On the “new Pont des Arts” with Laura
Do you recognize the “Pont des Arts” (“Bridge of Arts”)? Where are the famous padlocks of love?8:03 AM – With Laura, from Chicago, we made a long running tour of Paris, a pleasant sporting stroll on a beautiful sunny morning of March. Until 2015, we could see the “Pont des Arts” overloaded with “padlocks of love”. You probably know the story: two lovers write their names on a padlock, hang it on a bridge and throw the key in the river, thus sealing their love. This tradition would come from Italy, from a movie adapted from a novel “Ho voglia di te”, where two lovers place their padlock on a lamppost of the bridge Milvius in Rome. Inspired by the movie, the lovers in Rome decorated in their turn this bridge with their own padlocks. The fashion quickly spread in Europe and mainly in Paris, ideal romantic city. The “Pont des Arts”, attractive pedestrian footbridge, was the main target of these padlocks. Transparent panels recently had to replace these padlocks, too heavy for the bridge. The story of the “Pont des Arts” padlocks in some images of our blogs: The beginning of the love padlocks fashion on the “Pont des Art” (some padlocks) The fast growth of the love padlocks on the “Pont des Arts” The replacement, summer 2015, by temporary artistic panels Then, no more padlock on the “Pont des Arts”? No, some smart ones find solutions: Having left the Pont des Arts, with Laura, we explored “Saint Germain des Près” and the Latin Quarter, the left bank, then the island of “La Cité” and the right bank, the Louvre, the Palais-Royal and the beginning of the historic axis of Paris. A sport visit for sure but with numerous stops to be able to appreciate magnificent Parisian landscapes: : The Medicis Fountain at the garden of Luxembourg, Animal statues in the Jardin des plantes, The “Pont Neuf” and its beautiful view on the Seine, The pond in the Garden of the “Palais Royal” In the Garden of the Palais Royal, we found Michel Goulet’s new chairs, inspired by the metallic chairs which we usually meet in the Parisian gardens (to know more about it => here): We returned at a good pace to take advantage of the pedestrian part of the Seine left bank. Merci Laura ! The route of the tour:
A new Running Tour in Paris with Cori
8:05 AM – Do you remember Cori? We ran together in April 2012. It rained that time, which had not prevented us from making an attractive run in Paris. In this month of April 2015, the weather is beautiful and we can enjoy the sun. Although we pass again by the “Pont des Arts” (Bridge of Arts), we choose a very different route. Compare both views of the “Pont des Arts” in April, 2012 and April, 2015: Cori – “Pont des Arts” – April 2012 and April 2015 Look at the sides of the “Pont des Arts”. We have already spoken a lot about the famous Padlocks of Love. In 2012, they are already present and begin to be many but not still in the point to make bend and fall the railings which carry them. In 2015, the railings fell and were replaced many times: the padlocks placed on the railings, themselves covered by other padlocks, finished to be too heavy. Paris decided to act: at first, the padlocks will be replaced in May by panels painted by artists then, in September, by transparent Plexiglas panels. Now, this April, it is temporary wooden panels which line the bridge (graffitis did not delay covering them). For our new circuit in Paris, we favored parks and gardens. What a pleasure to run under the sun there. We discover: The “Jardin du Luxembourg” and its magnificent “Fontaine Medicis” (Medici Fountain) Cori – “La Fontaine Medicis” “Les Arènes de Lutèce” (Arenas of Lutetia), with soccer players, gladiators having left for quite a long time 🙂 Cori – “Les Arènes de Lutèce” “La Grande Serre du Jardin des Plantes” (the Great Greenhouse of the Garden of the Plantes) (go there, a real jungle in Paris!): Cori – “La grande serre du Jardin des Plantes” Merci Cori ! The route of the tour:
With Laura, meeting Geneviève, Patroness of Paris and model of resistance
Laura – Notre-Dame 3:53 PM – Laura lives in Oklahoma where she is an active member of a group of runners, Runhers, who promotes a healthy and sports life, notably thanks to the running. Program of this afternoon: a discovery of the Paris Left bank. The University of “La Sorbonne”: Laura – University of “la Sorbonne” – “Rue Saint-Jacques” Discover a sight of Sorbonne and its history in this other article The “rue du Cardinal Lemoine”, where we met the house of the Irish writer James Joyce: Laura – “71 rue du Cardinal Lemoine” James Joyce wrote his novel “Ulysses” here. Not far, one of Ernest Hemingway’s houses (remember this article) The beautiful “Place de la Contrescarpe”: Laura – “Place de la Contrescarpe” The “Jardin des Plantes”, from where we can see the huge skeleton of a whale, behind the windows of the Gallery of Paleontology: Laura – Gallery of Paleontology and Compared Anatomy of the National Natural History Museum During our run, in the garden of Luxembourg, we crossed Geneviève, the Patroness of Paris: Laura – “Sainte Geneviève” (see also this article) Geneviève, daughter of a Frankish father and a Gallo-Roman mother, would have been a municipal member of the council of Paris. According to the tradition, Geneviève, in the year 451, would have prevented Attila and his Huns from invading Paris by encouraging its inhabitants to the resistance. Geneviève, model of courage and endurance for Laura who is successively going to run the Chicago marathon then the one of New York this fall. Go Laura! The route of the tour:
Two sports tours in Paris with Rosalie
Rosalie – Medici Fountain – Luxembourg garden 9:04 AM – With Rosalie, who comes from the beautiful city of Quebec, we made two visits of Paris by running. An important mist covered Paris the first day, making buildings and monuments hardly visible: Rosalie – The dome of the Invalides can slightly be seen Where are the towers of Notre-Dame, usually visible since the bank? The Musée d’Orsay getting free of the mist (in the right of the photo) And there, what is this monument which is in the background of the photo? Yes!… The Eiffel Tower which we find a little farther, a little less veiled: On our way, we admired a work of Dubuffet, installed for the occasion of the FIAC : Rosalie – “Petit Palais” – Welcome Parade, of Jean Dubuffet – 2008 and a little bit further west, the beautiful Galliera palace, the Paris Museum of Fashion: Rosalie – “Palais Galleria” For our second run, the sky was a little more clear. Our first strides led us near to the Pantheon, place “Sainte Geneviève”: Rosalie – “Place du Panthéon” – The Panthéon. On the left, the “Sainte-Geneviève” library and in the background, the Saint-Étienne-du-Mont church. We went to greet the oldest tree of Paris, a Black Locust tree planted in 1601 by the botanist Jean Robin (the tree is native of North America) : Rosalie – “Square René Viviani” After the Museum of Fashion, we went to see the first shop of the famous shoes creator, Christian Louboutin (notice that the shop occupies the premises of a former printing office): Rosalie – In front of the Christian Louboutin’s first shop, in the Véro Dodat gallery Back on the Left bank, we ran on the old pavements of the “Cour du Commerce Saint André”, next to one of the oldest Cafés in Europe (1682): the Café Procope, just under Benjamin Franklin’s eyes who was one of the regular customers of the Café (we say that he would have written a part of the United States Constitution there): Rosalie – “Cour du Commerce Saint André” A kind newspaper seller was kind enough to take the last photo of our tour. Funny of to have the view of a newspaper seller inside his kiosk! Rosalie, Paris Running Tour – Avenue of the Général Leclerc Merci Rosalie ! The routes of the tours :
From the Latin Quarter to the Eiffel Tower with Peter
Peter – “Place de l’Alma”, far off in the axis of avenue Montaigne, the “Sacré Coeur” on the “Butte Montmartre” 10:09 AM – Peter, who lives in Arhus, Denmark, prepares his next marathon, which will take place in April (Rotterdam or Hamburg). The training of Peter began well, notably by a long Running Tour in Barcelona with our friends of Barcelona Running Tour, a 21 km tour (~13 mi). On this Friday, February 15th, two days later, it is with a running done at a good pace that we did 19 km. We combined “the useful and the pleasant” by evoking the history and the cultural places of Paris. As we can see above, we did a small break “place de l’Alma” (located just after the 28th km of the marathon of Paris 😉 ) with in the continuation of the avenue Montaigne, the Sacred Heart which dominates Paris since the Mound Montmartre. A little later, having “climbed” the small hill of Chaillot, a nice tourist suggested photographing us since the esplanade of the Trocadéro: The Eiffel tower from the Trocadéro Back to the left bank, in the garden of the Luxembourg, we admired the Fountain Medici, formerly called ” Cave of the Luxembourg “: Peter – The Fountain Medici – In the background, to the right, the Panthéon By enlarging the photo, you can see Galatée and Acis the shepherd, threatened by the Cyclops Polyphème. It is Marie de Medici, the widow of king Henri IV, who made build this fountain in 1630, in memory of the Florentine gardens of her childhood. Not far from the garden of the Luxembourg, since the street of the Val de Grâce, appears the church of the same name: Peter – Church of the “Val de Grace” Another queen, Anne of Austria, made build the Church of the “Val de Grâce”. The building was ended in 1667 (one of the highest domes in the period). Wife of Louis XIII, she made the wish to realize this church at the birth of her future child, birth which arrived 23 years after its marriage! This first son, Louis XIV, the famous “Sun King”, put the first stone of the building at the age of 7. Merci Peter, have a good marathon! The route of the tour:
By running in the parks of Paris with Scott and Kelly
Kelly and Scott – Luxembourg gardens 8:59 AM – Kelly and Scott live in New York (USA) and usually run in the magnificent park of Central Park. Today, we discovered some of the superb parks of the center of Paris, the Luxembourg gardens, Tuileries gardens and the Palais Royal gardens. The name of “Luxembourg” for the gardens and the Palace (the current Senate) comes from the Duke of Luxembourg, François de Piney who possessed a hotel in this place, in the 16th century. Marie of Medici, the Regent of France, acquired the hotel and built the current Palace in 1615. Did you notice in the background of the above photo, a small dome far off? It is the Paris Observatory, the oldest observatory of the world still in function. It was created in 1667 by king Louis XIV. The Paris Observatory in the continuation of the Luxembourg gardens With the American “Center for Astrophysics”, it is the most important research center in astrophysics and in astronomy of the world. Very soon, the Observatory will open again its doors to the Public, from Thursday, 11 till Sunday, October 14th, 2012 on the occasion of the “fête de la Science“. Of the three parks, which is the most beautiful one? The Garden of the Luxembourg, the discreet Garden of the Palais Royal, or the Garden of the Tuileries, placed on the historic axis of Paris? Impossible to say, they are splendid all three! Let us find the Garden of the Tuileries, a good place to run: Scott and Kelly – the Tuileries gardens and the small garden of the “Palais Royal”, well isolated by the “Palais Royal” palace and the adjacent Galleries: Scott and Kelly – Garden of the Palais Royal On our road, when we discovered a part of Philippe Auguste’s outer wall, a nice runner proposed to take a picture of us: Paris Running Tour, Scott, Kelly – Philippe Auguste’s outer wall (13th century) Thanks to him. A good souvenir! Good runs in Central Park then! Merci Kelly ! Merci Scott ! The route of the tour :
By way of the gallery Véro-Dodat with Erin and Jaymi
Erin and Jaymi – The Fountain of the Four Parts of the World 8:55 AM – With Erin from Miami (USA) and Jaymi from San Francisco (USA), we left the “Porte d’Orléans” at the south end of Paris to run toward the center of the city, cross the Louvre, then return by a parallel route. Do you know the garden of the Great Explorers, the small long and narrow park, situated very close by the garden of the Luxembourg? In its entrance, south side, we met the Fountain of the Four Parts of the World, as we can see it on the photo above, behind the pond. This bronze fountain, realized by several artists from 1867 till 1874, symbolizes the four Continents, Africa, America, Asia and Europe (Oceania not being represented). We also name this fountain the Fountain Carpeaux, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux having sculptured the women who represent the continents. We are in the axis of the meridian of Paris. In the background of the photo, we recognize the Paris Observatory, created in 1667. By running northward, in the Latin Quarter, we crossed the Hotel of Abbots de Cluny, where resides, nowadays, the Museum of the Middle Ages: Erin and Jaymi – Hotel of Cluny It is at the Museum of the Middle Ages that we can admire the magnificent Tapestries of the Lady and the Unicorn . Of return southward, we entered the beautiful gallery Véro-Dodat, a passage created in 1826. For the amateurs of fashion, it is at the end of the gallery that one of the most famous mode shoemakers created his first shop. Shoes with very high heel, incompatible with the running… Jaymi and Erin – Galerie Véro-Dodat We went to finish our running by way of the beautiful Montsouris Park, of which the construction was decided by the baron Haussmann in 1860 to match in the South the Park of the Buttes Chaumont, the other big garden in the North of Paris. Erin and Jaymi – Montsouris Park Merci Erin ! Merci Jaymi ! The route of the tour:
In front of the French Senate with Daniel and Wils
Daniel, Wils – Le Sénat 9:06 AM – With Daniel and Wils of New York (USA), we ran largely on the left bank: the garden of plants, the arena of Lutecia, the Pantheon, street Saint Jacques… On our road, having gone down the Mountain Sainte Geneviève, we crossed the garden of the Luxembourg and met the Senate. The Senate with the National Assembly are the two chambers which represent the French legislative power.The French Senate is also called Palace of the Luxembourg, place where sit the senators since the revolution. This palace was ordered in 1615 by the regent Marie de Medici, the widow of king Henri IV and mother of Louis XIII. On our route, we noticed on the ground curious medallions: These medallions, among 135, were put in Paris in 1994, on the line of the meridian of Paris (today, we use the meridian of Greenwich). They indicate the North-south virtual line of the meridian with letters “N” and “S”.The Dutch artist Jan Dibbets so realized the tribute to François Arago (1786-1853), scientist and French politician.The meridian of Paris was established to allow the creation of the Astronomical Observatory of Paris created in 1667 (Arago was in particular the director of the Paris Observatory).Moreover, by running in the garden of the Luxembourg, near the Senate, Daniel pointed out to us the Observatory far off by looking at the South of the garden. How many “points Arago” will you find going through Paris? Follow the meridian! Merci Daniel, merci Wils ! The route of the tour: