Sunday, May 29, 2011

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:


Wednesday, May 4, 2011

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 :



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...