Boat Tour on the Canal St. Martin
Once
you have visited all the museums and gardens and walked yourself into
pain, you might consider a quiet three-hour (three mile) canal ride
(open mid-March to mid-September) to see the city from another
perspective.There are two canal-tour companies: Canauxrama and Paris Canal;
we chose Paris Canal primarily because it departs from Quai Anatole
France along the car park of the Musée d'Orsay (Métro: Solferino), not
the Bassin de L’Arsenal (marina), and so includes a good part of the
Seine, cruising under most of its bridges and past the Louvre, Notre
Dame and the Ile St. Louis. The boats differ slightly but obviously,
once in the canal, take the same route. Reservations are a must,
tickets are cash only, and there are adult, child and senior levels,
all reasonable.
As the huge gate
to the Canal St. Martin swings open, you enter the first lock; that
same gate slowly closes behind you, gallons of water pour over the
front gate of the lock, and the boat gradually rises to the level of
the marina. The marina is somewhat off-track for general visitors, and
it was a surprise to see the variety of pleasure boats and houseboats
docked there. Past the marina, the canal continues through
east-northeast neighborhoods you might not otherwise see on a first or
even second trip to Paris. There are streets lined with chestnut trees,
blocks of "modern" apartments, and the shops needed to support those
apartment dwellers. This is one of the "other" sides of Paris.
Because
the canal is a working waterway, we shared it with several commercial
boats headed downstream. With lace curtains at the windows, deck
chairs, laundry lines and bicycles on board, some had all the trappings
of home. Along the route, bridges swung open sideways, blocking street
traffic; mothers and toddlers waited patiently for the boat to rise as
they waved hello (we never knew what or who to expect as our heads
topped the walls); other onlookers stood on the high arched footbridges
(shades of Sisley),
while elderly fishermen ignored our passage as they trolled for dinner.
In this age of computer-operated everything, there are still attendants
(what must be a dying breed) to tie off the lines and monitor the
operation of each lock.On our
first trip, there couldn’t have been more than ten people on board.
Most chose to sit on the open top; my preferred seating was just inside
the doors to the lower deck where I could pop in and out as the flow of
water allowed. My camera and I sat alone in the sunshine, while I
marveled at the joy of the moment, periodically moving inside when the
locks began to fill-–not a slow trickle, but great gushes of spray that
can soak you. The following year our reservation was during Easter
vacation, and the sense of serenity was broken by the children who
shared the deck with me. No matter, it was still a gorgeous day to be
on the canal.
At the Bastille,
the canal goes underground, with mesh-covered light holes and trailing
vines from the streets above making eerie patterns on the water. The
temperature drops considerably; it becomes quiet, dark and mysterious,
and such a thrill. For me, even though it was a mile and a half, this
segment was way too short. Then out into the sunshine again, through a
few more locks, until the trip ends at the Parc de la Villette
(Cité des Sciences, Géode, Cité de la Musique, Botanic Gardens). Even
after two trips, we still have not seen much of the Parc because Paris
has beckoned us back into the nearby Métro and to center-city again.
(There
is also a day-long trip down the Seine into the river Marne with a
lunch stop at one of the island restaurants—another trip for yet
another visit!)
--
Elizabeth Weathers lives in the Maryland suburbs and works in Washington DC as personal assistant to a white-collar criminal defense attorney. Her love of travel began in the early 60s when she and a friend spent a month visiting the major capitals of western Europe. She subsequently continued her travels as a U.S. Marine officer's wife. Despite multiple trips to England on painting excursions and attending her exchange "daughter's" graduation in Sweden, forty years passed between her first and second visits to Paris. It was love at second sight, and she has returned each of the three years since, just recently having introduced her young granddaughter to the delights of the city. She is an artist, photographer and doting grandmother of four.
Elizabeth Weathers lives in the Maryland suburbs and works in Washington DC as personal assistant to a white-collar criminal defense attorney. Her love of travel began in the early 60s when she and a friend spent a month visiting the major capitals of western Europe. She subsequently continued her travels as a U.S. Marine officer's wife. Despite multiple trips to England on painting excursions and attending her exchange "daughter's" graduation in Sweden, forty years passed between her first and second visits to Paris. It was love at second sight, and she has returned each of the three years since, just recently having introduced her young granddaughter to the delights of the city. She is an artist, photographer and doting grandmother of four.
This completely renovated apartment is located on charming Rue Elzévir
in the historic Marais district of Paris, France.
Contact:bill@elzevir.net, or visit out our paris apartment for rent web site. 
