A Run Through Paris

I went on two runs in Paris last week. The first was a trip to the MICEFA office (the organization who coordinated the exchange I'm in). Since I had to pay my fees for class, I decided to take advantage of the trip to jog over. It took about 30 minutes, and I walked back, but it was nice to get out and get my heart rate up. On the way, I climbed Boulevard Pasteur, and when I got to the top of the street there was a large circle that I had to go around to continue. As I walked around to the other side, I suddenly noticed what had been at my back the whole time- a great view of the Eiffel Tower. Blvd Pasteur is a wide, straight street sloping downhill, and in the distance the Eiffel Tower stood just in the center. It was an amazing view that is not at all captured by the photo I took with my phone.


And this is the picture I took on the way back down the hill on my way home.
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On the way home, I walked past the south wall of the Montparnasse Cemetary, and across the street I saw this great house with vines and flowers painted all over the pink facade. Once again, the phone photos do not do it justice...

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Anyway, the point is that Paris is frankly fantastic.
I went on another jog a few days later to the Luxembourg Gardens, no pictures that time. It was nice to jog around the park where there were many other joggers at the same time. It is a very popular place amoung Parisian runners, from what I hear. It's nice to get off of the pavement and onto a gravel path. It's not Forest Park, but there is a nice break from the hard sidewalks and the traffic. And jogging among statues and a castle also provides some nice scenery.