nice2beme

The 29th of February appears to be once in 4 years, and this is my 4th time at Paris Charle de Gaulle Airport and I have finally go out of the transit zone. The airport is interesting, but to breeze the air of the last winter day in Paris is just perfect.
During our flight from Ukraine all the countries on our way were covered with the clouds, but not Paris. It seems that this city took all the sun to make the last winter day as the beginning of spring.
I lost my hat somewhere between the passport control and arrival terminal, but lucky me that the weather in Paris was quite sunny.

I booked an EasyBus to get from the airport to the Paris city center. As for my research this is the cheapest way to get to the city and it took approximately 40 minutes to appear in the city center. I’ve paid 11 EUR for round trip CDG – Paris – CDG, and this is the price of a single ticket by the RER (another way to get from the airport). If to book the easybus in advance, you could buy one way ticket starting from 2 EUR, so this is quite affordable price, isn’t it? Important thing, is that you can’t buy tickets from the driver, he will accepts only reservations made online. The driver was nice and he offered us Paris map for free, which was very useful for me:)
EasyBus brought us to the city center close to the Louvre museum, so my acquaintance with Paris began here.

There are several of transparent glass Pyramids and this is overcrowded place at the day time, and it is absolutely free when I came there at 7 P.M. Beautiful lights and terrific atmosphere couldn’t deal with my tiredness so I made photos only with my phone.

Under those Pyramids you could find a huge collection of arts by world-known artists and also some modern and temporary collections. If to come here on the first Sunday of the month, starting from November till March, you could get inside for free.

It was challenging to find the supermarket. I was thirsty from 15.00 till 18.00 but finally I’ve found one store, than another and they started to appear everywhere. Bottled still water for 0,30 EUR is a good deal I think.

Parisians seems to be friendly. They are smiling, explaining, talking English)) They look like happy people and this is not the coincidence – it is the outcome of the wealthy and successful country.
I have a postcard on my wall, with Arc de Triomphe, which my French friend gave me last time we met each other. So it became “must see” thing for me and I went through Champ Elysee, which is the main street of Paris, to make selfie on the background of Arc de Triomphe. Champ Elysee reminded me about unter den Linden in Berlin.

This avenue is the main one and it is completely overcrowded even if it is Monday. If to turn left – you will find yourself in empty streets. It is still the city center but there could be 1 or 2 passers by in 5 minutes only. So it was my escape into some minutes of silent walk through Parisian streets.
The Eiffel Tower is big enough, but I was surprised by the patterns of this metal construction. People say that there is nothing in it, just the symbol of Paris, but if to get closer, you can see the masterpiece of someone who was working with metal.
This place reminded me about Washington, where many of the main attractions are situated on the straight line with green grass to relax on it.

During my walk around the Eiffel Tower there was a movie making. Would be nice to watch it and say that I saw the process on my own eyes.
At the end of the day, when the sun sets down, all people around are gathering in one place to observe the turn on of the Eiffel Tower’s light. At the very beginning it is sparkling, and I was the lucky one to see this performance. After few moments of sparkling it becomes lighted with yellow lights only. I think this is the sign that Paris changed into evening mood. Last time I saw the shining Eiffel Tower from the airplane while landed from Casablanca. I was surprised that it is visible but I didn’t make pictures, I decided to memorize it and enjoy the perfect view of lights. Now I can make so many pictures as I want.

Notre Dame is very beautiful and it is so reachable from the Eiffel Tower or Pyramids. I don’t know French language, so for me it was a huge opening, discovered by myself, that “Notre Dame” means “Our Madam”, in this case that it is Diva Maria`s Cathedral.

Another very beautiful place which is situated a bit far from the city center is Sacre Coeur Cathedral. It is a huge and very beautiful church, placed on the hill where you could observe the whole Paris.

If you will go inside this Church to pray or just to visit you will find terrific atmosphere which could settle down the harmony in your soul. It was pure pleasure to be inside and to feel the spirit of divinity.

I had the opportunity to visit the huge and modern National French Library, which has a very big area and many of reading halls with special equipment. When I was a student I didn`t enjoy libraries that much, but I think that if only we could have such a library, I would definitely visit it from time to time. It is a pleasure to read here.

When we went to the Paris Philharmonie to listen to the piano concert, I was truly surprised. The concert hall wa totally overcrowded, even it was a working day, and they all came here to listen to the play of one girl during 2 hours. I can’t say that I enjoyed it that much, even the girl`s skills very quite good, but what I’ve mentioned for myself is that the country where culture and art is appreciated so much, and where they have such a modern & huge library can`t be not successful.

I spent the whole day in Paris walking on foot and I can say that I saw all the main attractions here. They all are placed close to each other, so while walking you can enjoy the beauty of this city even if you are staying here for one day. But if you came here for a longer period you would also find many of things to enjoy, try, visit, etc.

If to summer up – 29th of February is remarkable day spent in Paris.