A VSU teacher from France spent two summer vacations travelling around Russia, discovering new places.
Paul Loyrette visits not only large cities in the Central part of Russia; he is interested in seeing Karelia, the Volga region, Siberia, and the Caucasus.
The teacher of French told the media portal “Auditoria” about his love for spontaneous trips and his impressions of Russian cities and people.
– Why did you make up your mind to travel around Russia?
– This is my second summer vacation in Russia. Last year I visited Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod. And this year, the coronavirus “ordered” me to expand the geography of my Russian trips, since it was impossible to go to France.
– What architectural monument made the strongest impression on you?
– The most remarkable monument that left a vivid impression in my soul is in Karelia. This is the Kizhi architectural ensemble, located on Lake Onega. For me, this monument is number one in Russia. I never heard of it before, and I don’t have an idea, why people in Europe don’t know anything about it.
– Have you managed to visit everything you planned?
“Not exactly… After “Kizhi” I wanted to go further North, to the Solovetsky Islands. But people are only allowed to visit there if they have a medical certificate confirming that they don’t have coronavirus. I didn’t have it, so I had to put off my visit to Solovki.
– A trip to Dagestan, as far as we know, is a special chapter in the history of your summer trips. Tell us, why is it so special for you?
– I knew very little about Dagestan. Both in France and in Russia, people warned me that it was very dangerous there. For a foreigner such trip can be very risky. But I took a chance. I got there by plane. After landing at the airport in Makhachkala, the first thing I saw from the porthole was the Caspian Sea, beautiful and large.
Dagestan reminded me of Turkey. People are very friendly and laid back there, they can easily come up to you on the street and say hi, and ask you something, for example, where you came from… The myths about Dagestan, as a very dangerous territory, seem very funny to me now.
– Did you like the Caucasian cuisine?
“The food isn’t bad. I liked shashlik, chudu flat cakes. The are delicious, but I prefer European cuisine.