CITY RUNS: PARIS

In this instalment of City Runs, I spent the day in Paris. This city is absolutely gorgeous, it has so much charm. To be honest with you, I think if I dropped a pin in most places around the city, you'd have a pretty damn good City Runs for yourself. However, I've tried to give you the perfect mixture of architecture and nature, tourist spots and unknown gems. So here's my City Runs for Paris, France.

For those of you who are new to my “City Runs” series, I visit different cities at home and abroad, giving some recommendations for the best places to run and keep fit. Hopefully this will inspire you to get you outside and give you a great active experience in that city, should you ever choose to visit.

The Run
This was my first time visiting Paris, so I wanted to be sure to see some of the main attractions while also getting a deeper feel for the city, more than just being a tourist. So I took the train to Notre-Dame which is just stunning, sitting on the bank of the river Seine. I took a look around the Cathedral just checking to see if Quasimodo was in and then set off on my run heading through the streets of Paris. ​

I wanted to make sure I got to see a big, beautiful park and also a chateau, I managed to find both of these in one place, which was also close enough for me to run to from Notre-Dame. So that's what I did. I headed straight for the Jardin Du Luxembourg. It is a huge park with perfectly manicured flowers, loads of cafes, gorgeous water features and a great big chateau as the centre piece to top it off. It is the perfect place to run through. Enough shade for a hot day with a long enough route to break a sweat. All while drinking in the idillic scenery. I hadn't heard of this place before and cannot recommend highly enough for you to do this City Run if just to see this place.  ​

The Jardin Du Luxembourg would be a great place to finish your run and settle there with a coffee and a croissant to recover, but I thought I'd carry on and try and fit one more place in. I carried on with my run and headed to the Eiffel tower (which is a bit of a trek - so this part is definitely optional). There is a large grass area leading up to the Eiffel tower so it is undoubtably a place that is run worthy while looking up at one of the most iconic buildings in the world. You can settle here after a run with some food and fall asleep on the grass while having a sunbathe (I have first hand experience of this). ​

Alternative Run
Like i said above, if you wanted to you could definitely split this run into two but unfortunately I did not have a long period of time in Paris so had to make the most of it! 

What To Wear
For those of you that have read my previous City Runs posts (check them out here: London, Brighton and Ljubljana), you know that so far I have worn Adidas Ultraboosts in some form each time. Today is the day my friends, I've embraced change and gone for something different but with good reason. Here they are...

These beauties are the Adidas Alphabounce 1 Parley shoes. Not only am I looking good wearing these I'm saving the environment too. Adidas have teamed up with Parley in a variety of ways now and each pair of shoes saves 11 plastic bottles from ending up in the Ocean and I think that's amazing considering these shoes are so comfortable, stylish and actually pretty cheap! All in all these are getting a high rating from me. Just make sure you don't step on your own foot 20 mins after putting them on and get dirt on these fresh whites like I did... 

I also wore a Nike running top along with an Adidas Supernova storm jacket and new look running shorts which all worked really well during this run.

If you want to grab yourself any of the items that I wore during my City Run here are the links: 
​- Alphabounce 1 Parley trainers
- Supernova storm jacket
- Nike running top
​- New Look running shorts

Other Essentials
Music
Due to the great weather I wanted to listen to some songs with a summer vibe. I managed to find a great summer playlist on Spotify so here's the link to go and check that out: Summer Playlist 

Apps
Spotify – All my song recommendations can be streamed using Spotify and downloaded to use offline if you don’t want to use your data. Spotify is my go to music service even if they're going to start treating me like an adult and charging full price now I'm not a student. Petty if you ask me. 

Apple health – tracking distance and steps, Apple gives you your days adventures compiled into an easy to understand visual display allowing you to track your progress from run to run.

Google Maps – With Google maps I found it so easy to get around the city. I don’t need to give you a big explanation on it as I’m sure you know how it works. If you don’t have it, get it. I always find it smoother and easier to use that Apple’s own Maps app.

You might need a City Runs if you visit Paris...
You may or may not know that I am a massive foodie, so naturally when visiting Paris which is the home of fine dining and synonymous with good food, I stuffed my face. You might be thinking "how can this guy be telling me to run, when he ate cheat food the whole time he was in Paris?", but that's just the point, doing the City Run will allow you to see the city and offset all those delicious calories you've devoured while you're in the city. It's the perfect way to allow yourself to enjoy your trip and all the indulgences that come with it! 

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it's had some form of impact on you! I will be posting a Paris blog soon so keep your eyes peeled for that over the coming weeks. 

​Disclaimer: Although part of this blog post is a paid collaboration, all views, opinions and experiences are my own.