When we passed through the lock into Arsenal on October 1, I thought it would be the last lock for 2023. But I had forgotten that we had guests coming – fellow bargees staying with us as they returned to their homes in the U.S. and Australia for the winter. Well, our friends from Florida would be heading home for the winter. Our Australian friends would be going home for their second summer of the year. (I really don’t think that is fair.)
I hadn’t really forgotten they were coming. That much I knew. I had forgotten (when I typed “last lock for 2023” in the previous chapter) that we would be taking them – on separate voyages – the full length of the Canal St. Martin. It is a beautiful excursion. The tunnel is probably the most beautiful one in existence. And cruising through Paris on a barge is a real delight.
Aleau is moored at the southern end of the Arsenal marina. We have a great view of the column at Place de la Bastille and of traffic entering and leaving the lock immediately behind us.
The entrance to the tunnel and the Canal St. Martin is at the opposite end of the marina.
And what an entrance it is.
The skylights are located in little parks above the tunnel.
When the sun is overhead, you can see the rays hitting the water.
The tunnel is more than two-kilometres long.
It curves gently under the busy Paris streets above.
It’s true. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
The light is the first of four double-locks.
As we leave each lock, we always get a friendly send-off.
It is a joy to cruise through the heart of Paris.
I know that some dogs love to chase cars. Turns out, barges are just as inviting. As we passed a dog park, a few dogs jumped over the fence and got as close to us as they could. None was brave enough to jump into the water. We all have our limits.
Aleau doesn’t interrupt the flow of pedestrians as they have arched bridges that cross the canal. But like at a railway crossing, cars will have to wait for us to pass. Turntable bridges swing out of the way as we approach.
At another spot on the canal, hydraulic rams lift the roadway out of our path.
There are four double-locks on the Canal St. Martin. From Arsenal and back, that makes 16 locks in one day. And some of them are brutal. In one, the water rushed in so fast it snapped one of our ropes – a 20mm diameter rope!
No wonder we (Okay, just Jeannie as she handled the ropes while I stood by the throttle.) needed a break by the time we got to La Villette.
We already have a favourite restaurant – directly across the water from where we were moored. (Yes, there’s a bridge.)
While the maximum speed allowed on most canals in France is 6 km/hr – on this stretch of the Canal St. Martin, it’s 2 km/hr. Any slower and we wouldn’t even be moving. The bottom sign indicates the width (in metres) of the canal at that spot.
After lunch, we headed back to Arsenal – through the same series of double-locks. It was a lot calmer as we were going downstream – no rush of water filling the lock this time. A sign of the tranquility on this stretch – a toy sailboat came alongside to race us.
It was just as pretty going the other way.
Pretty soon, we were entering the tunnel.
And out the other end.
We cast off just before 9 that morning – and were back, 16 locks later, at Arsenal at 6pm. It was both a delightful and tiring day.
