A sports and cultural tour of Paris with Ingrid at Christmas
Ingrid – Gallery Vivienne 8:32 AM – Ingrid lives in Uberaba, Brazil. To begin her stay in Paris, Ingrid chose to make a Paris Running Tour. On Sunday morning, two days before Christmas, Paris is quite decorated for the holidays. As we can see above, the beautiful Gallery Vivienne (1823) also respects the tradition. Our run, in this very quiet Paris of a Sunday morning before Christmas, allowed us to see a highly varied Paris: passages (Gallery Vivienne, passage of the “Grand Cerf”, passage of Bourg-L’abbé), the Paris of Napoleon the 1st with the Arc of the Carousel, the modern Paris with the Pompidou Center or the very old Paris with Nicolas Flamel’s house. Ingrid – House of Nicolas Flamel Nicolas Flamel’s house, which dates 1407, is the oldest of Paris (older than those of the street François Miron). Nicolas Flamel was a rich “Bourgeois” who, with his wife Pernelle, made build houses to welcome the poor people. This one, street of Montmorency, is the last existing one. An inscription indicates the prayers that the inhabitants of the place had to make : “We, ploughmen and women living at the porch of this house, which was made in 1407, are requested to say every day an ‘Our Father’ and an ‘Ave Maria’ praying God that His grace forgive poor and dead sinners Amen“. It is at present an inn. Some strides farther, it is the modern Paris which we discover. Ingrid – Centre Pompidou – “The Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt” Piece of Adel Abdessemed Effectively, we find the Pompidou Center, one of the biggest world Contemporary Arts Centers. It welcomes at present a temporary exhibition of the artist Adel Abdessemed. We can see on the square a (provocative?) sculpture representing the headbutt given by the famous football player Zinedine Zidane to an opponent having a little moved words… Ingrid – Arc du Carrousel We have already spoken about the Arc of the Carrousel during a tour with Kristy. Had you noticed the quadriga at the top of the Arc? In fact, the sculpture is a copy. Napoleon 1st had taken the original statue to the Venetians who themselves had stolen it during the sack of Constantinople in 1204 (The quadriga were ordered by Emperor Constantin in 330). With Napoleon’s fall, the original horses were returned to Venice where you can admire them place Saint Marc. To finish, here is a small postcard with other beautiful places seen during our visit: Merry christmas to all! Merci Ingrid ! The route of the tour:
Center of Paris, right bank with Liz and Curt
Curt and Liz – The “Bourse de Paris” 9:12 AM – Curt and Liz are regular runners who live near Boston (USA). We left the Opera to make a big visit, more than 10 miles (16 km) to discover Paris center, on the Right bank side (a good training for the half marathon Curt prepares). Not far from the Opera, we found the “Bourse de Paris”. Ordered by Napoleon the 1st and created by Alexandre Théodore Brongniart, the building called Palais Brongniart (Brongniart Palace), served for a long time as stock exchange, the Paris Stock Exchange, before the transactions were dematerialized since the 1980s. Remember: Now everything is computerized! The “Bourse de Paris” serves now as a conference, receptions, fashion shows, showroom or exhibitions center. Later, we crossed “Le Marais” quarter (Marais=swamp), very quiet on this Sunday morning. No cars! The street belongs to the runners! Curt and Liz – The Marais Sunday morning, ideal moment to run in Paris! How many discoveries by running, the old Paris, the modern Paris, the fashion shops, the museums, the passages… The Marais, the “Passage des Panoramas”, The “Pont des Arts”, The Pyramide of the Louvre The first shop of a very fashionable shoes manufacturer, The Louvre, The river Seine On our way, a couple of tourists asked Liz to photograph them. It fell well, Liz is, among others, a professional photographer! Liz – Louvre and the Arc of the Carousel Merci Liz ! Merci Curt ! The route of the tour :
Under the Arc du Carousel with Kristy
Arc du Carousel – Kristy 8:01 AM – Kristy, from Atlanta (USA), one week after running the half-marathon of Georgia, and having fully recover from the race, chose to do a sporting visit of Paris with Paris Running Tour. We explored “l’Ile de la Cité”, the right bank going through “le Louvre”, “les Tuileries” and the “Champs Elysées”, then we rejoined the left bank to run under the arches of the Eiffel tower, we crossed “les Invalides” and went along the river Seine to finish in the Quartier Latin. During the visit, as the armies of Napoléon, we “triumphantly” went through the “Arc du Carousel”! Merci Kristy*! The “Arc du Carousel”: After his victory in Austerlitz, Napoléon declared to his troops : “I will bring you back to France. You will pass through arches of triumph on your way to your homes!”. Therefore were constructed the “Arc du Carousel” at the Tuileries and the majestic Arc de Triomphe at place de l’Etoile. 130 years before, Louis XIV ordered the construction of the Arcs of “la Porte Saint-Martin” and of “la Porte Saint-Denis” in the North of Paris. Un jour de revue sous l’Empire. Hippolyte Bellangé 1862. Musée du Louvre. © Photo RMN – F. Raux On this picture, in the background, behind the Arc du Carousel, we can see the “Palais des Tuileries”, which closed the Louvre by the west side. The palace was burnt during the events of “La Commune” in 1871. * See Kristy’s blog about running and healthy food, a good choice for life! The route of the tour: