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: