Follow us on the run, discover the beautiful sites of Paris
Thanks to Kendra and Michael, Anne and Valentine, Craig, Andrew and Gina, Elizabeth and David (happy to see you again), James and Angela! If you too, you come to Paris, we will be very happy to run with you. Join us and discover Paris with authentic Parisians guides who always have tons of secrets to share with you:
Very happy new year 2018!
Very happy new year 2018! Big thanks to the 400 runners* who came to discover Paris with us in 2017! We wish you all a very happy 2018! Happy running! *It was not possible to put the photos of all you but we really enjoyed each tour we ran with you! If you too, you come to Paris, we will be very happy to run with you. Join us and discover Paris with authentic Parisians guides who always have tons of secrets to share with you. Enjoy an original private tour, tailor-made for you:
Memories of 2017, very good moments with our visitors (3/3)
This last article in the serie reminds us some of the tours done end of 2017. Difficult to choose, we love all the tours we do with the runners who come to follow us. Here, we recall the tours made with Heidi, Angela, Nicole and Katherine from New York, end of September, with Sarah from England, beginning of October, with Alicia and Brooke from California and very recently, in the cold of December, with Jessica from Connecticut. Photos remind us of these good times. Photos and also some little curiosities… On the way, some very Parisian surprises (our guides will explain to you all these curiosities which mark out our routes): Sarah ran with us four times. It is always with a renewed pleasure that we share new aspects of Paris with this experienced runner: At the beginning of November, we had the joy of running with Alicia and her daughter Brooke who came to join us a second time: More recently, we welcomed Jessica. The cold of December does not scare the runners: If you too, you come to Paris, we will be very happy to run with you. Join us and discover Paris with authentic Parisians guides who always have tons of secrets to share with you. Enjoy an original private tour, tailor-made for you:
Memories of 2017, very good moments with our visitors (1/3)
So many good times spent with our fellow runners from all over the world in 2017. Even though we have many tours in this month of December, we take a little time at this end of the year to share some of the good memories that each tour gives us: three end of the year articles evoke some of these moments. The photos speak for themselves (with some text to comment on). Here, at the end of August, a few strides of the visit with Melissa and Chris from Washington DC (Thanks Chris for the pictures!). More simple, a little character awaits us when we return to the hotel: Merci Chris ! Merci Melissa ! If you too, you come to Paris, we will be very happy to run with you. Join us and discover Paris with authentic Parisians guides who always have tons of secrets to share with you. Enjoy an original private tour, tailor-made for you:
Running, understanding, having fun!
At Paris Running Tours, we love to run in Paris with the runners of the entire world. RUNNING in Paris with our guides, it is not simply running, it is also discovering how Paris is designed, how Paris became this great capital, it is discovering many aspects of Paris and how the different sites and locations are linked to each other, in a word… it’s UNDERSTANDING the city. Running, understanding, learning while running, it’s HAVING FUN. The miles go fast, your mind kept alive, “listening” to the city. At Paris Running Tours, we do private tours, specially prepared for you. This time, we had the pleasure to welcome a team of thirty young and fast american runners with their coaches. RUNNING, DISCOVERY and FUN were there. Let’s speak their team leader, LeRoy (review published in TripAdvisor): “We brought our high school girls cross country team to France for training, ending our last day with a Paris Running Tour guided run. If you want to measure the quality of a program, stress it to the max, and we did. We were 33 runners, and yet Jean-Charles and Sylvain guided us seamlessly and safely through the City. […] Throughout the event, Jean-Charles and Sylvain pointed out minute details about Paris that we never would have seen from a tour bus. Most importantly, they did a great job keeping us interested. I would highly recommend these guys.” RUNNING UNDERSTANDING HAVING FUN Click on the pictures to enlarge them A big thank to LeRoy and the whole team! If you too, you come to Paris, we will be very happy to run with you. Join us and discover Paris with authentic Parisians guides who always have tons of secrets to share with you:
How many Arcs of Triumph in Paris? With Adam and Bridget
Adam and Bridget (Philadelphia) began their vacations in Paris with a sport discovery of the City. Paris Running Tours prepared them a tour which included well-known historical places and also spots and buildings less famous but still fascinating. Running while visiting offers the possibility of seeing many district and understanding numerous aspects of the city. The photo above is taken at the start of what we call the “Historical Axis of Paris“. Do you know where exactly is the spot which starts this perspective? We already spoke about this axis during the visit of Juliana and Pedro in 2012. You can also directly look at the track of this axis in the image we created (Click on it for all the details). So, how many Arcs of Triumph in Paris? We can already count one in the photo above: the Arc of the Carrousel. Now let us enlarge the Arc of the Carrousel in the axis of the perspective: What do we see in its center? The Arc of Triumph of Charles de Gaulle square (“Place de l’Étoile”), it gives two Arcs. These two Arcs were built at the request (and for the glory) of Napoleon 1st. If we get closer to the Arc of Triumph, for example in the middle of the Garden of the Tuileries and we look at the center of the Arc of Triumph, we can see far away another Arc, newer this time, The “Grande Arche de la Défense”. It gives three Arcs. Look, in the right of the first photo of the article: This separation marks the city wall of the King Charles V. If you continue on the track of this wall you will join what we call the “Grands Boulevards”. It is precisely the place we are going with Bridget and Adam. The “Grands Boulevards” replace this protective wall created by Charles V and then completed on the West by Louis XIII. Later, the King, saying that he was able to defend his country (and even more…), had this wall destroyed to give what will become “les Grands Boulevards”. To replace the entrances in the North of the City, the Doors of Paris, he had two Arcs built, the “Arc de la Porte Saint-Martin” and the “Arc de la Porte Saint-Denis“: Two additional Arcs, it gives 3+2 = 5! 5? The “Grande Arche de la Défense” not being in Paris, it gives 4. Therefore we have Four arcs of Triumph in Paris. But, by the way, who is this King who built these two “Doors”? You can read “LUDOVICO MAGNO“, Louis the Great, Louis XIV, the Sun King! Admire the sculptures, all for his victories and his glory. He dominates his enemy, buried under the ground, or the defeated peoples come to give him the keys of their cities: Not far from the Grands boulevards, we discover a nicely decorated pediment, with in the vignettes, the five continents and lower, the Prudence which holds the mirror of the Truth: But what is this building? A Bank! Merci Bridget ! Merci Adam ! If you too, you come to Paris, we will be very happy to run with you. Join us and discover Paris with authentic Parisians guides who always have tons of secrets to share with you:
The routes we created for our visitors
VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017
Big thanks to all the runners who came to discover Paris with us in 2016! We wish you all a very happy new year and are looking forward to your visit in 2017. Happy running!
The oldest monument of Paris with Laura, Marni, Peter, Marshall and Jason
Marni, Marshall, Laura, Jason et Peter – Jardin du Palais Royal 7:00 AM – Marni, Marshall, Laura, Jason and Peter are runners-friends coming from the United States. Paris is still a little bit chilly in this early spring. Magnolias begin to bloom, as here in the garden of the “Palais Royal” (Royal Palace). Our sports visit begins in the garden of the Tuileries to arrive quickly at “place de la Concorde”, in front of the oldest monument of Paris, the Obelisk of Luxor: Jason, Marni, Laura, Marshall and Peter – “Place de la Concorde” – Obelisk of Luxor The Obelisk which we can see in the center of the “place de la Concorde” is more than 3000 years old. It comes from Egypt. The Pharaoh Ramses II had made two obelisks in the entrance of the Luxor temple, temple placed in the center of the old city of Thebes. The obelisk of “la Concorde” is one of them. In 1830, the viceroy of Egypt Mehemet-Ali offers to France the obelisks of Luxor. Then begins, for the first obelisk, an adventure which will last more than 6 years: the preparation of the operation, the cutting down of the obelisk, its transport towards Paris and its erection “place de la Concorde” in 1836, with all the troubles such an expedition can generate (heat, diseases, expectation of the Nile flood, navigation and transport difficulties, etc.) Cutting down of the Obelisk in 1831 (the other obelisk is situated to the left by looking at the temple) Erection of the Obelisk in 1836 “place de la Concorde” (The king Louis-Philippe and 200 000 Parisians attend the “show”) The other part of the “present”, the second Obelisk, remained in Luxor, France not wishing to launch again such an operation! Our visit continues along the Seine, the left bank then the right bank again. We cross the river Seine running on the “Pont des Arts”, the famous footbridge: Marshall, Laura, Marni, Jason and Peter – “Pont des Arts” In the background of the photo above, we can admire the “Galerie du bord de l’eau” of the Louvre. Did you know that in this long corridor, king Henri IV organized fox hunting for his son, future Louis XIII? We finish our running by returning by the garden of the Tuileries, very quiet in this morning of March: Merci Peter, Marni, Marshall, Jason and Laura ! The route of the tour :
Two early morning runs to discover Paris, with Agnes
Agnes – Pont au Change – La Conciergerie Thursday 3 July 5:55 AM, Saturday 5 July 7:33 AM – Agnes lives in Los Angeles. Among the numerous visits which she foresaw to know Paris, Agnes included two Paris Running Tours, two morning visits to fully enjoy the capital. Indeed, it is a good means to understand the city landscape, discover numerous sites, to know its history and its architecture but also to apprehend its places, streets and squares in a sport way. First morning: A few minutes after the sunrise, a start not far from the Opera. Let us go to see the Eiffel Tower. Place of Concorde, we begin to see the tower far off: Agnes – Place de la Concorde – Behind the Obelisk, far off, the Eiffel Tower (notice the preparations for the National Day, on July 14th, with the stands which are going to welcome the government for the parade) Let us get closer. Place of the Alma, the Eiffel Tower is more and more visible: Agnes – Place de l’Alma with the Flame of Liberty, an exact replica of the Statue of Liberty’s flame and underneath, the famous tunnel of Alma In the background, the Eiffel tower Now, let us go to the Esplanade of the Trocadéro, one of the best locations to see the Eiffel Tower: Agnes – “Esplanade du Trocadéro” – The Eiffel tower, very close! Look at the landscape visible since the Esplanade, with in the background, on the left, Notre Dame, the Pantheon and the dome of the Invalides: Let us go towards Notre Dame. After a few kilometers of running, we can see the Cathedral, closer this time, since the bridge of the Carrousel: Agnes – Bridge if the Carrousel – Far off, on the Island of “La Cité”, the Saint-chapel and Notre Dame Second morning: Small rain this morning. Today, we are going to admire Notre Dame and the Pantheon. Let us cross the Bridge of the Arts (with a small “Hello” to the Eiffel Tower, far off): Agnes – “Pont des Arts” – Far off, the Eiffel tower We join the Pantheon and greet the great man recently arrived: Agnes – The Panthéon The Pantheon in restoration, as we can see it with these scaffolds on the photo, welcomes the exhibition of the artist JR. We follow our route to finally find the Cathedral “Notre Dame de Paris”: Agnes – Notre Dame – Notice on the ground, the marks which testify of the presence of a street (which existed until the middle of 19th century. Under the feet of Agnes, the mark of a church, Sainte Genevieve des Ardens) Before finishing our run, we cross another church, the Church Saint Eustache (built from 1532 till 1633): Agnes – Church Saint Eustache Funny detail, before the construction of the current church, stood a chapel (built at the beginning of the XIIIth century). This chapel was dedicated to Saint Agnès! Merci Agnes ! The routes of the tours: