On a Sunday in April, fifty thousand runners set off from the Champs-Élysées for the Avenue Foch by way of the Bastille, the Bois de Vincennes, the Seine embankments, the Trocadéro and the Bois de Boulogne. The route cuts Paris from east to west, and the streets reopen a few at a time until late afternoon.
A route that cuts the city in two
The course uses the Rue de Rivoli, the right-bank quays, the Avenue Daumesnil and the Avenue de New-York: in other words, the east-west roads you would normally cross Paris on.
Pedestrian crossings are filtered and the bridges involved are closed. A trip that takes a quarter of an hour on an ordinary Sunday can need a long detour that day.
The morning, for the runners
The start is given early, in waves, from the Champs-Élysées. Runners have to be there well before, with a bag to drop and often family with them.
The chauffeur drops you as close as possible to the start pen, then takes the family to a point on the course, and on to the finish.
The afternoon, for everyone
Once you have crossed the line you have to get home: heavy legs, a packed metro, and a perimeter still closed around the Avenue Foch.
A chauffeur waiting at the agreed point takes you straight back, which is exactly what you want after forty-two kilometres.
What we organise that Sunday
We cover return journeys from hotels across Paris, transfers from the stations and airports the day before, and pick-ups at the finish.
The car can stay at your disposal for the morning, to follow your runner from one point on the course to the next.
To organise your journeys on marathon day, give us the time, the address and the number of passengers: you receive a firm price before confirming. See also our private driver in Paris page.
Photo: Valentin. / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 3.0
