DOSSIER - Moscow: the new Russian spirit

Moscow is changing. Trees galore, pedestrianised streets and an improved urban network have suddenly given the city a gentle way of life. Its image of coldness and rigidity is fading, and Moscow is becoming a European capital like any other. Moscow City, which took a long time to get off the ground, has finally become the business district it was intended to be 20 years ago. As Russia prepares to host the football World Cup next summer, its capital is being embellished and its hotels renovated. But that doesn't mean you can't take a leisurely break and head out into the surrounding countryside, to Abramtsevo or Sergiev Posad, where the multiple spires of the Saint Sergius monastery stand tall. Report by Cécile Balavoine - Photos Ludovic Maisant