Canal Saint-Martin to La Villette

Today's adventure was a boat ride up the Canal Saint Martin from the Siene, up to La Villette. The Canal runs south, however we made our way upstream, to the north. To do this, we first enter a series of voutes, or tunnels which takes us underneath Bastille. After coming out of the nearly 2km tunnels, we then needed to proceed through a number of locks to rise up water levels throughout the journey. The process of the lock was fascinating and the boys enjoyed watching the water flood through the doors. After the 8th lock, perhaps it lost its appeal, but a cool thing to do in any case.

We ended at La Villette, a huge park in the north of town. Freddy, Teddy and Sam enjoyed a spin on the Carousel before heading across with the big boys to the main play equipment. We then had dinner at the Paname pub on the water.

It was a beautiful evening and we strolled back down the canal, past crowds of people enjoying the spring air with a beer on the canal, or playing boules with friends. We even saw a few games of Finska and felt we could have jumped in and dominated.

The boys wanted some ice cream, so we stopped at a creme glacee shop and enjoyed the local fair. By the time we made it back to the apartment, our feet were sore, but our bellies were full and the kids' heads full of memories of play and fun with their cousins.Read more