Tailored-made private guided tours since 2008
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 will take you on the best sight running routes in Paris and who always have tons of secrets to share with you:
Thank you to our visitors for these great moments shared in 2018!
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 will take you on the best running routes in Paris and who always have tons of secrets to share with you:
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 (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:
In front of the invisible pyramid with Molly and Saul
9:00 AM – With Molly and Saul from California, we crossed by running Paris from west to east to make an attractive tour of more than 16 km (10 miles). We made a small stop in front of the Louvre and, what a surprise, the Louvre Pyramid seems to have disappeared by leaving a grey halo! Is it a photomontage? No, not at all, the pyramid was made invisible by the artist JR by a astonishing anamorphosis. (if you want to know more about JR’s works, go to this nice arts website at this page: https://www.artsy.net/artist/jr) A look aside makes us understand a little better the trompe-l’œil effect: We began our race near the “Palais de la Découverte” to join quickly the river Seine at the level of the “Pont de l’Alma” (bridge of Alma). A important number of photographers had assembled near the Zouave, who has become again an attraction because of the important flood of the Seine, this June 2016: By the way, let us take back the photography of the Bridge of the Alma and the Eiffel Tower, don’t you notice anything new in this Parisian landscape? The new Russian Orthodox Church in Paris:Find the zouave and the usual level of the Seine here. This flood is impressive and offers surprising views: From the “Pont de l’Alma”, we climb the avenue of President Wilson to join the hill of Chaillot and the beautiful views of the Eiffel Tower since the Trocadéro: Later, we cross again the Seine by the bridge Alexandre III: We alternate then the beautiful routes, right bank and left bank with the pleasure of running in the Latin Quarter in the street Rollin, lined with buildings of the XVIth and XVIIth centuries where lived, in particular, the philosophers Pascal and Descartes: Merci Molly, merci Saul ! The route of the tour:
Under the Eiffel tower with Rachel
Under the Eiffel Tower – Far off the Palais de Chaillot and the garden of Trocadéro 7:32 AM – Rachel, from Wales, is a regular runner with very good results… After the running tour in Paris, she arrived recently second woman of a half marathon. At present, she prepares for the next London Marathon. In this beginning of March, the sun is with us for an attractive tour of Paris by running. Look at the photo above, we are just under the Eiffel Tower. Early morning in March, the place is very quiet. Compare with the crowd that we can find on Easter Mondays for example or on a summer weekend there… Running early morning in Paris is a delight! Far off, on the other side of the Seine, we can recognize the majestic “Palais de Chaillot” which was built for the World Fair of 1937, last World Fair in Paris. The Palace of Chaillot replaced the Palace of Trocadéro built in the same place, that time for the World Fair of 1878: Aerial view of the “Palais du Trocadéro” – 1934 By the way, do you know what “Trocadéro” means? It is a fort which is situated in Cadiz in Spain and the place of a French victory; France came to help Spain to restore the absolute monarchy in 1823 (the king Louis XVIII reigns at that time in France). The Palace of the Trocadéro built in 1878 (and then the “Place du Trocadéro”) owes its name to a royalist victory! We went for running early, accompanied by the rising sun which lit for us the magnificent monuments of Paris: The Arc de Triomphe. We are in his shadow, the sun beginning to light the Champs-Elysées Palais Galliera Museum of the fashion with until, August 23rd, 2015, the exhibition dedicated to Jeanne Lanvin The Eiffel tower – We are at the “Palais de Chaillot”! The Alexandre III bridge with in the back the statue symbolizing the France of the Renaissance. At the top of the pylon, one of the four Fames: The Fame of the War. These four statues were covered with gold leaves in 1989. The Bridge of the Arts and in the back, the “Galerie du bord de l’eau” of the Louvre – The “Pont des Arts”, known these last years for all the padlocks which where put there by the loving tourists, is at present protected by wooden panels. These panels covered by graffitis spoil a little the beauty of the place. It should be temporary. The Palais Royal and its famous Columns of Buren (“Les deux plateaux”). The “Théâtre Ephémère” (short-lived theater) now disappeared. This wooden theater had welcomed temporarily the troop of the “Comédie Française” during the works of the “Palais Royal”. We can see again the garden of the “Palais Royal” through the columns. The Garden of the Tuileries – Our shadows are still very long! Merci Rachel ! We wish you a great London Marathon! The route of the tour:
In front of the Embassy of Texas in Paris with Kristina
Kristina – Alexandre III bridge – “La fillette à la coquille” (the girl with the shell), sculpted by Léopold Morice 9:55 AM – Kristina lives just in front of Manhattan (New York). We ran and discovered Paris on a beautiful morning of May. The magnificent Alexandre III bridge presents numerous groups of statues. Some evoke diverse representations of the Fame, others, France in various periods of its history. The girl with the shell, which we can see on the photo above, is a member of numerous statues bound to the marine world (the Nereid, the child and the fantastic fish, dolphins and other shells). It is a pity people hung on to it padlocks (look at the hands of the statue by enlarging the photo).. Very close to the place where we started our running, Place Vendôme, we met the Embassy of Texas! Kristina – “Embassy of Texas” Embassy of Texas? Yes, read the plaque which we can see on the building behind Kristina: It is written: “Embassy of Texas. In 1842-1843 this building was the seat of the Embassy of the Republic of Texas in Paris. With the Franco-Texan Treaty of 29 September 1839 France became the first nation to recognize the Republic of Texas, an independant state between 1836 and 1845.” A little farther, after having run in the magnificent Garden of the Tuileries, Kristina – Jardin des Tuileries It is in front of another place of political representation that we stop: Kristina – Palais de l’Elysée – “La Grille du Coq” The Palace of “Elysée”, official residence of the President of the French Republic. Look at the railing which closes the garden of the Palace south side: it is the Railing of the Gallic cockerel. Remember, we had spoken about this cock here. By continuing our road towards the Eiffel Tower, we pass by a street the name of which evokes a city well known by Kristina: Kristina – Avenue de New-York In 1918, this way is named Avenue of Tokio (with one “i” as it was the custom at the beginning of the 20th century). At the end of the World War I, the avenue receives this name because Japan was an ally of France. In 1945, the avenue of Tokio is renamed avenue of New York, the most populated city of the United States, the country which participated in the France liberation (Japan having become an enemy during the World War II). The Palace of Tokyo, very close, built for the World Fair of 1937, kept its name. We were lucky! By going to the Eiffel Tower, the cannons of the garden of Trocadéro throw their powerful water jets: Kristina – Jardin du Trocadéro Merci Kristina ! The route of the tour:
Discovery of the symbols of Paris with Emily
Emily – Alexandre III bridge 9:03 AM – With Emily, from Ohio (USA), our sports route crossed the seventh and eighth districts of Paris, known in particular for the big works and monuments we can find there. It is here that we shall meet the constructions which stayed after the 19th and 20th centuries World Fairs: the Eiffel Tower, the Palace of Chaillot, the Palace of Iena, the Palace of Tokyo, “Petit” and “Grand Palais” and of course, the Alexandre III Bridge. Had you noticed that on the Alexandre III Bridge are the symbols of France and Paris? Alexandre III bridge – France and Paris Symbols On the basis of most of the candelabras surrounding the bridge, you will find various representations of the symbols of France and Paris: On the left photo above, you can read “RF“, which means French Republic. All the public buildings in France show these letters RF. A little farther, for example, on the left bank, at the east of the bridge, you will find these letters on the blazons of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. In the middle, the Gallic cockerel (“Coq Gaulois“) which is the national symbol of France, even if it is not as formalized as the bald eagle, national bird of the United States.. Finally, on the right photo, you will find the blazon of Paris, the ship of the powerful Gallic corporation of the Nautes. The motto of Paris is bound to this blazon: “Fluctuat nec mergitur“, Latin expression which means “It floats but does not sink”. You can see this blazon on most of the public buildings of Paris. Moreover, we find it in big on the bridge again: Alexandre III bridge – West side We thus left the area of the Champ de Mars to go around the Invalides : Emily – “Hôtel des Invalides” – South side Emily – “Hôtel des Invalides” – North side Meanwhile, we were able to admire, since the street, the Rodin museum and its beautiful garden: Emily – Rodin museum : the garden, the museum and the The Burghers of Calais statue To go on the right bank, we crossed the footbridge Léopold-Sédar-Senghor, with, by leaving the bridge, a beautiful point of view on the “Musée d’Orsay”: Emily – Orsay museum By going back up the Champs-Elysées, we made a small detour to find again our symbols, the Gallic Cock and the letters RF: Elysée palace – “Grille du Coq” (Railing of the Gallic cockerel) If there is a place where we have to see these symbols, it is the Elysée Palace (“Palais de l’Elysée”), the residence of the President of the French Republic (equivalent to the White House for the USA), here on the Railing of the Cock which is in the South of the Palace garden. By crossing the “Petit Palais”, very Parisian monument, it is, this time, the Ship that we found again: Emily – “Petit Palais” – Blazon of the Nautes By entering the “Petit Palais”, by raising the head towards the ceiling, we find once more the blazon, where we can even read it the motto ” Fluctuat nec mergitur “: Ceiling of the entrance of the “Petit Palais” By leaving the “Petit Palais”, here is again the Alexandre III Bridge and in the background the “Hôtel des Invalides” (in fact, the bridge was created to connect the Champs-Elysées to the “Invalides”): Emily – Alexandre III bridge (right bank side) and left bank, in the background, the Invalides By the way, do you know what represents this other symbol, a double-headed eagle, that we can also see at the bottom of the Alexandre III bridge lampposts? ; ) Merci Emily ! The route of the tour: