It was a brilliant sunny day when we decided to tour the Canal District of Paris. Parts of the waterway — built between 1806 and 1825 to link the Seine with the 108km-long (sorry I don’t know how many miles that would be) Canal d l’Ourcq- are higher than the surrounding land.
We took the subway and when we got off the train this is the graffiti that greeted us. We headed for the park that runs along the edge of the canal.
This statue sits at the entrance to the Canal Park.
This was our first view of the canal.
The canal gates closing on us and our journey begins.
There are old swing brides and half-moon footbridges and the lovely dappled shading of horse-chestnut trees everywhere. It makes for a perfect area for a romantic stroll or a leasurely bike ride.
There is graffiti, too, but somewhat sophisticated.
There are lovely tree lined walkways along the canal.
People sit along the edge of the canal in the early Paris summer.
The cafes along the Canal are a perfect place for a glass of wine and catch a bit of the cool breeze coming off the water.
Homeless people live along the canal and though we did not see too many other incidences of homelessness it was really quite evident at the entrances of the tunnels along the canal.
At one point in our journey the keepers of the canal had trouble opening one of the locks. We could see a large sections of something rising and falling in the water. I thought it might be a body but it turned out to be a drifting sleeping bag that got caught in the gears. It was pulled free and we were on our way again.
The half-moon footbridges are a great place to stand and watch the barges pass by.
This is a view of what it looked like as we entered the first tunnel.
There are air vents deep inside the long tunnel. The Saint Martin section of the canal tunnel travels directly under the Palace de la Bastille.
The Saint Martin tunnel is pretty long and is eerily-lit.
We saw this sign “Canal Saint-Martin Port De Plaisance” as we sailed out of the canal area.
Once we were out of the Canal District we traveled along the Seine River and this is a view of the Notre Dame from the river.
Notre Dame is on the largest of two islands located in the middle of the Seine. Here is a shot of people lounging on the tip of Ile Saint Louis, the smallest of the two islands.
This is a view of the shore line as we passed the Louvre.
This was the end of the Canal District and Seine River tour.
