Chestnut trees in flowers, place Dauphine, with Lena
Lena – Place Dauphine 11:03 AM – Lena comes from Sweden. While running, we discovered a Paris colored by the spring. Look at the photo above where the Place Dauphine shows proudly its chestnut trees in flower. Created shortly after the “Place des Vosges” (at that time, Place Royale), the Place Dauphine owes its name to the son of king, the “Dauphin”, future Louis XIII, son of Henri IV whose we can see the statue on the west of the Place. Beautiful small quiet square, opened on the Justice Palace, it was until 1874 a square closed by a third side of buildings. The Place was then a complete triangle. Before and after Here are the buildings which constituted the basis of the triangle: Place Dauphine before 1874 – East side – No trees at the time! Other beautiful trees and vegetables accompanied our route: The oldest tree in Paris Lena – Locust tree (Robinia pseudoacacia) planted in 1602 (Square René Viviani) The plant wall which covers a part of the buildings of the Quai Branly Museum Lena – Plant wall created in 2004 by Patrick Blanc (Administrative buildings of the Quai Branly Museum) The trees which follow the new banks of the Seine Lena – Banks of the river Seine (left bank) – In the background, the Eiffel Tower Merci Lena ! The route of the tour :
Medieval art, Art nouveau, Modern Art, 10 miles (16 km) in Paris with Lysa
Lysa – Ile de la Cité (Island of the City) 7:03 AM – With Lysa, from Buffalo (New York), we made a 10 mile run (16 kilometers) to discover the numerous artistic facets of Paris. More than 2000 years of History… and artistic and architectural creations! Did you notice the numerous Parisian metro entrances with these arabesques forms, as the one that we see on the photo above next to Lysa? These entrances are typical artistic creations of the beginning of the 20th century, this art which we called the “Art Nouveau”. The creator, Hector Guimard, very representative artist of the “Art Nouveau” movement, realized 141 of these entrances of the Parisian subway from 1900 till 1912. Some entrance are even covered with a glass roof. Today, there are only 86 left, 2 with a glass roof as the “Porte Dauphine” one (West of Paris on the Avenue Foch): Hector Guimard’s subway entrances were offered to the subways of other cities as Montreal, Mexico City, Chicago, etc. There is even one in the Washington National Gallery of Art! Still on the Island of “La Cité”, we also admired two Medieval Art examples (vast ensemble of the Middle Ages Arts, covering a period of 1000 years): The famous Cathedral Notre-Dame-de-Paris, representative of the Gothic Art: Lysa and the Cathedral “Notre Dame de Paris” (on the left, the temporary installations celebrating 850 years of Notre-Dame) The Clock of the Conciergerie (for more information, read this article) : Lysa – Tour de l’Horloge (tower of the Clock) Further west, we met two forms of more recent arts: A plant wall! One of the first green walls realized by Patrick Blanc, who invented the concept of plant walls. This one was created in 2004, on one of the Quai Branly Museum administration building walls: Lysa – Vegetation wall (Patrick Blanc 2004) And of course, the famous Iron tower, the Eiffel Tower! The Tower was built for the World Fair of 1889. From 1889 to 1931, it was the highest monument in the world. During its construction, it was very criticized, but obtained a big success during the world fair of 1889, success which fell rather fast (in spite of a renewal of curiosity during the World Fair of 1900) We even intended to destroy it… It is now the most emblematic symbol of Paris! Lysa – Eiffel tower It’s a pleasure to run in Paris! Merci Lysa ! The route of the tour:
Under the sign of the French-American friendship with Cori
Cori – Pont des Arts and Louvre 7:10 AM – Cori from New York City (USA), came to Paris for a short stay of three days. Cori however wished to make a long tour in Paris, in spite of the small drizzle we had this morning. We thus made a long loop and crossed Paris since the Arc de Triomphe up to Notre-Dame by way of the Eiffel Tower. We placed our route under the sign of the French-American friendship by beginning the tour with the square of the United States in the 16th district of Paris. We can find a monument there dedicated to this good alliance. It calls back the support of France for the young America, a handshake between Lafayette and Washington : Cori – Square of the United States A little later, we discovered the Eiffel Tower, the head in clouds: Cori – Tour Eiffel Before following the Seine, in particular to cross the Pont des Arts, we met the Quai Branly Museum : Cori – Quai Branly museum The Quai Branly Museum, the museum of the Arts and Civilizations is very recent, it was opened in 2006. Do those who made the race of the 20 km of Paris at the end of 1990s remember that the place was during a few years the place of withdrawal of the race bibs? Merci Cori ! The route of the tour :