On the Alexandre III bridge with Jackie

Jackie - Alexandre III bridge

7:54 AM - A very beautiful sun on Paris, this Sunday. The running of this morning allowed us to cross the Seine several times: with Jackie, of Kansas (USA), we passed over the river by five bridges, of which the bridge Alexandre III.
Our race allowed us to visit Paris by a circuit starting place de la Concorde, by alternating the passages on the right bank and the left bank of the Seine.

The Alexandre III bridge, as the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, close, was built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900 (Paris welcomed height Universal Exhibitions, the most famous was the one of 1889 with the creation of the Eiffel Tower).
Even if czar Alexandre III did not still carry the French people in his heart, France, little vindictive, gave its name to the bridge. The bridge Alexandre III is the widest of Paris.
Merci Jackie !

The bridge Alexandre III in 1900 (a very different landscape with the buildings of the Universal Exhibition)

The route of the tour:

Along the Seine with Angela

Angela - Quay Malaquais

7:32 AM - With Angela of Santiago (Chile), we ran early during this beautiful morning of May. At that time, streets are still quiet, with very few pedestrians, deserted quays and the tourist places still little frequented. We had the city only for us. The morning, Paris belongs to the runners! 
If you run the morning on the quays bordering the Seine, you will see surely large green boxes (as on the photo above).
They are the boxes of secondhand booksellers, called the "bouquinistes" (here a video - in French). You will see them opening from 11 am. The "bouquinistes" of Paris sell old books, secondhand or contemporaries but also of the exhausted editions, prints and etchings.

From the XVIth century, on the quays of Paris, we could meet small peddlers of books ; from 1620, twenty four approved secondhand booksellers. For a royalty, they are entitled to hold portable shops on the bridge and the neighboring quays. In 1859, the itinerant secondhand booksellers became concessionary of the city of Paris which enabled them to pose boxes at fixed place on the parapets.
The Seine is the only river which runs between rows of books (more than 300 000)!
Merci Angela!

"Bouquinistes" during the day - Quay Malaquais

The route of the tour :

Paris Arts and Cultural News: the Impressionists at the Hôtel de Ville in Paris

Exhibition: the Impressionists at the Hôtel de Ville in Paris

A particularly pleasant April to run in Paris... Take advantage of it, early in the morning to appreciate the beautiful light which is going to invade the city and also a little of the remaining night-freshness.
New exhibitions bloom almost everywhere in the city. Do not miss "Paris in the time of the Impressionists", free exhibition in the City hall of Paris ("Hôtel de Ville").
Numerous masterpieces of the Musée d'Orsay are grouped there under the theme of Paris in the period of the impressionists. These painters accompanied the deep changes of Paris in the 19th century. You will discover there how the city, its streets, the architecture of its buildings were completely transformed.
We recommend you this exhibition, it lasts until July 30th, 2011.

And why not complete your cultural visits by a sports route of the city with Paris Running Tour and to take advantage "dynamically" of our comments on Paris, its history and its culture?

To close a working stay in Paris, a Running tour!

Running Place Vendôme

9h43 - In this month of April, an important international company had an executive management meeting a few days in Paris. At the end of the working stay, a day of relaxation was dedicated to the visit of the capital. A sports tour of Paris was organized: there is nothing like running to fully relax. We, Vincent, Frédéric and Jean-Charles, accompanied the group of runners for a tour following the right and the left banks of the Seine, passing by the place Vendôme, the Tuileries, the Champs Elysées, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Opera Garnier.
Thanks to them!

In front of the Eiffel tower

The Eiffel tower: Did you know it? From the beginning of the Eiffel Tower, five hydraulic elevators transported the visitors. In this time, for such a height and of such weights, it was a real technical exploit. For a long time, these elevators were driven by a pilot who was outside of the cabin. He bore the cold or the heat according to the seasons... A life-size reproduction of this pilot is on one of the elevators. Try to see him through the window of the elevator:

Elevator pilot!

The route of the tour :

Paris Competitions News: Paris Marathon!

Marathon de Paris - Start

Sunday, April,10th. 8h45.

35th Paris Marathon*. A very pleasant day of April with a big sun and, no doubt, a too warm weather for the 32 000 marathon runners left for this big crossing of Paris.
But also, a big enjoyment for the photographers who took advantage of the beautiful light which flooded Paris this morning.
To be able to relive the race (quietly), here are some photo albums of the event:

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78
and also some videos:

v1 v2 v3 v4 v5 v6 v7 v8 v9 v10 v11 v12 v13 v14 v15 v16

* If you want to compete in Paris and if you book a tour with us, tell us and we can show you the route and help you to prepare the competition (the Paris marathon, for example). An advice on these races? Ask us! We can also help you to register. The web sites are often in French (but we can help you if you ask). Of course, if you do not want to compete in Paris and want to fully enjoy sight jogging, we are there for you. We love competition, running, but above all Paris!

Under the Arc du Carousel with Kristy

Arc du Carousel - Kristy

8:01 AM - Kristy, from Atlanta (USA), one week after running the half-marathon of Georgia, and having fully recover from the race, chose to do a sporting visit of Paris with Paris Running Tour. We explored "l'Ile de la Cité", the right bank going through "le Louvre", "les Tuileries" and the "Champs Elysées", then we rejoined the left bank to run under the arches of the Eiffel tower, we crossed "les Invalides" and went along the river Seine to finish in the Quartier Latin.
During the visit, as the armies of Napoléon, we "triumphantly" went through the "Arc du Carousel"!
Merci Kristy*!
The "Arc du Carousel":
After his victory in Austerlitz, Napoléon declared to his troops : "I will bring you back to France. You will pass through arches of triumph on your way to your homes!". Therefore were constructed the "Arc du Carousel" at the Tuileries and the majestic Arc de Triomphe at place de l'Etoile.
130 years before, Louis XIV ordered the construction of the Arcs of "la Porte Saint-Martin" and of "la Porte Saint-Denis" in the North of Paris.

Un jour de revue sous l'Empire. Hippolyte Bellangé 1862. Musée du Louvre. © Photo RMN - F. Raux

On this picture, in the background, behind the Arc du Carousel, we can see the "Palais des Tuileries", which closed the Louvre by the west side. The palace was burnt during the events of "La Commune" in 1871.

* See Kristy's blog about running and healthy food, a good choice for life!

The route of the tour:

Paris Competitions News: Les foulées du Tertre - Climbing to Montmartre

Saturday, 26th of March. We ran the Foulées du Tertre.

This 10 km is a very original race in Paris, quite unusual, starting in the afternoon, a Saturday, but above all, taking place in Montmartre, in the middle of the numerous tourists.

Montmartre is a 130 meters high hill, in the north of Paris, a very well-known charming "village", in the 18th arrondissement of Paris.

Hilly place? Yes, this day, the runners experienced it running three sloping loops, running on the pavement de "la butte Montmartre" (butte=mound)... Hard but very pleasant race, notably by this very typical atmosphere.
Michael from the US, who, with his wife, took a Paris running tour with us during the week, enjoyed to compete with us on this very local race*.

Besides, the organizers of the race welcomed and exposed the work of a friend, a painter who has an original vision of running. You like art, you like running, see the art of Vincent Dogna. Vincent is an artist but also a runner. If you already ran a competition, seeing his paintings, you will feel again those particular feelings we get when we compete.

* If you want to compete in Paris and if you book a tour with us, tell us and we can show you the route and help you to prepare the competition (the Paris marathon, for example). An advice on these races? Ask us!
We can also help you to register. The web sites are often in French (but we can help you if you ask).
Of course, if you do not want to compete in Paris and want to fully enjoy sight jogging, we are there for you. We love competition, running, but above all Paris!