I was lucky to go to St Petersburg for few days. I discovered a beautiful city but also a nice food and a wonderful weather. 

The equivalent of "Galeries Lafayette" in Helsinki is Stockmann. A huge store where you can find all the international famous brand of clothes, makeup, leather... I have chosen  to present a advertising of this store because at the moment it is a special period of sales, quite famous in Helsinki.

Firstly the biggest different compared to France is the language. As you can see it is in Finnish and the color yellow is the symbol of this discount period. Actually everything is yellow in the store such as the bags to bring your new staff. So this fact is quite surprising because in France this color is not really a good marketing choice. It seems not very attractive and not enough sophisticated if it was a French advertising for luxury brands like Stockmann sells.

It is easy to go to do a round-trip in Tallinn because by boat it is cheap and quite fast. So I went there to discover Estonia's capital in bright sunshine. We have visited the old town dating from the 13th to 16th centuries. We have learnt that Tallinn old town is listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997. 

It is true that the city is beautiful, actually there are lots of unavoidable churches but also old towers and beautiful viewpoint. The life-cost is cheaper than Helsinki so lots of Finns come in Tallinn like us for one day but not to visit to buy their alcohols, cigarettes or to go to the hairdresser or the beautician. The price is half that of Helsinki. For example we ate in a restaurant for eleven euros, each person, a meal very good which it might be the double or triple in Helsinki or in Paris.

Since 1863 Finland is a democracy. Every four years, Finnish citizen vote to elect the parliament who decides the businesses of the state. The Finnish parliament is well-known for his transparency. Everybody can come in the parliament in a plenary session to listen discussions and journalists are also present everytime. It is the parliament who elects the prime minister. They are 200 members who have different point of view. They come from different political party as in France, right and left.

The profile to vote is the same than in France; to be 18 and Finnish citizen. It is a direct suffrage. I could have visited the parliament easily, it is an example of their transparence. And one thing that surprised me is the very long time that some members have stayed in the Parliament, some more 30 years !

                    Helsinki Station                                                              Island from Helsinki archipelago

              Design Museum of Helsinki                                                     Helsinki National Museum

       White church in Helsinki center                                                           Kiasma museum