Ancient Paris, modern Paris with Beth, Paige and Pamela
Pamela, Beth, Paige – Bridge of “la Concorde” and “Assemblée Nationale” 8:15 AM – With Beth, Paige and Pamela from North Carolina (USA), we discovered by running the variety of the Parisian landscapes, from the most ancient parts of the city to the most modern Paris: 19th century. We left the “Place de la République” and followed the “boulevard du Temple”, formerly named the “boulevard of the Crime”. This ancient nickname is due to the theaters which populated the boulevard in 19th century, numerous “crimes” were committed but only in the melodramas which occurred there! A place very livened up in the time, remember the beginning of the movie “The children of the paradise” which redraws so well that had to be the Boulevard: 12th century. We then joined “Le Marais” and crossed the most visible part of the surrounding wall of the king Philippe Auguste then admired Notre-Dame. The surrounding wall and the Cathedral which made us return to the end of the 12th century: Wall of Philippe Auguste – Creation 1190 | Cathedral Notre-Dame of Paris – Creation 1163 20th century. After the Middle Ages, it is the end of the 20th century which appeared, at first with the Louvre Pyramid, created by the architect Ieoh Ming Pei in 1989, then with the “Kiosque des Noctambules”, metro entrance (Palais-Royal station) and work of art created in 2000 by the artist Jean-Michel Othoniel: Louvre pyramid – Inauguration 1989 | “Le kiosque des Noctambules” – Installation 2000 Paris always evolves; what will the 21st century give us? Merci Beth, merci Paige, merci Pamela! The route of the tour:
From the Eiffel Tower toward Notre-Dame by the Louvre with Marnie
Marnie – Tour Eiffel – Notre Dame de Paris 7:31 AM – It is with a good pace that we went through the banks of the Seine with Marnie, who lives in Washington (USA) and who did several marathons (including Boston). We ran westward to take advantage of the morning sight on the Eiffel Tower: nobody on the esplanade of the Trocadéro early in the morning! We then followed the Seine to join Notre-Dame, also for us only. With no more difficulties, we finished our tour running by the Louvre. Marnie – Le Louvre What a pleasure to run in Paris while ways are clear! The Louvre has a long history: it was at first a watchtower used by the Franks to attack the island of “la cité” in the 5th century, later the fort created by king Philippe Auguste in the 12th century, then the luxurious Royal residence and finally the public museum decided by the Revolution. Every period made its contribution to the construction and to the extensions of the Louvre, the quite last creation being the Louvre Pyramid of the architect Ming Pei in 1983 (Pyramid which replaced bushes and parking lot then in the center of the Louvre). We can admire numerous details of the facades of the Louvre and sometimes original ornaments as this small locomotive for example: Le Louvre Yes, this part was created during the extension of the railroad in the 19th century! Merci Marnie ! The route of the tour :
Passing in front of the horses of Marly with Mary
Les Tuileries – Mary 8:00 AM – With Mary who lives near New York (USA), we chose the circuit of the most beautiful Parisian Palaces: the Ritz, the hotel Meurice, the Bristol, the George V, the Plaza Athénée… The Palaces tour also allowed us to run along one of the nicest routes of Paris, crossing by the “Ile de la Cité”, the Louvre, the Tuileries, Champs-Elysées… On our road, we were able to admire the Horses of Marly* which are in the West entrance of the Tuileries: Coysevox – La Renommée (The Fame) – Mercure (Mercury) and at the Est entrance of the Champs-Elysées: Coustou – Horses of Marly Actually, these statues are copies, originals being in the Musée du Louvre in a gallery visible from the outside. We can see them through a window from the passage between the Louvre Pyramid and the street of Rivoli (passage we took during our running): Le Louvre, cour Marly – Horses of Marly – Originals Those who, children in the sixties, looked at the French television, know well one of these statues. In the time, the programs began only late in the afternoon and were preceded by a TV test card which showed the statue “La Renommée”. The children in wait of emissions had all the leisure to admire it: Merci Mary ! The route of the tour : * Marly, where from come the statues, was one of the favorite residences of the king Louis XIV.
New discoveries in Paris with Kristyne
Kristyne – Jardin des Tuileries 7:37 AM – Kristyne from Montreal (Canada) knows Paris but had never visited the city while running until now. It is thus that we rediscovered about eleven Parisian kilometers. On our route, known ways but also some discoveries. Do you know, for example, that under the square of Notre-Dame is the Roman city (Gallo-roman) of Lutecia, that is to say the ruins of the ancient city? Among these discoveries, regularly, Paris offers directly accessible artistic novelties. On our route, the two following temporary exhibitions provide good examples of it: “Makom II”, of Michal Rovner, an artistic piece installed in the Louvre by Israeli and Palestinian workers The statue of Condorcet surrounded by “Ahlala”, work of Daniel Hourdé Merci Kristyne ! The route of the tour :
Classicism and modernity with Karen and Nigel
Pyramide du Louvre – Nigel, Karen and Jean-Charles 8:06 AM – With Karen and Nigel from UK, we started from the Opera District to go along the river. Karen and Nigel finished with success the Brighton half-marathon one week ago. We ran at a good pace though, with no consideration for the little rain we had in Paris this morning. The route we took allowed us to notice that many Parisian places share classicism and modernity with harmony. For instance, in the Louvre district, we appreciated how the pyramid of the Louvre was designed to respect the environment of the surrounding classic buildings. Not so far, in the Palais Royal, we saw the Columns of Buren, another example of modern art integrating a classical environment (there was a strong controversy at the time of its creation but, in Paris Running Tour, we like this combination…) Going through a passage in the Louvre to go to the Palais Royal, we had the opportunity to see rooms of the Louvre presenting another mix of modern art and classic art: the temporary exhibition of Tony Cragg, who had juxtaposed his modern sculptures to the classic ones. Merci Karen and Nigel! “Red figure” – Tony Cragg -2008 (on the right 😉 The route of the tour: