Along canal Saint-Martin and river Seine with Kristina
Place des Vosges – Kristina 7:30 AM – Saturday and Monday – Kristina, from Freising (Germany), is a regular runner. As Anne and Niels, she decided to fully enjoy Paris while running, choosing to run twice with Paris Running Tour, Saturday and Monday morning. First tour, a jogging along the canal Saint Martin, following the “Quai de Valmy”, the “Quai de Jemmapes”, going by “la place de La Bastille” and along the Arsenal Marina. Second running tour, a run along the Seine, enjoying the “Ile de la Cité” with Notre Dame, La Sainte Chapelle and La Conciergerie, afterward the left bank, then after admiring the Musee d’Orsay, the right bank and back to the start, through “Les Tuileries” and “Le Louvre”. On our way, La place des Vosges: The king Henri IV created “La place Royale” at the beginning of the 17th century. This squared place was conceived with a rigorous architectural design (same style for each house, arcades and pillars, …) The place inspired many European residential squares. In 1799, when was raised taxes to support the campaigns of the Revolutionary armies, “Les Vosges” was the first department to pay (department in the east of France); Paris thanked “Les Vosges” naming the square “La place des Vosges”. Many famous persons lived there, as Victor Hugo (you can visit his house). Merci Kristina! The routes of the tours (Saturday and Monday ):
A brightened up week end in Paris with Anne and Niels
The Eiffel tower from the Esplanade of the Trocadéro – Anne and Niels 7:30 AM – Saturday and Sunday – Anne and Niels, from Copenhagen (Denmark), as regular marathoners, chose to run with Paris Running Tour two times, Saturday morning and Sunday morning. We were lucky, despite a rather cold weather, we ran under a fantastic sunlight, which allowed us to fully enjoy our tours. On our way, we saw the “Invalides” (see the picture below), the “Ecole Militaire” (Military school) and ran through the “Champ de Mars“; all these places are linked to war. The Hotel des Invalides was created at the request of Louis XIV to house and take care of injured, maimed or old soldiers (one reason often evoked: Louis XIV liked the glory of his victorious wars but not the – not so glorious – aftermaths in terms of maimed soldiers wandering in the Parisian streets). Inside the Invalides, you can see the tomb of Napoleon. The Invalides (from the south) – Niels and Anne Not so far from the Invalides, the Ecole Militaire founded by Louis XV. Its aim was to educate young (and poor) officers. As the Invalides, it still belongs to the Ministry of Defense. Between the Ecole Militaire and the Eiffel tower, you find a park, the “Champ de Mars“, literally the Field of Mars, Mars being the Roman god of war. It was called “Champ de Mars” by the Romans when they defeated the Gauls there and took Paris (called Lutecia at this period). Then, the Champ de Mars was used to study strategy and to train for war, notably by the Ecole Militaire. Nowadays, the ones who train at the Champ de Mars are runners (among them, sometimes, soldiers from the Ecole Militaire!). Merci Anne and Niels! The routes of the tours (Saturday and Sunday):
Classicism and modernity with Karen and Nigel
Pyramide du Louvre – Nigel, Karen and Jean-Charles 8:06 AM – With Karen and Nigel from UK, we started from the Opera District to go along the river. Karen and Nigel finished with success the Brighton half-marathon one week ago. We ran at a good pace though, with no consideration for the little rain we had in Paris this morning. The route we took allowed us to notice that many Parisian places share classicism and modernity with harmony. For instance, in the Louvre district, we appreciated how the pyramid of the Louvre was designed to respect the environment of the surrounding classic buildings. Not so far, in the Palais Royal, we saw the Columns of Buren, another example of modern art integrating a classical environment (there was a strong controversy at the time of its creation but, in Paris Running Tour, we like this combination…) Going through a passage in the Louvre to go to the Palais Royal, we had the opportunity to see rooms of the Louvre presenting another mix of modern art and classic art: the temporary exhibition of Tony Cragg, who had juxtaposed his modern sculptures to the classic ones. Merci Karen and Nigel! “Red figure” – Tony Cragg -2008 (on the right 😉 The route of the tour:
Paris Competitions News: A new year of competitions. Happy new year!
Happy new year to you all! A new year to compete in Paris! Here is below the list of nearly all the running races inside Paris with the web site(s) links, photos, routes and our comments. In Paris Running Tours, we have been running them all since a long time (and will continue this year). Hope we will see you with us. Some explanations: * means that the race is one of the annual 10K challenge of Paris (guess what, the 10K Paris challenge is also called Paris Running Tour challenge, like us but without “s”!). The web sites are often in French (but we can help you if you ask). The photos and the routes are mainly from 2010 (on some of the photos, you can recognize some of our coaches). Sometimes the routes have been captured by the GPS watch of our runners (not so accurate in narrow streets…) January 23/1/2011 – 10 km du 14eme* (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Other link – Photos 1 Photos 2 – Route A 10 km dedicated to performance, relatively flat, near Montparnasse. The first race of the year in Paris. About 1300 runners. (14eme means 14th arrondissement -district- of Paris) 30/1/2011 – Foulees du 8eme* (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Other link – Photos – Route A not so flat 10 km in a chic district, the route includes the Parc Monceau. More than 800 runners. February 12/2/2011 – La course de la Saint-Valentin* (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Other link – Photos – Route A very hilly race, 5 loops into the beautiful Buttes Chaumont Park (Butte means hill!). Funny race dedicated to diversity. About 200 runners. March 6/3/2011 – Semi-Marathon de Paris (21.09Km/13.11mi) – Site – Photos – Route The Half-Marathon of Paris! Very well known. Route in Bois de Vincennes and East of Paris. About 20000 runners. 26/3/2011 – Foulées du Tertre * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Photos – Route Another very hilly race. In the heart of the Butte Montmartre, starting just behind the Sacré Cœur and near the Place du Tertre. Start in the middle of the tourists! More than 400 runners. April 10/4/2011 – Marathon de Paris (42.195Km/26.22mi) – Site – Photos – Route The Marathon of Paris! One of the best and nicest. Crosses many of the famous places of Paris. Start at the Champs Elysées! About 30000 runners. May 1/5/2011 – 10 km Planet Jogging * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Other link – Photos – Route A flat and green 10 km in the Bois de Boulogne (to rediscover your legs after the Paris Marathon!). About 2000 runners. 15/5/2011 – Courir Ensemble – Handicap International * (10Km/6.22mi) Site – Route Another nice race in the Bois de Boulogne, organised by Handicap International, regrouping valid and handicaped runners running all together. About 900 runners on the 10K. 22/5/2011 – 10 km du 19ème * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Photos – Route Another hilly race, 2 loops including the Buttes Chaumont Park in the route. A very competitive race although. About 800 runners. June 12/6/2011 – La Course du Château de Vincennes * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site (2010) – Photos – Route A flat and green 10 km in the Bois de Vincennes finishing inside the Castle of Vincennes with a red carpet! About 3200 runners. 19/6/2011 – 10 km du 12ème * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Photos – Route Another flat and green 10 km in the Bois de Vincennes finishing on a bicycle track. About 600 runners. 26/6/2011 – 10 km du 10ème * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site (2010) – Photos – Route A not so flat 10 km around the Canal Saint-Martin (you have to cross a pedestrian bridge two times). More than 800 runners. July 3/7/2011 – La France des Iles * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site (2010) – Other link (2010) – Photos – Route A flat and green 10 km in the Bois de Vincennes in the festive mood of the french caribean islands. More than 800 runners. September 11/9/2011 – La Parisienne (6Km/3.73mi) – Site – Photos – Route (click on “Parcours”) An exclusively feminin race around the Eiffel tower. About 18000 runners for a 6 km race. A big fête! 25/9/2011 – Paris-Versailles (16Km/9.94mi) – Site – Video – Route One of the most famous races in France starting at the Eiffel tower and finishing at the Château de Versailles (with some slopes in the route…) About 19000 runners. October 2/10/2011 – 10 km Paris Centre * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Other link (in this blog) – Photos – Route The most touristic 10 km race in Paris, starting with the Opera in front of you, finishing at the Louvre. About 2500 runners. 9/10/2011 – 20 km de Paris (20Km/12.43mi) – Site – Other link (in this blog) – Photos – Route Another very famous race in France starting and finishing at the Eiffel tower. About 22000 runners. 23/10/2011 – Corrida du 15ème * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site (2010) – Route A nice little competition in the 15ème arrondissement, very flat, good for performance. About 700 runners. November 13/11/2011 – 10 km du 9ème * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site (2010) – Photos – Route A somehow hilly 10 km in the district of the Grands Magasins. About 500 runners. 20/11/2011 – 10 km du 17ème * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site (2010) – Photos – Route A not so flat but competitive 10 km in the 17ème arrondissement. More than 1100 runners. If you want to compete in Paris and if you book a tour with us, tell us and we can show you the route and prepare the competition (the Paris marathon, for example). An advice on these races? Ask us! Of course, if you do not want to compete in Paris and want to fully enjoy sight jogging, we are there for you. We love competition, running, but above all Paris!