London came to run with Paris ! With Hope from City Jogging Tours of London
Hope de City Jogging Tour of London with Paris Running Tour – Louvre Pyramid 10:35 AM – Hope from London (United Kingdom) is the creator of City Jogging Tours of London, one of the first “Sightjogging Tours” in the world. What is better than a visit of Paris while running to share our running tour guides experiences? We thus left Montmartre to make a beautiful stroll… Hope – Montmartre, in the background, the whole of Paris! …by coming down to the South and by way of nice Parisian covered passages… Hope – Passage Jouffroy – Galerie Vivienne …by being amazed by the famous padlocks on the “Pont des Arts”, more and more numerous… Hope – “Pont des Arts” – In the distance, the Orsay Museum and the Eiffel tower …by making a break in the garden of the Tuileries… Hope – Tuileries Garden …by crossing the “Champs- Elysées”… Hope – Champs Elysées – Far off, the Arc of Triumph …to greet Winston Churchill… Hope – Winston Churchill, near the “Petit Palais” … And finally join the Eiffel Tower and the Ecole Militaire (Military school). City Jogging Tours of London and Paris Running Tour If you pass by London, go run a Jogging Tour with Hope and her team! A wonderful stroll in London! One day, Paris will be happy to go running with London… Merci Hope ! The route of the tour:
Running under the bridge Saint-Michel with Antje
Antje – Under Saint-Michel bridge – In the background, “Notre-Dame de Paris” 7h57 – Antje comes from another great and beautiful European capital, Berlin. She already ran several times the Berlin marathon, one of the fastest world marathons (the last four world records were realized in Berlin). Antje knows well Paris and that is with pleasure and while running that we rediscovered its most beautiful “paths”. A beautiful route of more than 14 km also passing under bridges of Paris as we can see on the photo above. Our running led us of the Eiffel Tower up to Notre-Dame, then up to the Arc of Triumph. This Friday was making the “bridge” between two holidays, May 8th&9th and the weekend so Paris was very quiet, even the Eiffel Tower seemed deserted (at least at 8 am in the morning). Antje – “Champs de Mars” and Eiffel tower Notice the scaffolds which leave the ground towards the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. These temporary elements are of use to the renovation of the first floor. The objective of this modernization project is to make this floor a more attractive place => Click here. Back from Notre-Dame, this time, it is ON the “Pont Neuf”, the New Bridge, that we ran: Antje – “Pont Neuf” – In the background, the “Pont des Arts” (bridge of the Arts) As its name does not indicate it, the “Pont Neuf”, literally “New Bridge”, is the oldest bridge of Paris. As you can read it on the photo, the bridge was built at the end of the 16th century. Yes, “neuf” means “new” (and not “9”). Is the oldest bridge the new bridge? Indeed, at the time of its construction, this bridge was very modern: all in stone, without houses on its edges (at last, we could know that we were really on a bridge while crossing it, impossible with houses!), and with sidewalks! These sidewalks were really new because very rare in Paris at that time… The “Pont Neuf”, already at that time, a beautiful place to stroll, to appreciate the sight and Paris! Farther, we pursued our route along the historic axis of Paris (see here), the Louvre, the Louvre Pyramid and the garden of the Tuileries : Antje – “Cour carrée du Louvre” Antje – Small break near the Louvre Pyramid Antje – In the garden of the Tuileries We then continued our road along the Champs-Elysées to go uphill towards the Arc of Triumph. Uphill? Yes indeed, do you know that the Arc of Triumph is put on what we called formerly the “colline du Roule” (The hill of the Roule). In 1768, this hill was leveled to have a more regular slope towards the Gate of Neuilly. The top of the hill was then 5 meters higher. Paris as flat as Berlin? Hem, not completely… So remember, when you will take the departure of the Paris marathon and will start with the Champs-Elysées, do not run too fast: if it is so easy, it is because you are in descent! Merci Antje ! The route of the tour:
On the “Pont des Arts” with Manoella
7:06 AM – Manoella, who lives in São Paulo (Brazil), came to stay some time in Paris. She will participate in a major event, the Paris Marathon! It will be her first marathon, we can appreciate this choice, what better than Paris? 😉 No unnecessary risks in 7 days of the marathon (April 7th, 2013 ), we ran quietly and took advantage of a route around the Latin Quarter, on the “Ile de la Cité” and also right bank: Louvre, Palais Royal, Pompidou Center, the “Marais”. Early on Sunday morning, very few people on the route, see how the Louvre is quiet : The winter does not want to go and it is by the temperature of -2°C (28.4°F) that we ran . March 31st! Well, this cold gave a beautiful particular luminosity to the city, we admired Notre-Dame nicely “colored” : Manoella, we wish you a magnificent first marathon in Paris! Merci Manoella ! The route of the tour :
Grande Arche – Arc de Triomphe return trip with Maggie
Maggie (in front of the Arc of Triumph) – Champs-Elysées 6:51 AM – Maggie, who lives near Houston, runs very regularly. Early on Sunday, we ran on the West part of the Paris historical axis (map here), from “La Défense” up to the Arc of Triumph. We thus left “La Défense” to cross its esplanade, the city of Neuilly, the avenue of the “Grande Armée” and join the Arc of Triumph on the “Place de l’Étoile” (place of the Star). We went around the “Arc de Triomphe”, admired the other part of the historical axis: Champs-Elysées, far off, the obelisk of “La Concorde” then, at the end, the Louvre (on the photo above, by enlarging it, we can see the Obelisk and the buildings of the Louvre far off). Maggie – The “Arc de Triomphe” On returning to “La Défense”, we were able to appreciate some of the numerous works of art arranged on the Esplanade, as “the pond of Takis” created by Vassilakis Panayotis Takis: Maggie – The “Bassin” of Takis (1988) – The “Grande Arche” of “la Défense” or “Le Moretti” (“Cheminée Moretti”) of Raymond Moretti : “Cheminée Moretti” (1995) “La Défense” is the biggest business center in Europe. On this Sunday morning, the esplanade of “La Défense” was deserted, contrary to the working periods when the paving stone of “La Défense” is full of businesswomen and businessmen who join or leave their offices. La Défense (Click on the picture for a larger view) By the way, do you know why this business area is called “La Défense”? In 1883, the Statue of the defense of Paris was placed on a traffic circle of Courbevoie, one of the cities where is situated the business center. The statue evokes the resistance and the bravery of the Paris defenders during the 1870 French-Prussian war. See below “La Défense” in the debuts of the business center developments (begun with the CNIT): On the left, “La Défense” in 1962 with the statue in the center and the CNIT recently created (1958) On the right, the Statue of “La Défense” still visible on the esplanade and drilling the paving stone. A little run of 10 km through space and time! 😉 Merci Maggie ! The route of the tour:
In front of the garden of the Elysée with Meredith and John
Meredith and John in front of the gardens of the Élysée Palace, residence of the President of the Republic. To see the main entrance, on the other side, you can click here 9:07 AM – Meredith and John come from the East coast of the United States (Washington, New York) and are in Paris for a cultural and very sports visit. This Monday, March 4th, we combined a tourist stroll and and “recovery jogging”. Indeed, Meredith ran the day before, the Paris half marathon by establishing a new personal record on the distance. Bravo Meredith! More than 30000 participants at the 2013 Paris Half-marathon! The start. With a close look, you will see 2 Paris Running Tour guides in the foreground, orange and (Paris Running Tour) green T-shirts That is thus, quietly, that we crossed Paris and took advantage of the beautiful morning, second brightened up morning after a very cold and dark winter. Meredith and John – Garden of the Tuileries – On the historical axis: far off the Obelisk of the place de la Concorde and the Arc of Triumph at the end of Champs-Elysées On the photo above, we see clearly the “pyramidion” (pyramid cover cap) at the top of the Obelisk, its gold cover shines as in the time of antique Egypt. Did you also know that the Obelisk of “Place de la Concorde” represented the gnomon (the needle) of a gigantic sundial? Had you noticed these marks on the ground? A gigantic sundial (1999) “place de la Concorde” – Click on the picture to see the details! The hour calculation is not as simple (duration of the day, etc.) By continuing our running, we returned on the historic axis, with in its beginning, the Louvre: Meredith and John – The pyramid of the Louvre It is in this way that we admired the oldest monument of Paris, the obelisk of Concorde (13è century BC) and one of the most modern, the Louvre Pyramid (inaugurated in 1989)! Merci Meredith, merci John! The route of the tour:
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:
Running in Paris at the sunrise, with Denise
Denise – “Quai de l’Horloge” (Pier of the Clock) 6:58 AM – With Denise from Porto Allegre (Brazil), we start running early. We took advantage of the morning light to admire streets and monuments and see the city waking up. While staying near the Seine, we visited the center of Paris by alternating the right bank and the left bank: the Latin Quarter, Saint Germain des Près, the “place de la Concorde”, the Louvre, without forgetting the Island of the City (as shown on the photo above, Quay of the Clock, at the foot of the Horloge of the Conciergerie, recently renovated). We made a small detour on the “Pont des Arts” to appreciate the rays of the sun enlightening the West of Paris: Denise – Pont des Arts A little later, we found the Garnier Opera, quite enlightened by the daylight: Denise, avenue de l’Opéra The avenue of the Opera, created during the works of Hausmann, had initially been planned with trees. Charles Garnier, the architect, did not want these trees. He had wished that the sight of his Opera was completely unobstructed. Without trees, the Opera is indeed very visible since the place André Malraux near the Louvre. Denise – Mairie of the 1st arrondissement (1st district city hall) and the church Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois A little farther, we met two buildings. They are alike, right? If they have the same architecture, they have nevertheless very different uses. One is a public building: the City hall of the 1st district and the other one, a religious building: the church Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois. This group owes its existence to a particular history: August 24th, 1572, in full religious war, bells of this very old church gave the order to eliminate all the Protestants of Paris. This signal was the beginning of the horrible Saint-Bartholomew’s massacre. In the 19th century, town planners made the project to extend eastward the historic axis Louvre-Tuileries-Concorde-Champs Elysées. It should cause the destruction of the church. The baron Haussman, in charge of the big Parisian works, refused. Indeed, as he was Protestant, he did not wish that people can interpret the destruction of the church as a personal vengeance. He also asked for the construction of a city hall, completely similar to the church, by concern of harmony. He made raise between both buildings a tower-bell to strongly separate the “religion” and the “republic”. Parisians, derisive, called the group “L’huilier et ses deux burettes” (the hand oiler and the two cruets). We finished our running by way of the Island of the City and the Latin Quarter. About 11 km, sports and instructive! Merci Denise ! 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 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 :
A long sunny tour with Colin
Colin – Place de l’Alma 8:00 AM – With Colin, we had decided to run a long tour along the Seine. A beautiful morning, the sun was with us. Colin comes from Australia but works in India. Long distances enthusiast, Colin intends to run his first marathon in Bombay, a rather difficult marathon because of the heat and of the humidity We thus left by following the Seine on the left bank, by greeting for the first time the Eiffel Tower. We then crossed the river by the “Ile de La Cité”, admired Notre-Dame and joined the right bank to make a small break in the Louvre. Colin – Rue de l’Université, Notre Dame, Le Louvre Having crossed the garden of the Tuileries, arrived in front of the Obelisk of the place de la Concorde, we evoked the time of the Pharaoh Ramses II. With such a light, we owed have small breaks to photograph the Eiffel Tower, and it is by the bridge of Bir-Hakeim that we returned on the left bank. Colin – Obelisk of “la Concorde”, Trocadéro, Bridge of Bir-Hakeim But, what is this flame place of the Alma, which we can see on the photo at the top of the article? The plate indicates: “ The Flame of Liberty. An exact replica of the Statue of Liberty’s flame offered to the people of France by donors throughout the world as a symbol of the Franco-American friendship. On the occasion of the centennial of the International Herald Tribune. Paris 1887-1987. “ In 1989, the United States offered this flame to France, to thank the French companies which realized the restoration of the Statue of Liberty on the occasion of its centenary. As its replica, the Flame in New York, lit at the origin from the inside, is now gilded and lit from the outside. Numerous visitors think that this flame was built in homage to Lady Diana, died during her accident in the tunnel of the Alma, situated under the monument. The flame can effectively remind the song of Elton John written in homage to the princess: “Candle in the wind”. Even if Lady Diana is officially commemorated in a small garden in “Le Marais”, we can often see around the Flame of the Freedom, numerous bouquets, photos or messages. The tunnel of the Alma is also the passage of the Paris Marathon (soon, April 15th!). In this place, the race gets closer to the 29th km (18 miles)! Good race to all the runners who will run the Marathon of Paris! Merci Colin ! The route of the tour: