Running at dawn in Paris with Lou
Lou – Grand Palais 6:06 AM – Lou comes from Tasmania (Australia) where it is at present very cold (5 ° C). In Paris, it is summer. Early risers, we ran by taking advantage of the rising sun and the beautiful light which slowly spread on Paris. In this Saturday of August 15th weekend, at 6 am, the city is deserted, Paris is an ideal route for the runners (the tourists will come numerous later during the day). The glass roof of the Grand Palais exposed us its amazing transparency and its so light structure. Light seemingly, because the whole vault is constituted of about 8.500 tons of glass, steel and iron. Pont Alexandre III, the Grand Palais, the Petit Palais were created for the Universal Exhibition of 1900 (We had spoken about it here). Do you know that you can have a pleasant coffee break in the charming small garden of the Petit Palais (the entry is free)? Petit Palais garden Merci Lou ! The route of the tour :
Routes of a Running Tours guide
Routes of a Paris Running Tour guide (some GPS Garmin Forerunner 405 records, done since May 2008 – Training, competitions, Running tours, …) In Paris Running Tour, the runners-guides know perfectly their city, Paris. Crossing in great detail the capital almost every day, having created numerous beautiful routes, they can share Paris in a nice way with the visitors-runners who want to discover it. During very early morning runs, some places are very privileged, enlightened axes as banks of the Seine or the Champ de Mars garden, the only park opened permanently: Click to zoom Numerous runners all over the world like sharing a moment of running by showing and by commenting on their city. Many big cities possess “Running Tours” companies. We would like to greet a new one: Atlanta Running Tours Do you remember Kristy who ran with us? Kristy became Running Tour guide and shares her attractive city of with the sports visitors. We wish her very beautiful races!
At the Arc of Triumph with Tracy
Tracy – Arc de Triomphe 6:30 AM – With Tracy, of Texas (USA), we ran the most beautiful Parisian Palace tour, admiring, during our running, the Ritz, place Vendome, hotel Meurice hotel, hotel of Crillon, the Plaza Athenée and other beautiful hotels. Of course, we did not forget the magnificent Parisian monuments such as the majestic Arc de Triomphe of which we took advantage quietly in this early hour. It is one of the arcs promised by Napoleon to his troops, as the one of the Carousel that we have already evoked here. Have you ever been at the top of the Arc de Triomphe? The sight on the avenues arranged in the shape of a star (star as the name of the place) is there magnificent. The Champs Elysées seen from the top of the Arc of Triumph, place de l’Etoile (place Charles de Gaulle) Merci Tracy ! The route of the tour :
In front of the obelisk of La Concorde with Ewa
Ewa – Place de la Concorde 8:00 AM – Ewa lives near Washington (USA) and is a regular runner. A steady speed allowed us to go through a beautiful road in Paris by alternating the right and the left banks of the Seine. Place de la Concorde, we admired the obelisk of Luxor and evoked its history. The obelisk in antique Egypt would represent a motionless sunbeam (where from, doubtless, in its summit, the “pyramidion”, pyramid cap, and its golden cover). The one of the place de la Concorde was offered by the viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, in 1830. It was settled on the place in 1836. In the city of Washington, near Ewa’s place, another obelisk is set up, in honour of George Washington. Built from 1848 and ended in 1884, it was the highest monument of the world (169 m) before being exceeded by the Eiffel Tower in 1889. Washington monument Do you know the small obelisk of the church Saint-Sulpice in Paris, also linked to the sun? Gnomon – Eglise Saint-Sulpice – Paris Merci Ewa ! The route of the tour:
By running place de la Concorde with Veena
Veena – Place de la Concorde 7:58 AM – Veena, of Brisbane (Australia), did her first visit of Paris, doing a running tour. We thus realized an attractive loop passing by the most beautiful places of the heart of the capital: the garden of the Luxembourg where we greeted Geneviève, the protector of Paris (her statue decorates the park), the Pantheon, the island of La Cité, the Louvre, the Palais Royal, the place de la Concorde and then the banks of the Seine… In La Concorde, we met eight great ladies who represent the main cities of France. City of Nantes These statues (1838) are arranged on the place according to their situation on the map of France. By taking place in front of the statues of Marseille and Lyon and by prolonging our look, we would indeed reach the corresponding cities (it is not really the case for the other statues). The view of La Concorde below shows the lines which join the statues and their corresponding cities. Click on the images to enlarge them Merci Veena ! The route of the tour :
In front of the Elysee with Cindy
Cindy – Palais de l’Elysée 8:54 AM – With Cindy, from Chicago (USA), we crossed the city on about eleven kilometers. On our route, we had a photo break next to the Elysée Palace, the siege of the Presidency of the French Republic, very close to the place Beauvau where stands the Ministry of the Interior (Home office / Department of the Interior). Presidency of the Republic, Ministry of the Interior, the place is really well protected, we can see numerous policemen surrounding these buildings. Besides, it is forbidden to walk, moreover to run, along the sidewalks which line the Elysée Palace! Railing of the Ministry of the Interior – Place Beauvau We then joined the place de la Concorde, the place Vendôme, the banks of the Seine, the Eiffel Tower and appreciated to run in Paris while evoking the charm of the morning runs along Lake Michigan… Merci Cindy ! The route of the tour :
Passing by the Palais Royal with Bill and Emily
9:03 AM – With Bill and his daughter Emily, from Albany (USA), we explored Paris by drawing two loops around the islands of La Cité and Saint-Louis, right bank then left bank. It is at a good pace, the family of Bill and Emily being very sporting, that we discussed of Paris, the running and the new possibilities of visits, the archeological crypt near Notre Dame, the Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie, the Louvre entering by the Carousel, the Panthéon, the “Jardin des Plantes”, … Passing by the Palais-Royal, we also evoked the small cannon of the garden. It was a watchmaker who, in 1786, installed this small cannon on the meridian of Paris. When it was present, the sun, through a correctly directed magnifying glass, lit the fuse every day at noon. The thunder of the cannon indicated the hour of noon to the neighborhood.Nowadays, the original cannon having been stolen, a copy replaces it. Lit electrically, it thunders every Wednesday at noon, for the biggest enjoyment of the Parisian. If you can, go to see it, otherwise here it is, filmed: Merci Emily! Merci Bill! Merci Alison! The route of the tour :
Running on the canal with Toni
Toni – On the covered canal 7:46 AM – Toni (Adelaïde, Australia) is a runner of very good level. The running had essentially for objective to visit Paris and it is thus with a quiet pace that we crossed the city, in 12 kph… (Quiet pace? Yes, for Toni!). We left the garden of the Luxembourg to discover the east of Paris and notably the covered part of the Saint-Martin canal. In 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the creation of the canal to improve the supply of Paris in drinking water. Later, between 1860 and 1862, the Baron Hausmann, Prefect of the Seine, within the framework of his big works of improvement of Paris, covered the canal on a big part (the current boulevard Richard Lenoir). As for main avenues and boulevards of Paris, these works also answered the objective to make easier the military interventions. Troops left to repress a rebellion would have been slowed down by an open-air canal, even crossed by bridges! A covered canal, this is better… The open-air canal part (in the upper left label, the 10km of the 10th arrondissement, around the canal) Merci Tony ! The route of the tour :
On the “île aux cygnes” with Sarah
Sarah – Ile aux cygnes 7:41 AM – With Sarah who lives near Chicago (USA), we left the Beaugrenelle district, in the West of Paris, to join the center up to the Louvre, to discover the city, always full of surprises. Do you know that besides the islands “Ile de la Cité” and “Ile Saint Louis”, in Paris, the Seine also accommodates the “Ile aux cygnes” (cygne=swan), artificial island of about one kilometer, an ideal straight line for runners? While passing by the “Champs-Elysées”, we noticed that the preparations for the National Day were quite advanced. The terraces of the presidencial stand, which will welcome the government, at the “Place de la Concorde”, on July 14th, are already installed as we can see on the picture below. Sarah – Place de la Concorde If you come to run at present near the place, very early in the morning, you should see the soldiers repeating the military parade (the marks of alignment are already drawn on the ground on the “Champs-Elysées” and on the place). Seats, barriers, installed in the “Champs-Elysées”, will also serve again for the last stage of the “Tour de France”, on July 24th. The “Champs-Elysées” for the military parade, the “Champs-Elysées” for the “Tour de France”, yes, but what we, Paris Running Tour, like above all, is the start of the Paris marathon! Merci Sarah ! The route of the tour :
New discoveries in Paris with Kristyne
Kristyne – Jardin des Tuileries 7:37 AM – Kristyne from Montreal (Canada) knows Paris but had never visited the city while running until now. It is thus that we rediscovered about eleven Parisian kilometers. On our route, known ways but also some discoveries. Do you know, for example, that under the square of Notre-Dame is the Roman city (Gallo-roman) of Lutecia, that is to say the ruins of the ancient city? Among these discoveries, regularly, Paris offers directly accessible artistic novelties. On our route, the two following temporary exhibitions provide good examples of it: “Makom II”, of Michal Rovner, an artistic piece installed in the Louvre by Israeli and Palestinian workers The statue of Condorcet surrounded by “Ahlala”, work of Daniel Hourdé Merci Kristyne ! The route of the tour :