every continent besieging the outstanding monuments and museums. Only in early spring can you walk tranquilly along the streets and see sites that you have read about in books or remember from films. You note with surprise that some corners seem familiar to you because they resemble Lviv, for example.
Where else can you bump into France’s ex-president walking along the Seine’s quay without bodyguards. Jacques Chirac lives in a house opposite the Louvre; the only hint that a VIP lives there is the two policemen watching his doorway. Rummaging through the boxes of goods set out on the quay by antiquarian booksellers, you can find rare books, newspapers, posters, gramophone records, and postcards.
THE BICYCLE IS “THE KING OF TRANSPORT”
The first thing that a visitor to the French capital notices is the neat athletic appearance of Parisians. In the city center early on weekend mornings you can see joggers running along the bridges. Many people also do sports activities during the week and not necessarily in gyms.
It has become fashionable to lead a healthy lifestyle and use an ecological type of transport — the bicycle. Government-run Velib bicycle rental stations dot the capital, and for 1 euro a day (or 29 euros a year) you can rent a bicycle at any time of the day. The first half-hour is free, and in 30 minutes many people manage to cover the distance to the next rental station, thus saving money and getting some exercise. All streets have bike paths, and no one besides tourists is surprised to see a Parisian wearing a business suit and pedaling a bike.
Local residents call the bicycle the “king of transport.” Bikes have one additional advantage: you can simply drive around traffic jams. Paris streets, which are always jammed with cars, can be intimidating, so drivers are advised to head out early to avoid traffic jams. During our nine-day business trip to France, we were never stuck in a single traffic jam. The traffic was slow only when we first flew into Charles de Gaulle Airport from Kyiv and went to Paris.
Although Frenchmen are generally excellent drivers, motor-cyclists are the ones who break traffic rules most often. Drivers should be wary of these daredevils because they don’t pay attention to traffic light signals. When you think a collision is inevitable, in a split second the motor-cyclist turns the wheel like a pro and roars past you.
Paris has a transport network of 14 subway lines. In downtown there is a subway station every 700 meters. To avoid getting lost in the “Labyrinth of the Minotaur,” as tourists call the Paris subway, travelers should study their routes and figure out where to change stations, which are not announced on most subway lines. If you don’t, you will have to go back to square one. On top of it, you won’t be able to ask any subway employee for directions because the subway is automated, and you won’t see any subway workers. So visitors should always travel with a subway map.
If you are tired of walking but still want to enjoy the beauty and outstanding sites, you can board a double-decker bus L’Open Tour, pay 26 euros for a ticket, put on earphones (the audio excursion is provided in eight languages), and travel for the whole day (four routes, 50 stops). If you want to visit a museum (Louvre, d’Orsay, Rodin, etc.), you can make a stop. Later, you can re-board by showing your ticket to the driver. If you get bored of the bus, you can take a cutter (15 euros) and sail along the Seine.
WHERE ARE YOU, UKRAINIANS?
What struck me the most was the absence of Ukrainian tourists. For a whole week I covered the most important tourist routes — the Louvre, d’Orsay, and Rodin museums, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame de Paris, the Champs-Elysees, Les Invalides, and the Eiffel tower, but I didn’t meet a single Ukrainian or even a Russian. There are very few people taking guided tours. Once I noticed a group of Italian tourists. The guide was telling them about Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral. I stood listening, noting with surprise that I understood nearly everything, although I don’t know Italian. This might be witchery or the illusion of Paris. Visitors begin dreaming in French, and the language barrier disappears. After a week in Paris, you think you will start speaking French soon.
Strolling along the streets, I suddenly found myself at the flower market near the Louvre. There is a real floral Klondike here on Sundays, when you can buy flowers, seeds, seedlings, and choose from a huge variety of pots. The rich palette of colors is accompanied by the songs of birds that you can purchase on the spot. Many window-sills and balconies of houses are filled with luxurious blooming flowers, as are the city’s squares and parks. Magnolias are in bloom, and the endless vista delights the eye.
When is all the municipal landscape work done — at night? You cannot see any concierges with brooms and spades, but the city is clean. In order to prevent terrorist acts, the city’s garbage cans have been modernized. They use polyethylene bags that show what kind of garbage has been thrown out.
In Paris I managed to find two Ukrainian “islands”: not far from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is a monument to the Kobzar. After the church service, this is where Ukrainians of various generations — long-established immigrants, students, contract workers, and illegal migrants — gather. The Ukrainian Cultural Center is located in the Eighth Arondissement of Paris, near Parc Monceau. Events at the center are attended by our nostalgic former compatriots as well as Frenchmen. For example, there was a full house when the legendary film by Oleksandr Dovzhenko Zemlia (Earth) was screened there.
THE FRENCH SECRET
Paris cafes are another interesting story. Meetings are planned in cafes, where many business deals are finalized over a glass of wine or a cup of coffee, people socialize, and couples meet. Family dinners also take place in restaurants and cafes, which can last up to four or five hours. French cuisine is exquisite, delicious, and varied. The portions are so large that it is difficult to clean your plate.
Surprisingly, Frenchmen eat a lot but they are not overweight. If you ask them how they manage to keep fit without dieting, they reveal their secret: “You have to chew your food thoroughly and wash everything down with wine.” Since it is forbidden to smoke in public places, smokers go outside. You can sit for as long as you want, even if you order just a juice. You can work on your laptop, read, daydream, or engage in a bit of people-watching until the cafe closes. When you leave you will hear, “Au revoir, madame!” and instantly decide that you will come back again.
