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:

By running with Tove and Charlotte on the Ourcq Canal

Charlotte and Tove - "City of Sciences and of Industry" - "La Géode"

9:55 AM - Tove lives in Norway; The time of a short stay, Tove came to see her daughter Charlotte who studies in Paris. They know well Paris but wished to discover the Parisian canals. We thus began our visit by running street Lafayette, continued along the Ourcq Canal and the Saint-Martin canal and ended our visit with the "Grand boulevards" and "passages Jouffroy" and "Verdeau".

First amazing discovery, the building at 145, Lafayette street:

145 Lafayette Street

Windows, balcony, a door, a roof... A building like any other? No, an artificial building intended to hide a huge air vent of the Parisian subway!

Not far, still "rue Lafayette", a mural painting proposes an original representation of Paris:

"Coup de chapeau à Paris" - François Boisrond - 2001

Having left the long Lafayette street, we exceeded the limit of the general farmers' old wall and the barrier of the Villette with its magnificent rotunda built by Claude Nicolas Ledoux, to find the Ourcq canal.

Tove and Charlotte - "Canal de l'Ourcq" - South-West view

The construction of the Canal of the Ourcq was decided by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. The Ourcq canal insures a supply of Paris in water by connecting the river Ourcq (more than hundred of kilometers with ten locks). 

The neighborhoods of the Canal and the district of the Villette were completely renewed from the years 1970-1980, in particular by the destruction of the gigantic slaughterhouses of the Villette in 1974 and by the creation of the "Cité des Sciences" opened in 1986, of the Géode (a huge cinema) opened in 1985 and of the "parc de la Villette".

View of the canal inside Paris from "place Stalingrad" to the "Parc de la Villette"

Charlotte and Tove - Ourcq canal - North-East view

Having turned back, we ran along a part of the Saint-Martin canal, the other beautiful canal, which joined the Seine.

Merci Tove et Charlotte !

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 :

Place des Vosges with Anne and Niels

Anne et Niels - Place des Vosges

8:08 AM - It was a great pleasure to meet Anne and Niels from Denmark again. We had run together during a rather cold March, two tours in Paris, for the greater part on the left bank.

This time, in this warm day of August, we chose the right bank and followed the plan of the ancient Paris surrounding wall of King Louis XIII, path which constitutes largely what we name "Les Grand boulevards".

To join the Grand boulevards, we went through some of the numerous covered passages of Paris, in particular the "passage des Panoramas":

Anne and Niels - Passage des Panoramas

Deserted passage on a Sunday morning and thus usable by the runners!
The passage of the Panoramas is one of oldest covered passages of Paris, created in 1799 and doubtless inspired by the oriental souks... The name "panoramas" comes because the main entry was framed by two towers where were exposed panoramic landscapes representing big cities, panoramas.


On the Grand boulevards, we admired two big triumphal arches commissioned by king Louis XIV: the "Porte Saint-Martin" (1674) and the "Porte Saint-Denis" (1672).
Both arcs were built to the glory of Louis XIV and of his victories and replaced the fortified doors become useless, Charles V's wall being replaced by the Boulevard.

Anne et Niels - Porte Saint Denis

We then left the Boulevard to find the "Place des Vosges":

Anne et Niels - Place des Vosges

Look closer at the Louis XIII's statue. To replace the former bronze statue, melted during the Revolution, the sculptors chose the marble, indeed much heavier...
The statue threatening to collapse in its center, it was decided to place a trunk under the horse's belly. It gives a very strange look to this equipage, slowed down in its center by a tree trunk!

Merci Anne et Niels !

The route of the tour :

Happy New Year to the runners! A competition, competitions in Paris in 2012?

A wonderful year to you all! 
2012 will be an excellent vintage for the running in Paris! In 2011, the infatuation for the running competitions still confirmed, with more and more subscribers, competitions which post "full" very quickly, a public more and more numerous...
We propose you the list of almost all the competitions of running in inner Paris with one or several associated Web sites, photos, movies, routes and our comments.
In Paris Running Tours, we make all these races for a long time and we shall continue even this year. By hoping to see you participating with us.
Some explanations:
"prt" means that the race is a part of the 10 km challenge of Paris (the challenge Paris Running Tour which carries the same name as our company of sightjogging!).
Photos, movies and routes date generally 2011 even of 2010 or before (on certain photos, you can recognize our Paris Running Tour runners). Certain routes result from our GPS watches (less precise in the less wide streets)
Nice runs in 2012 !

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January
22/1/2012 - Les 10 km du 14è prt
10 km - A race dedicated to the performance, relatively flat, next to Montparnasse. First race of the year in Paris. 1,347 finishers. (14è means "14th arrondissement"="14th district of Paris") 

29/1/2012 - Les 10 km du 8è prt
10 km - A little bit hilly race near the "Place de l'Etoile" and the Monceau Park, organized with the nice club of the "Etoiles du 8è". 1,058 finishers in 2011. 

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February
11/02/2012 - La Course de la Saint Valentin prt
10 km - A very hilly race. 5 loops in the magnificent park of the Buttes Chaumont. Very nice race dedicated to variety, tolerance and conviviality. 320 finishers in 2011. 

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March
4/03/2012 - Le Semi-Marathon de Paris
21.09 km - A beautiful international races in Paris. >23,000 finishers in 2011. 

24/03/2012 - Les Foulées du Tertre prt
10 km - A very very hilly race on the Mound Montmartre, departure next to the "Place des Tertres" in the middle of the tourists ! 504 finishers in 2011. 

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April
15/04/2012 - Le Marathon de Paris
42.195 km - One of the most beautiful Marathons of the world! Arc de Triomphe behind you at the start and in front of at the finish line! More than 31,000 finishers in 2011. 

29/04/2012 - Les 10 km de Boulogne (formerly 10 km Planet Jogging) prt
10 km - A pleasant 10 km at the beginning of the spring in the "Bois de Boulogne" with a finish at the Auteuil Hippodrome. 2,748 finishers in 2011. 

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May
13/05/2012 - Les 10 km Courir Ensemble - Handicap International prt
10 km - Beautiful 10 km in the Bois de Boulogne among the races organized by Handicap International gathering valid and handicapped runners to be all together. 1,273 finishers for the 10K. 

27/05/2012 - Les 10 km du 19è prt
10 km - A beautiful race with hilly passages in the park of the Buttes Chaumont. A competitive race however. 962 finisher in 2011. 

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June
3/06/2012 - La Course du Château de Vincennes prt
10 km - A race in the "Bois de Vincennes" convenient to the performance (if it is not too much warm). Magnificent arrival in the castle and on red carpet! 3,268 finishers in 2011. 

10/06/2012 - Les 10 km du 10è prt
10 km - A not so flat 10 km around the nice Canal Saint-Martin(with a small ascent and descent on the bridge to be 3 times crossed). 432 finishers in 2011. 

17/06/2012 - Les Foulées du 12è prt
10 km - Flat 10 km in the "Bois de Vincennes" finishing on the velodrome of Cipale which was of use to Olympics 1900 and 1924 as well as to the Tour de France from 1967 till 1974. 738 finishers in 2011. 

24/06/2012 - 10 km de Paris / 10 km de l'Equipe
10 km - A race organized by the sports newspaper "L'équipe". First edition in 2011. 

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July
1/07/2012 - Les Foulées de la France des Iles prt
10 km - Estival 10 km in the "Bois de Vincennes" with the festive atmosphere of the French west indies. 898 finishers in 2011. 

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September
9/09/2012 - La Parisienne
6 km - An nice feast. Race reserved for the ladies around the Eiffel Tower. 21 682 finishers in 2011. 

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October
7/10/2012 - Les 10 km Paris Centre prt
10 km - One of the most touristic Paris races, starting avenue of the Opera, finishing in front of the Louvre. 4,678 finishers in 2011. 

14/10/2012 - Les 20 km de Paris
20 km - Another big international race leaving and finishing at the Eiffel Tower, passing by the "Bois de Boulogne" and the banks of the Seine. About 21 000 finishers... 

21/10/2012 - La corrida du 15è prt
10 km - A beautiful competition in the 15è district, flat, ideal 10 km for the performance. Organized with the nice 15è Athletic Club. 855 finishers in 2011. 

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November
18/11/2012 - Les 10 km du 9è prt
10 km - Beautiful hilly 10 km near the Paris Department stores. 702 finishers in 2011. 

25/11/2012 - Les boucles du 17è prt
10 km - Attractive, little bit hilly but competitive 10 km. 1,276 finishers in 2011. 

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If you want to make a competition in Paris and if you reserve a tour with us, tell us and we can show you the route and help you to prepare the race (the Paris Marathon, for example). An advice for these races? Ask us! Of course, if you do not want to participate in a competition and want to enjoy completely the tourist jogging, we are there. We like the competition and running but we like Paris just as much!