Some small secrets of the Parisian landscapes, with Kara
Kara – Bridge of the Carrousel 8:01 AM – With Kara, who comes from Atlanta (USA), we ran on an attractive route of more than 9 km and took advantage of the magnificent landscapes offered by Paris, emphasized by the sun which accompanied us this morning: splendid urban landscapes of Paris, buildings and monuments which revealed us small secrets during our running. For example on this photo of the Louvre taken since the bridge of the Carousel: do you see the lantern stands of the Pavilion of Lesdiguières which is at the right of the photo above? Let us look closer: Lantern of the Pavilion of Lesdiguières Golden “N” decorate the balcony of the lantern as on the one of the pavilion which faces it, the pavilion of Rohan. These “N” placed in the end of the Second Empire in the middle of the 19th century, honor the Emperor Napoleon III. But here, on the pavilion of Lesdiguières, these “N” are back to front! We think that the worker who put them, would have inverted them because of his hostility to Napoleon III! This small secret was discovered during the restoration of the Louvre museum in 1985, more than one hundred years after their installation! On the left, the lantern of the Pavilion of Rohan – On the right, the one of the Pavilion of Lesdiguières Not far from there, the famous Bridge of the Arts. Some tourists call it henceforth the “Love Padlocks” bridge*1… Kara – Footbridge of the Arts It is true that it is about one of the most romantic places of Paris, it would be only by its sight on the Island of the “Cité”. But what do we see if we get closer to the Island, behind the place Dauphine? A bird… A bird… It is one of the Imperial Eagles of the Justice Palace of Paris (Imperial Eagles dear to Napoléon the 1st, notice the “N” under the Eagle…): By pursuing our running in the Louvre, we decide to make a photo in the very beautiful squared courtyard (“Cour carrée du Louvre”): Kara – Cour carrée du Louvre Under our feet you can find the first Louvre, the Medieval Louvre, a fort protecting the West of Paris by strengthening the Outer wall of king Philippe Auguste. If you visit the basements of the Louvre, you can see the foundations of the medieval castle. Here is its representation and a photo of its foundations: Medieval Louvre – Foundations By leaving the Louvre, we go through the garden of Tuileries and its numerous statues: Kara – Garden of the Tuileries Notice for example, on the right-hand side of the photo above, the Statue of the Oath of Spartacus: By continuing along the historical axis of Paris, we arrive Place of La Concorde, magnificent place which really deserves a stop. Kara, “place de la Concorde” – In the axis, the Champs-Elysées with the “Arc de Triomphe” To the right, in the entrance of the Champs-Elysées, a rearing horse: one of the Horses of Marly. A copy of which the original is in the Louvre, original now protected from the vibrations provoked by the heavy machines of the National day military parade. Remember this article: Passing in front of the horses of Marly with Mary If we take a close look, we distinguish green flags. They are the flags of the Paris Marathon that took place five days earlier! Merci Kara ! The route of the tour: *1 The City hall of Paris recently decided to forbid the pose of these padlocks on buildings or bridges of Paris because they threaten and damage these Parisian heritage. Artists are requested to find a respectful replacement to these wild poses (Article France 3 – in French).
A big Running Tour of 18 miles (29 km) with Alina, one thousand discoveries in Paris!
Alina – Running in the “Jardin des Plantes” (Garden of the Plants) 9:05 AM – Alina, from New York, in the midst of preparations for a marathon, wished to visit Paris but fully respecting her training plan. This day, a long run was planned: we ran 18 miles (29 kilometers)… Ideal to see Paris! Paris is vast and rich in interesting places. What do we see in Paris by running on a long distance? Water: the Ourcq Canal, the Saint Martin Canal, the “Bassin de l’Arsenal”, the river Seine… The river Seine squares: the “Place de la République”, the “Place des Vosges”, the “Place de la Bastille”, the “Place de la Contrescarpe”, the “Place de l’Alma”, the “Place de la Concorde”, … “Place de la Concorde” museums: the National Museum of Natural History, the Army Museum (Invalides), the Rodin Museum, the Guimet Museum, the Galleria Palace, the Palace of Tokyo, the Museum of Modern Art, the “Petit” and “Grand Palais”, the “Jeu de Paume”, the “Orangerie”, the Louvre, the Grévin Museum, the Orsay Museum… bridges: the Bridge of Austerlitz, the Bridge of Carrousel, the Royal Bridge, the Bridge of “la Concorde”, the Alexandre III Bridge, the Bir Hakeim Bridge, the Bridge of “l’Alma”, the Bridge of Arts… the “Pont des Arts” (in the background, the Museum of the Louvre) famous boulevards and avenues, numerous statues, splendid monuments, secular churches, beautiful covered passages… parks and gardens: the “Buttes Chaumont”, the garden of Luxembourg, the “Champ de Mars”, the gardens of the Trocadéro, the “cours de La Reine”, the garden of the Tuileries, the garden of the Plants where we greeted some animals: Alina and the Stegosaurus of the garden of the Plants Alina and the Mammoth of the garden of the Plants and of course the “Tour Eiffel”! Paris is beautiful and has so many amazing aspects! Merci Alina ! The route of the big tour:
Parisian perspectives with Karine
Karine – Le Pont Neuf (the New bridge) 7:00 AM – Karine, runner from Quebec, chose to make a Paris Running Tour to prepare the half marathon of Montreal, very close, and also, of course, to take advantage of the sports visit to discover the charm of a Parisian circuit. What beautiful perspectives offered by the morning sun! Look at the photo above with the light beginning to enlighten the “Pont Neuf” (New Bridge), the oldest bridge of Paris (See this article). We left early on this Sunday. At the start of the running, it was still dark. The silhouette of the Eiffel Tower appears in the dawn… Karine – Alexandre III bridge … as the Louvre, while the morning comes: Karine – The Museum of the Louvre seen from the left bank Still running towards the rising sun, we reached the Latin Quarter to meet the Sorbonne University: Karine – “Rue Saint Jacques” – The University of the Sorbonne (and its observatory) The Sorbonne goes follows the “rue Saint Jacques”, former Roman way. The building which we see is the third version of the Sorbonne and dates of the 1880s. The Sorbonne University was established in the XIIIth century by Robert de Sorbon. It is in the heart of the Latin Quarter. Latin Quarter? Hispanic district? No, no! In the Middle Ages, the students already came from the whole world to study there (among them, Dante, Erasmus). To speak together, a single shared language: the Latin! The passers-by eventually called the district Latin Quarter. A little later, we cross the “Pont des Arts” (bridge of the Arts), considered as one of the most romantic of Paris (remember the Padlocks…) What amazing perspectives on this bridge! Karine – Pont des Arts – Click to enlarge this panorama On the North side, the Louvre and the entrance of the “Cour Carrée” (Squared Courtyard), on the South side, the Institute of France, on the West side, the Orsay museum and the “Grand Palais” far off and lastly on the East side, the Island of “La Cité”, which cuts the river Seine with the point formed by the “Square du Vert Galant”. Later by leaving the Louvre, we discover the perspective onto the Opera of Paris, the Garnier Opera. The architect Charles Garnier had refused to see trees along the Avenue of the Opera so that the perspective onto his Opera is not spoiled. Karine – “Avenue de l’Opéra” On our way back, we cross the “Place de la Concorde”, look at both photos below, perspective onto the North and perspective onto the South: Karine – “Place de la Concorde” The church of “La Madeleine” and the National Assembly seem to be reflected. This was intentional. In 1806, Napoleon the 1st adopted the project of creation of a new facade for the former Palace of Duchess Louise of Bourbon, become “Assemblée Nationale” (National Assembly). This new Colonnade (link in French) of the facade reminds by its columns the facade of the Madeleine which faces it. A new axis is given to the facade forming an angle to the original axis of the Bourbon palace and finally, columns are raised by the steps of an impressive staircase so that the Bridge of “La Concorde” does not mask the sight on the bottom of the colonnade. Paris, always in the search for the harmony! Merci Karine ! The route of the tour :
Postcards of an early morning running in Paris with Diana
6:35 AM – Diana, Australian runner, came to settle down with her family for some time in France. What better way to begin the visit of Paris than a very early morning run? Here are some postcards of our cultural and sports visit: We enjoyed very much running on the “Pont des Arts” (Bridge of the Arts): Merci Diana ! The route of the tour:
A magnificent dawn in Paris with Marnie
Marnie – “Pont Louis-Philippe”, on the left, “Ile St-Louis”, in the background, “Ile de La Cité” and Notre-Dame 5:52 AM – Marnie lives in Singapore. After having run several half marathons, Marnie prepares a marathon she will run this autumn. How to prepare a marathon while visiting Paris? A long tour with Paris Running Tour! Ideal to discover the city while doing our training. We thus traveled on a circuit of more than 18 km kilometers, with an amazing Parisian landscape parading under our eyes. We discovered a totally deserted Paris, embellished by the magnificent light of the rising sun. Deserted Paris? A start before 6 am + on Sunday + August! The Parisians went on holiday, tourists still sleeping, well parked cars. Paris only for us! Look on how the “Place de la Concorde” is deserted and beautiful in all the splendor of this summer morning: Marnie – “Place de la Concorde” Nobody in front of the “Palais de Justice” either… The Sainte Chapelle and Conciergerie, which surround it, are still in the quiet before the arrival of the visitors during the day. Marnie – The “Palais de Justice” of Paris, on the left, the “Sainte Chapelle”, on the right, the “Conciergerie” We ran along the river Seine which we crossed several times to benefit from beautiful points of view on Paris: Marnie – “Pont Neuf”, in the background, the “pont des Arts” Marnie – Footbridge Senghor, on the left, the Louvre, on the right the “Musée d’Orsay”, in the background, Notre Dame On the new banks of Paris, we made a little sprint to test the new new athletic track of one hundred meters: Marnie – New banks of Paris, athletic track of 100 meters Souvenir photo on the Esplanade of the Trocadéro, the best point of view to see the Eiffel Tower: Paris Running Tour – Marnie – The Eiffel tower – On the left, the dome of the Invalides Merci Marnie ! The route of the tour:
London came to run with Paris ! With Hope from City Jogging Tours of London
Hope de City Jogging Tour of London with Paris Running Tour – Louvre Pyramid 10:35 AM – Hope from London (United Kingdom) is the creator of City Jogging Tours of London, one of the first “Sightjogging Tours” in the world. What is better than a visit of Paris while running to share our running tour guides experiences? We thus left Montmartre to make a beautiful stroll… Hope – Montmartre, in the background, the whole of Paris! …by coming down to the South and by way of nice Parisian covered passages… Hope – Passage Jouffroy – Galerie Vivienne …by being amazed by the famous padlocks on the “Pont des Arts”, more and more numerous… Hope – “Pont des Arts” – In the distance, the Orsay Museum and the Eiffel tower …by making a break in the garden of the Tuileries… Hope – Tuileries Garden …by crossing the “Champs- Elysées”… Hope – Champs Elysées – Far off, the Arc of Triumph …to greet Winston Churchill… Hope – Winston Churchill, near the “Petit Palais” … And finally join the Eiffel Tower and the Ecole Militaire (Military school). City Jogging Tours of London and Paris Running Tour If you pass by London, go run a Jogging Tour with Hope and her team! A wonderful stroll in London! One day, Paris will be happy to go running with London… Merci Hope ! The route of the tour:
Running under the bridge Saint-Michel with Antje
Antje – Under Saint-Michel bridge – In the background, “Notre-Dame de Paris” 7h57 – Antje comes from another great and beautiful European capital, Berlin. She already ran several times the Berlin marathon, one of the fastest world marathons (the last four world records were realized in Berlin). Antje knows well Paris and that is with pleasure and while running that we rediscovered its most beautiful “paths”. A beautiful route of more than 14 km also passing under bridges of Paris as we can see on the photo above. Our running led us of the Eiffel Tower up to Notre-Dame, then up to the Arc of Triumph. This Friday was making the “bridge” between two holidays, May 8th&9th and the weekend so Paris was very quiet, even the Eiffel Tower seemed deserted (at least at 8 am in the morning). Antje – “Champs de Mars” and Eiffel tower Notice the scaffolds which leave the ground towards the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. These temporary elements are of use to the renovation of the first floor. The objective of this modernization project is to make this floor a more attractive place => Click here. Back from Notre-Dame, this time, it is ON the “Pont Neuf”, the New Bridge, that we ran: Antje – “Pont Neuf” – In the background, the “Pont des Arts” (bridge of the Arts) As its name does not indicate it, the “Pont Neuf”, literally “New Bridge”, is the oldest bridge of Paris. As you can read it on the photo, the bridge was built at the end of the 16th century. Yes, “neuf” means “new” (and not “9”). Is the oldest bridge the new bridge? Indeed, at the time of its construction, this bridge was very modern: all in stone, without houses on its edges (at last, we could know that we were really on a bridge while crossing it, impossible with houses!), and with sidewalks! These sidewalks were really new because very rare in Paris at that time… The “Pont Neuf”, already at that time, a beautiful place to stroll, to appreciate the sight and Paris! Farther, we pursued our route along the historic axis of Paris (see here), the Louvre, the Louvre Pyramid and the garden of the Tuileries : Antje – “Cour carrée du Louvre” Antje – Small break near the Louvre Pyramid Antje – In the garden of the Tuileries We then continued our road along the Champs-Elysées to go uphill towards the Arc of Triumph. Uphill? Yes indeed, do you know that the Arc of Triumph is put on what we called formerly the “colline du Roule” (The hill of the Roule). In 1768, this hill was leveled to have a more regular slope towards the Gate of Neuilly. The top of the hill was then 5 meters higher. Paris as flat as Berlin? Hem, not completely… So remember, when you will take the departure of the Paris marathon and will start with the Champs-Elysées, do not run too fast: if it is so easy, it is because you are in descent! Merci Antje ! The route of the tour:
On the “Pont des Arts” with Manoella
7:06 AM – Manoella, who lives in São Paulo (Brazil), came to stay some time in Paris. She will participate in a major event, the Paris Marathon! It will be her first marathon, we can appreciate this choice, what better than Paris? 😉 No unnecessary risks in 7 days of the marathon (April 7th, 2013 ), we ran quietly and took advantage of a route around the Latin Quarter, on the “Ile de la Cité” and also right bank: Louvre, Palais Royal, Pompidou Center, the “Marais”. Early on Sunday morning, very few people on the route, see how the Louvre is quiet : The winter does not want to go and it is by the temperature of -2°C (28.4°F) that we ran . March 31st! Well, this cold gave a beautiful particular luminosity to the city, we admired Notre-Dame nicely “colored” : Manoella, we wish you a magnificent first marathon in Paris! Merci Manoella ! The route of the tour :
Running in Paris at the sunrise, with Denise
Denise – “Quai de l’Horloge” (Pier of the Clock) 6:58 AM – With Denise from Porto Allegre (Brazil), we start running early. We took advantage of the morning light to admire streets and monuments and see the city waking up. While staying near the Seine, we visited the center of Paris by alternating the right bank and the left bank: the Latin Quarter, Saint Germain des Près, the “place de la Concorde”, the Louvre, without forgetting the Island of the City (as shown on the photo above, Quay of the Clock, at the foot of the Horloge of the Conciergerie, recently renovated). We made a small detour on the “Pont des Arts” to appreciate the rays of the sun enlightening the West of Paris: Denise – Pont des Arts A little later, we found the Garnier Opera, quite enlightened by the daylight: Denise, avenue de l’Opéra The avenue of the Opera, created during the works of Hausmann, had initially been planned with trees. Charles Garnier, the architect, did not want these trees. He had wished that the sight of his Opera was completely unobstructed. Without trees, the Opera is indeed very visible since the place André Malraux near the Louvre. Denise – Mairie of the 1st arrondissement (1st district city hall) and the church Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois A little farther, we met two buildings. They are alike, right? If they have the same architecture, they have nevertheless very different uses. One is a public building: the City hall of the 1st district and the other one, a religious building: the church Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois. This group owes its existence to a particular history: August 24th, 1572, in full religious war, bells of this very old church gave the order to eliminate all the Protestants of Paris. This signal was the beginning of the horrible Saint-Bartholomew’s massacre. In the 19th century, town planners made the project to extend eastward the historic axis Louvre-Tuileries-Concorde-Champs Elysées. It should cause the destruction of the church. The baron Haussman, in charge of the big Parisian works, refused. Indeed, as he was Protestant, he did not wish that people can interpret the destruction of the church as a personal vengeance. He also asked for the construction of a city hall, completely similar to the church, by concern of harmony. He made raise between both buildings a tower-bell to strongly separate the “religion” and the “republic”. Parisians, derisive, called the group “L’huilier et ses deux burettes” (the hand oiler and the two cruets). We finished our running by way of the Island of the City and the Latin Quarter. About 11 km, sports and instructive! Merci Denise ! The route of the tour :
Center of Paris, right bank with Liz and Curt
Curt and Liz – The “Bourse de Paris” 9:12 AM – Curt and Liz are regular runners who live near Boston (USA). We left the Opera to make a big visit, more than 10 miles (16 km) to discover Paris center, on the Right bank side (a good training for the half marathon Curt prepares). Not far from the Opera, we found the “Bourse de Paris”. Ordered by Napoleon the 1st and created by Alexandre Théodore Brongniart, the building called Palais Brongniart (Brongniart Palace), served for a long time as stock exchange, the Paris Stock Exchange, before the transactions were dematerialized since the 1980s. Remember: Now everything is computerized! The “Bourse de Paris” serves now as a conference, receptions, fashion shows, showroom or exhibitions center. Later, we crossed “Le Marais” quarter (Marais=swamp), very quiet on this Sunday morning. No cars! The street belongs to the runners! Curt and Liz – The Marais Sunday morning, ideal moment to run in Paris! How many discoveries by running, the old Paris, the modern Paris, the fashion shops, the museums, the passages… The Marais, the “Passage des Panoramas”, The “Pont des Arts”, The Pyramide of the Louvre The first shop of a very fashionable shoes manufacturer, The Louvre, The river Seine On our way, a couple of tourists asked Liz to photograph them. It fell well, Liz is, among others, a professional photographer! Liz – Louvre and the Arc of the Carousel Merci Liz ! Merci Curt ! The route of the tour :