Paris: Canal St Martin
A gentle cruise on the Canal St Martin was a wonderfully relaxing way to spend my last day in Paris. Travelling through nine locks and rising twenty-seven metres, the cruise takes you from just outside the Musee d’Orsay to the 19th arrondissement, 4.6km away.
Commissioned in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, his vision was for Canal St Martin, and others connected to it, to become a supply route bringing food, fresh water and other commodities into the heart of Paris.
Canal St Martin was completed in 1825 and, at one point, runs under the Place de la Bastille, almost directly beneath the column. Despite being claustrophobic, it was a calming experience, and the soft blue light was quite magical. It’s also tranquil.
After the cruise, I caught the metro back to the Louvre and again enjoyed lunch at Sacre Frenchy!
I took one final opportunity to wander the streets and laneways of la Marais. The shops were full of gorgeous Autumn and Winter fashions in deep green and burgundy. I could have purchased several items but decided against it.
My final meal, in my apartment, was finishing a bottle of red wine and the last of the cheese and crackers.
To be Parisian is not to be born in Paris, it is to be reborn there.
Sacha Guitry
