With Sharon, in front of the canons of the “Invalides”
Sharon – “Esplanade des Invalides” 7:34 AM – With Sharon, who lives in Bangkok (Thailand), we traveled a good distance by running, more than 16 km to visit Paris. It allowed us to discover numerous surprising and interesting places, especially for their history. As we can see it on the photo above, we ran around the “Invalides”, the famous “Hôtel des Invalides”, created by Louis XIV to accommodate the injured veteran soldiers of his armies. A canons battery faces the “Esplanade des Invalides”. It was not at the origin of the French artillery but the got back enemy canons, belonging mainly to the Austrians and to the Turks. These artillery still fire, for example every time France elected a new President of the Republic. Close to the “Invalides”, on our road, the Rodin museum. The Rodin museum is at the heart of a beautiful garden which exposes statues of the sculptor. During a small break, since the street, we were able to admire one of the copies of a well-known work of Rodin, “Les Bourgeois de Calais”: Sharon – Rodin museum – “Les Bourgeois de Calais” – Far off, the museum The work “Les Bourgeois de Calais ” redraw a famous episode of the one hundred years war. In 1347, to end the terrible siege of the city of Calais and save the inhabitants, six burghers, a rope around the neck, surrendered in sacrifice to the English king Edouard III. His wife Philippa de Hainaut interceded to save them from the execution. It is what tells the Chronicle of the period… At the exit of the museum, the visitors, doubtless reached by the artistic fiber, are used to decorating posts situated around the museum with their tickets: On our road, near the Petit Palais, we saw Winston Churchill: Sharon – Winston Churchill’s statue Later, we met the Expiatory Chapel, a quiet and little known place in Paris: Sharon – The Expiatory Chapel The Expiatory Chapel in the “Louis XVI square” – Click on the picture for a larger view The Expiatory chapel is a monument dedicated to Louis XVI and to Marie-Antoinette. Louis XVIII ordered the construction of the building in the place where were buried the King and the Queen in 1793, after having been guillotined. Avenue of the President Wilson, in this Saturday, it is a typical Parisian market which offered us the colors of his fruits: Merci Sharon ! The route of the tour :
Historic, artistic, scientific and sports stroll in Paris with Isabel
Isabel – Les Invalides 8:59 – Isabel, from Baltimore (USA), is a young, very regular runner as she runs 6 days a week. Visiting Paris, why not discovering the city by running? We thus went for 17 kilometers with a good pace for a stroll which we can qualify as historical, artistic, scientific and of course, sporting. Historical: Every Parisian place is a witness of the History, whether it is a small street, a small garden either a famous place or a most known building, for example, the “Invalides”. The “Invalides” reminds the will of king Louis XIV to regroup the disabled war veterans in a dedicated place, the “Hôtel des Invalides“. We can see the magnificent building in the background of the photo above. The dome is covered with 12 kilograms of gold deposited in fine layers. Inside, thrones the grave where rest Napoleon. A little earlier, we crossed the “Arènes de Lutèce” (see the picture above). At the time of the Roman Empire, more than 15000 spectators saw there the gladiators fought and wildcats appeared. They also could applauded theater performances. These arenas, rediscovered in the 19th century, have now more modest dimensions, but we can always see games there, more quiet certainly, as football (soccer) or “pétanque” (a form of lawn bowling). Lutecia was the former name of Paris in this period. Isabel – The Arènes of Lutèce Scientific : If there is a garden dedicated to the sciences, the “Jardin des plantes” is the one indeed: Isabel – Garden of the plants/Natural history museum – In the background, the great Gallery of the Evolution The garden of plants is, first of all, a botanical garden. It is a magnificent park which contains at the same time very big Greenhouses and specialized gardens, for example, the Alpine garden. The buildings contain various galleries dedicated, among others, to the mineralogy and to the geology, to the evolution, and to the paleontology. We see the gallery of the paleontology on the photo below (see, behind the windows, the big skeleton of a whale): Isabel – Gallery of Paleontology The garden of plants also contains a menagerie, one of the first menageries of the world. Even if these mammals do not exist any more, we were able to cross a mammoth on our way! The Mammoth of the “Jardin des plantes” – By his side, Isabel Artistic: Paris is a city of Art which counts at least 130 museums. Among them, the Museum of Modern Art: Isabel – Paris Modern Art Museum The Museum of Modern Art presents numerous works of the 20th century, some are famous (Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Modigliani, …) Finally, even though if it was rejected by numerous artists during its creation, is not the Eiffel Tower a gigantic work of art? Isabel – The Eiffel tower from the “Palais de Chaillot” Merci Isabel ! The route of the tour:
Running in October in Paris
Right bank – Far off the Pont Royal (Royal Bridge), Notre-Dame and the dome of the Institute of France Garden of the Tuileries – Far off, the Louvre The bridge of “la Concorde” then the place of “la Concorde” and its obelisk, with, far off, on the left, the “Hôtel de Crillon”, the “Hôtel de la Marine” on the right and in the center, “La Madeleine” The “esplanade des Invalides” – The “Hôtel des Invalides” No matter what month we are, it is always a pleasure to run in Paris! Come and do a tour, a nice visit while running with Paris Running Tour!
A brightened up week end in Paris with Anne and Niels
The Eiffel tower from the Esplanade of the Trocadéro – Anne and Niels 7:30 AM – Saturday and Sunday – Anne and Niels, from Copenhagen (Denmark), as regular marathoners, chose to run with Paris Running Tour two times, Saturday morning and Sunday morning. We were lucky, despite a rather cold weather, we ran under a fantastic sunlight, which allowed us to fully enjoy our tours. On our way, we saw the “Invalides” (see the picture below), the “Ecole Militaire” (Military school) and ran through the “Champ de Mars“; all these places are linked to war. The Hotel des Invalides was created at the request of Louis XIV to house and take care of injured, maimed or old soldiers (one reason often evoked: Louis XIV liked the glory of his victorious wars but not the – not so glorious – aftermaths in terms of maimed soldiers wandering in the Parisian streets). Inside the Invalides, you can see the tomb of Napoleon. The Invalides (from the south) – Niels and Anne Not so far from the Invalides, the Ecole Militaire founded by Louis XV. Its aim was to educate young (and poor) officers. As the Invalides, it still belongs to the Ministry of Defense. Between the Ecole Militaire and the Eiffel tower, you find a park, the “Champ de Mars“, literally the Field of Mars, Mars being the Roman god of war. It was called “Champ de Mars” by the Romans when they defeated the Gauls there and took Paris (called Lutecia at this period). Then, the Champ de Mars was used to study strategy and to train for war, notably by the Ecole Militaire. Nowadays, the ones who train at the Champ de Mars are runners (among them, sometimes, soldiers from the Ecole Militaire!). Merci Anne and Niels! The routes of the tours (Saturday and Sunday):
A sunny morning with Sarah
Sarah running on the “Esplanade of the Invalides” 7:30 AM – Sarah just arrived from Ohio. This Saturday morning, the summer was ending and the air was a little bit chilly, but fortunately the sun was with us on the tour. On our way, among the nice places of Paris we saw, we went by the Rodin museum. The museum is inside a park where you can admire some famous creations of the sculptor. On our route, outside, from the street, we could see the “Thinker”, very well-known statue. Thank you Sarah! The route of the tour: You can display Sarah’s tour on a bigger map