Grande Arche – Arc de Triomphe return trip with Maggie
Maggie (in front of the Arc of Triumph) – Champs-Elysées 6:51 AM – Maggie, who lives near Houston, runs very regularly. Early on Sunday, we ran on the West part of the Paris historical axis (map here), from “La Défense” up to the Arc of Triumph. We thus left “La Défense” to cross its esplanade, the city of Neuilly, the avenue of the “Grande Armée” and join the Arc of Triumph on the “Place de l’Étoile” (place of the Star). We went around the “Arc de Triomphe”, admired the other part of the historical axis: Champs-Elysées, far off, the obelisk of “La Concorde” then, at the end, the Louvre (on the photo above, by enlarging it, we can see the Obelisk and the buildings of the Louvre far off). Maggie – The “Arc de Triomphe” On returning to “La Défense”, we were able to appreciate some of the numerous works of art arranged on the Esplanade, as “the pond of Takis” created by Vassilakis Panayotis Takis: Maggie – The “Bassin” of Takis (1988) – The “Grande Arche” of “la Défense” or “Le Moretti” (“Cheminée Moretti”) of Raymond Moretti : “Cheminée Moretti” (1995) “La Défense” is the biggest business center in Europe. On this Sunday morning, the esplanade of “La Défense” was deserted, contrary to the working periods when the paving stone of “La Défense” is full of businesswomen and businessmen who join or leave their offices. La Défense (Click on the picture for a larger view) By the way, do you know why this business area is called “La Défense”? In 1883, the Statue of the defense of Paris was placed on a traffic circle of Courbevoie, one of the cities where is situated the business center. The statue evokes the resistance and the bravery of the Paris defenders during the 1870 French-Prussian war. See below “La Défense” in the debuts of the business center developments (begun with the CNIT): On the left, “La Défense” in 1962 with the statue in the center and the CNIT recently created (1958) On the right, the Statue of “La Défense” still visible on the esplanade and drilling the paving stone. A little run of 10 km through space and time! 😉 Merci Maggie ! The route of the tour:
Running with Pedro and Juliana on the historic axis of Paris
Pedro and Juliana – On the historic axis of Paris, in the garden of the Tuileries 9:10 AM – Juliana and Pedro are well trained runners from Campinas, near Sao Paulo in Brazil. We ran all along the river the Seine and for a good part, on the historic axis of Paris. Historic axis? Yes, it is the name given to the axis which leaves the center of Paris and goes westward. The history of this axis began when the Capetian kings took the habit to leave the Louvre to go hunting in the forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, drawing then a way in straight line to the West. In 1599, king Henri IV created a road on this axis leading of the Louvre to Saint Germain’s castle. This axis is successively fitted out and embellished, by the extension of the Louvre, the garden of the Tuileries, the place de la Concorde, the Champs-Elysées, the Arc de Triomphe and now, the Business center of the La Defense with the “Grande Arche”. Discover in detail the historic axis of Paris. Click on the following image. On the obtained page, you can again enlarge the image (a new click on it). Then, take place on the right of the image and with the horizontal-scroll, move on the left (Have a good trip!) Do you remember the previous article, which speaks about the Baron Haussman who had wished to enlarge the axis eastward? Do you also remember this running with Amy, where we had made a buckle on the West part of the axis by leaving from “La Defense”? Pedro and Juliana – Quai d’Orsay Juliana and Pedro – Champ de Mars and Esplanade du Trocadéro Merci Juliana et Pedro ! The route of the tour:
From the Grande Arche to the Arc of Triumph
From the new “Grande Arche de La Defense” to the old “Arc de Triomphe” with Amy 6:30 AM – With Amy, coming from Chicago, we started very early, leaving the quarter of the Defense, the bigger business center in Europ, to join the “Place de l’Etoile” where stands the “Arc de Triomphe”, going through a part of the historical axe of Paris. At the end, a statue of Cesar cheered us with a “well done!”: Thank you Amy! The route of the tour: You can display Amy’s tour on a bigger map