Sunny Sunday: the "Dutch" Run and the Paris Orchestra

I was OVERJOYED to wake up this morning and see a perfectly clear, blue sky! I had known the rain was supposed to pass, but I had not expected such an immediate transition in weather. Yesterday it rained almost all day, and because I forced myself to go out twice and walk around, I ended the day with yet another pair of jeans soaked up to the knees.

I am now making a habit of going on one long run per week. (I posted last week about my run along the Seine, up to the Arche de Triomphe, down the Champs-Elysées, etc.) This morning, in the unexpectedly perfect weather, my friend and I ran QUITE a long way, from practically the northern border of the city all the way down to the Seine and then west from there. We took the metro to the Porte de la Villete, which is where the "Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie" (a huge complex that is apparently devoted to making science part of the cultural experience) is located. This is also the best place to start a run down the Canal St. Martin, which runs from that northern border all the way down to the Seine. I decided to call this route the "Dutch Run" because I knew running along a canal would remind me of being in the Netherlands last summer, and indeed, I felt for quite a while like I was running through Utrecht.

Up around the Cité des Sciences there's a lovely park, and we were among many other runners. (We also passed a boat on which people appeared to be drinking - perhaps one of the rumored clubs catering to clientele starting at the point when the regular clubs close.) We passed the big "Geode" (first picture below) and then continued down the canal towards the south.

For a while, we were running alongside (on pace with!) a canal tour boat. Eventually, the canal goes underground, and there is essentially a continuous string of narrow parks in its place above ground. We ran a little over 5 miles before arriving at Bastille, at which point we stopped to walk and recharge a bit. Once we got to the Seine, we were able to run on the paved road that is normally a sort of highway that runs directly next to the water. I think a number of roads in Paris are closed on Sunday in order to facilitate pedestrian activities, and this was one of them. There were plenty of people taking advantage of this, including enough rollerbladers to make me wish I had my skates with me here. From the point we started running along the river, we had this view:

The bells of Notre Dame actually started ringing as we were running past - it was a very "I am definitely in Paris!" moment!

We ended up running down to the Pont Royal (near the Louvre), crossing the river, and then running back to St. Michel before finally realizing that we needed to get home in order to have enough time to shower and change before our next activity! All told, we ran 8.59 miles, or 13.35 kilometers. NOT TOO SHABBY! Here's the overall map (and you can see what I mean about the start point being on the border of the city - the yellow line is the border, and it seems we actually ran out of the city at the beginning before turning around to run on the other side of the canal!).

Today was a "Journée Portes Ouvertes" (literally, "day of open doors") during which a number of Paris establishments which would generally be closed to the public are open and free. Three of us took advantage of this in the form of a free performance by the Paris Orchestra. We arrived about an hour and a half before the start of the show and joined a very, very long line of people waiting on the sidewalk, but we got in! It was a lovely performance - they played three pieces total, ending with excerpts of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana." (This was not a title that was familiar to me, but you've probably heard the music - I recognized it immediately.) The orchestra choir joined in for this third piece, and it was spectacular. I don't think I had seen an orchestra performance since I was 11 or 12 years old. I played classical flute for 10 years, and while I was never passionate enough to continue pursuing it after high school, I have a great appreciation for music in general - it's an integral part of my life. The first seconds of the orchestra's playing literally brought tears to my eyes. It was such a treat to spend an hour listening to such beautiful, powerful music and to watch the performers (particularly the flutists, who all had gold flutes).