Tired of big city life?

Paris, as any capital in the world, has lots of pros and cons.  Some people can't imagine themselves living anywhere smaller and calmer than the capital, some - another way round - can't stand being in the rush of big city life. 

But, of course, even being a real big city life fan, sometimes you can catch yourself on the idea of dreaming of a small trip to some small cosy place where you can have a rest and "se changer les idées". The advantage of France is that you can easily find a destination that is small, really small or even almost deserted - just pick a region and visit a few different places (a smaller one than Paris and even smaller one).

How to choose a region? In my case it was actually simple. In winter the first reaction is to go south - closer to the sun. Another point is that during this period, if you're lucky enough, you can find some really cheap train tickets called "prems" - this will help you choose your final destination.

As the period isn't warm enough to go to the beach, a good option is to visit the Languedoc-Roussillon region situated in the middle between big city life and the Mediterranean Sea.

Only a 3h30 trip from Paris by TGV and you find yourself in Montpellier, one of the fastest growing cities in France with over 1000 newcomers per month. Montpellier is the capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The Mediterranean Sea is just in a 10km way, the air is fresh, the sun is shining with a yearly level of 2 617 sunshine hours (comparing to Paris with only 1 748 hours).  The city is smaller and less touristy than its neighbors Nice and Marseille. So how to resist temptation? Just don't!

If you are staying in Montpellier for a few days, add a quick refreshing trip to Sète to your to do list.

Sète, the so-called Venice of Languedoc, is a wonderful place within a 20min reach by train from Montpellier. Here you don’t need to visit anything and make a tourist plan – just walk and enjoy the Mediterranean Sea!  And don’t forget to stop by for a lunch in one of the restaurants situated just near to the port. Various fish menus accompanied by a glass of white wine on the terrace will absolutely make your day!

Il you want to discover the real life "à la française" - don't stop on just one region - go ahead and discover them all!

Welcome back to Paris: RER in rush hour

Whenever you travel, whenever you leave your current place of living for some time, you start seeing things from a different angle, you start noticing new details when coming back.

One of the places where people usually start their trip to Paris, starts from the airport Charles de Gaulle, where you inevitably go through the following steps:

• Buying a ticket from an automatic ticket machine.  For tourists, these machines might seem to be a real challenge. Many people forget to pay attention to the fact that some of those don't accept cash except from coins, so they stay in a line in vain. Some people don't believe the person before them saying that the machine doesn't accept credit cards - the person might say something like "oh really", but still try himself to make sure.
• When finally you succeed in getting a ticket, next step is a trip by RER B. All the Parisian trains usually have several seats that can be folded up in case if there are too many people in the train. These places are situated just near the doors. In the rush hour, when people squeeze in as if it was the last train ever, sometimes you find yourself squeezed as a "sardine in a can". And surprise surprise, an amazing fact: you will almost always see a situation when one or a few people don't get up from their places to fold their seats up and to give some space.

This situation happened to me on my way back from my summer holidays. The most surprising fact is that these people were not the tourists, but casual people leaving in this city and knowing well the unwritten rule - "stand up when it gets too crowded".
On one hand, of, course, as this rule is "unwritten", no one is obliged to obey it, but, on the other hand, it is incredibly amusing to watch those people, who pretend not to notice what is happening around them. How can this action be characterized? Selfishness? Intolerance? Lack of breeding?

Well, hopefully, not all the Parisians act in this way. You can easily see a contrast when coming out from the metro - very often the Parisians hold the door to the person behind them, so that the door doesn't sharply close just in front of your nose. It is a small gesture of politeness, that takes some 15 seconds from a stranger, but which makes you simply smile in return.

La Vie Parisienne

La Vie Parisienne, a set on Flickr.

What can you find, do and experience in Paris? Absolutely Everything. Who can you meet? Tourists, citizens, travellers, scinetists, students, strikers... Where? Cafés, concerts, parcs, stadiums, streets...

Swimming Pool Riddle

My story with the French swimming pools was full of surprises from the very beginning, when I learnt that in order to go to a pool you don't need any Doctor certificate. How strange - to go to a Gym you won't be allowed to enter any sports center in France without it, but to a swimming pool easily. You just come and buy a ticket like at the Metro and Welcome - you already swimming. The ticket, by the way, costs approximately like a Metro ticket itself - 1.70eu.

Many people think that in Russia we still have some kind of a Post Soviet Times system all around, but I would like to doubt these assuptions, at least concerning the swimming pools. 19eu illimited pass for three months..isn't it a Soviet approach??! Moreover, with this pass you are allowed to visit any of the 35 swimming pools of Paris.
So, of course, now I have the pass..so here we gooo....

First surprise - no differentiation between men's and women's change rooms. Hopefully, there are at least the changing cabins. Then showers - also all together, everyone staying in their swimming suits and pretending to have a shower.

Next step - swimmin itself. As always in public pools, people there could be divided into 2 main categories: lazily and sloooowly swimming ones and active-playing a role "I'm taking part in theWorld Champonship" ones.
Of course, I understand the sporty ones that if you came to do sports you want to Do Sports, but on the other hand I can't agree with the position of those who boldly and disrespectfully break the rules of the traffic regulations.
Example: there was some guy who was trying to overswim some slooow woman by using the opposite route, where I was swimming towards him. And what do you think - he didn't even try to take less space of my side!! Just continued coming on me!
Another situation, somebody trying to overswim a person already overswimming somebody else. No, guys, you really have to teach people to Behave themselves on the swimming route!

Apogee of this visit was the shower (the common one). In the shower room - some guy (I had a strong feeling that it was the disrespectful one) and me. He - showering and starring at me( by the way, another french-man-habit, but about this later). I ignore and continue to wash my head with eyes closed...Next thing that happens when I open my eyes - he taking off his swimming panties as if it's something normal to do in a Common shower. I turn around shocked and panicing that maybe the showers were actually separate for Women and Men. I go out asap, having a glance whether the guy is still there..and guess what - yes, he was and even didn't try to turn with his back!

When going out of the changing rooms space I looked on purpose at the signs around to make sure that it wasn't me that was not normal there. But looks like I was Ok - it was a common sphere.

As a result I have a question...better a couple of them:

• Is it a French approach not to worry about being naked in a public place in front of another gender? I could maybe even believe in that as the French symbol is: Liberty, Equality,Fraternity..but still
• ..or is it just me so lucky to get into such weird situations? or maybe am I too conservative and outdated?

Last day as a real toursist

Every time when I arrive to Paris the first place that I always want to visit is the Jardin Tuillerie. Why such a touristy place? No idea :)But the green chairs in the middle of the road in the center of a big city make this place really cosy.

While I was choosing a chair, two ladies came up to me trying to speak French, forming a question by simply saying the name of the place they needed a adding a question intonation. Musée de l’Orangerie. I show. The lady: Вот там? - Automatically answering me in Russian. I answer in Russian. She was sooo shocked, I thought she would get a heart attack or smth :)

Yep, this is Paris – you can find any nationality here.

Transport issues: welcome to Paris

Sitting in the train, all my thoughts were about the Metro..but already the one in Paris. Lille is Lille and Paris is Paris – to cross the whole city with luggage would be a loooot more Impossible.
Suddenly heard some French guy calling someone to Paris, asking whether the metro worked…hm..so maybe it’s not that common to close the metro in France?

But in all this moving rush can’t say anything bad about the French, on the contrary, what are the French like – rather always polite and ready to help. And I understood that not at all from some stereotypes, but from real life.
Trying to get out my HOTW(house-on-the-wheels) from the train, I arranged a traffic jam, but no problems about that, people were ready to wait without even making faces.

So, Welcome to Paris! Next Transport Obstacle – the Parisien Metro, which did work, but it didn’t make it that much easier – Stairs everywhere – to enter, to exit and, of course, to change the line!

That’s amazing, but there wasn’t a single part of stairs where I had to carry my HOTW myself! Every time I just had to come to the stairs, stand there for 5 seconds with a shocked expression of the face (looking at the loooong stairs), when some man always proposed his help. Every time I honestly warned that the HOTW was extremely heavy, they still continued (of course, a man will never show a weakness), just saying smth like Wow!
On one of the stairs a guy with 2 huge suitcases of his own proposed his help, but while I was refusing his help, another guy just took my stuff down :) Afterwards we found out that the giy with the luggage was also going from Lille and also had to carry his stuff to the station on foot.
On some other stairs two ladies helped me to go up the stairs and to get on the train. And finally, the final point – Creteil,my temporary home-station. On the left – loooong staris (around 3 floors up), to the right – elevator..which Certainly was Hors Service, well well,bien sur…
But as usually a passing by man offered his help (poor guy,honestly)..I think he didn’t properly evaluate the horrible combination of HOTW & the stairs. But one more time – when offered help – there is no way back.

So what are the French man like? Looks like Gentils and Helpful

Transport issues: Lille

What is in common between Sunday, Jour Férié (Holiday) and Grèves (Strikes, btw one of the most important French words to know)? => No one wants to work, life gets stuck & what you have to do is take it easy, stay home or just not plan any serious things to do..maximum go for a walk, preferably on foot.

Which of these days is the most uncomfortable in terms of moving to another city? Good question. I decide to think logically – on Sunday no guichets with tickets will be open& having only cash => moving from Lille to Paris would be better on Saturday…But what a surprise, this strategy turned out to be a Huge mistake.

In the film “Bienvenue chez lez Chti’s” they say that in Chti you cry twice: when you arrive & when you leave. I believed in that to the moment of my departure – no way! No crying – no time! Hopefully, a cup of coffee was planned 1h before the train.

Carrying half of my belongings ( a huge “house-on-the-wheels” suitcase, a smaller one, a backpack with an ironer and notebook inside and a camera). In a bit nostalgic mood I arrived to the metro…when suddenly some passing by lady told me: "Mademoiselle, le métro et les buses ne marchent pas aujourd’hui, c’est le 1 mai". At once all my mood crushed, I felt cold-hot-cold….nonononono,not today!!!
Me: C’est sûr??? Elle: Oui,BIEN SUR, c’est le JOUR FERIE.

Well well..I see..Bien Sûr..France..Jours Fériés

HTW am I going to get to the gare ??!No credit on phone, no number of a taxi even..Run run run! Usually it takes 35 min on foot, so I can make it..Easy to say, harder to make true. Why do I have so much stuff???
Hopefully, on the ¾ of the route a friend of mine found me almost deadly tired carrying my luggage, so we manaaged it to the gare 15 before the departure of the train.

Last coffee in Lille..Bien sûr