Paris by boat

An original and unexpected view of Paris - the canal Saint Martin opens up perspectives of the old and relatively unknown city, A three hour cruise brings you the best of both worlds : the grandeur of the Seine, with the Tuileries Gardens, Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Ile St. Louis, together with the quiet intimacy of Napoleon's canals. Embarcation on the ``Canotier" or ``La Guêpe Buissonnière" under a softly lit Parisian morning sky, just below the Musée d'Orsay. Then a veritable parade of monuments the Louvre, the Institute of France, the royal Sainte Chapelle, the spires of Notre Dame, the Ile Saint Louis before arriving at the entrance to the canal Saint Martin. The most romantic street in Paris...the canal St Martin. It is also one of the longest : 3 miles of pure poetry. In its jade couloured water are reflected old swing bridges, halfmoon footbriges and the abundant foliage of horse -chestnut trees. Between the Place de la Bastille and la Villette in the north-east of Paris the Canal  reveals a side of the city that the tourist usually doesn't get to see. Adventure beckons at the approach of the first lock of the canal. The boat is then swallowed up by the underground vault of the Bastille : a mile and a half of cool mystery... underneath the Place de la Bastille, with a view of the foundations of the July Column. After the tunnel a dazzling world of locks, swing bridges, errant green-back ducks, with stoic fishermen and tender lovers scattered along the quaysides. Beyond a curtain of chestnut trees nestles the Hôtel du Nord, scene of the famous film starring Arletty and Louis Jouvet. The canal climbs its way through a series of nineteenth century locks and some enchanting old areas of Paris until, 26 metres above the Seine, it comes up to the Park de la Villette, where the Science Museum, the Geode, the Music Museum and thematic gardens await you.