Another « TOUR EIFFEL » tour
A second “TOUR EIFFEL” tour Thanks to the participants, as for the first tour, a very good atmosphere, despite the rain 🌧 that kept us company throughout the visit. A tour that allowed us to evoke many aspects of the Iron Lady and to admire her from many different angles (we even finished under the tower). Many thanks to Alexia, Chloé, Claire, Ginie, Pauline, Pierre, Said and Stéphane! —- Paris Running Tours: private tours or free outings, stay tuned! See you soon for new themed outings, we are full of ideas to show you around Paris 😀 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:
A « TOUR EIFFEL » tour
A “TOUR EIFFEL” tour A great joy to run together, to chat about the Eiffel Tower (but not only, Art Nouveau, unknown passages, “country” path…) and finish the tour by drinking all together some well deserved beverages after about 15 km of Parisian stroll (thank you Justice!). Many thanks to Alice, Angélina, Annie, Chrystelle, Eric, Jérôme, Justice, Marie, Michèle, Patricia and Philippe! —- Paris Running Tours: private tours or free outings, stay tuned! See you soon for new themed outings, we are full of ideas to show you around Paris 😀 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:
Meeting the American writers in Paris with Mary, Susan and Sonia
Mary, Susan, Sonia – “Esplanade des Invalides” Thursday 26 June – 7:00 AM, Saturday 28 June – 7:33 AM – Mary, Susan and Sonia from Denver (USA) chose to discover Paris while running with Paris Running Tour. We ran two mornings mainly on the left bank of the Seine. Left bank! Bank of Paris particularly appreciated by intellectuals and artists, especially in the 1920s, 30 and 50 … Many American writers have lived and wrote there (remember the Woody Allen film “Midnigth in Paris” where the hero played by Owen Wilson returns to the past to find Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and many others). Many places still bear witness to their presence, as this plate reveals that Edith Wharton lived in this building of the rue de Varenne: Susan, Mary and Sonia – “53 rue de Varenne” Edith Wharton was the first writer from the United States to come to live in France as indicated. “My years of Paris life were spent entirely in the rue de Varenne – rich years, crowded and happy years” as she wrote. A little further, continuing our run street of Varenne, it is a French artist that we will meet this time, Auguste Rodin: Susan, Mary, Sonia – Rodin Museum (garden and building) From the street, behind glasses, we found the statue of the Burghers of Calais in the garden of the Rodin Museum. Find the history of “Les Bourgeois de Calais” in this article. Continue our route around the Invalides… Susan, Sonia, Mary – “Hôtel des Invalides” and Eiffel tower in the backgroung …to reach the right bank and enjoy a beautiful view of the “Musée d’Orsay” and the “Hôtel de Salm”, the “Palais de la Légion d’Honneur“: Susan, Mary and Sonia – Orsay Museum and Palace of the Legion of Honor On Saturday, after a run at the foot of the Seine bridges: Susan and Mary – “Petit Pont” and further, the “Pont Saint-Michel” (Pont=Bridge) … we went to see one of the places where Ernest Hemingway lived in Paris: Susan and Mary – “74 rue du Cardinal Lemoine” Read what he wrote in his book “A Moveable Feast“: … “this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy.” A green door for Edith Wharton and a blue door for Ernest Hemingway… ; ) Just around the corner is the pretty little “Place de la Contrescarpe” Hemingway loved: Susan and Mary – “Place de la Contrescarpe” On the way back, we stopped in front of the marble standard meter of the “rue de Vaugirard”: Mary and Susan – Street of Vaugirard Merci Mary ! Merci Susan ! Merci Sonia ! The routes of the tours:
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:
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 :