Arriving from upstream and turning into the Arsenal lock on October 1, we still hadn’t seen the sights of Paris from the Seine. That’s pretty well everything downstream from our new home. It was time to do something about that.
With Jeannie at the bow to warn me of any threats coming our way – and with me watching the AIS on the laptop, we left the lock and turned downstream onto the Seine.
The first thing we encountered was a traffic light. Having read all the rules and regulations for navigating in Paris, I was aware of it. There is a stretch of water between Ile de la Cité and Ile St. Louis that is too narrow for two-way traffic. Going in our direction the light will turn green at 35 minutes after the hour. Miss it and we’d have to wait a full hour before it turned green again. We timed it perfectly.
That’s it above the tour-boat. And that tour-boat is an example of why you must wait until the light is green. The sign on the arch to the right means Do Not Enter. No choice but to wait for the light.
It was a real treat to see Paris from the water.
How could we not grab a shot of this?
In addition to the traffic light, the other important rule is No U-Turns until past the Statue of Liberty. It takes two hours to go to the statue and back to Arsenal. Worth every minute. (The red graffiti at the base of the Miss Liberty was gone when we went by again a few days later.)
Two hours later, we eased our way back into the Arsenal lock. With the current of the Seine pushing our stern downstream, It looks like we might not make it. But with the wheel full to port and a second or two of full throttle, we did. Without touching either side. But with a few extra grey hairs.
We did another trip to the Statue of Liberty and back when a just-retired colleague from CBC News in Saskatchewan joined us for the day. Unfortunately, a very wet day. That’s Ted (in the centre), his partner Jason, and Jeannie in Aleau’s wheelhouse. Below the photo is a link to a video Ted made of our voyage along the Seine. Set to French music, of course.
