Views along Paris' Canal St. Martin

I'd always thought that the only water flowing through Paris was the Seine River. When we started looking for apartments to rent for 60 days, there was this ah-ha moment when we saw that there was a canal flowing from north to south into the Seine. Our apartment is only a 1-minute walk from Canal St. Martin (assuming no street traffic to stop us), so we went for a walk along the canal yesterday (Sunday the 25th of May).

The weather was nice, and people were out; cafes were overflowing with customers eating and having coffee. There were also people out sitting along the canal. We'd heard that was a popular activity on Sunday. We people watched for a while as we also strolled along Canal St. Martin. It's lined with lots of trees that are filled with personality as you can see in these photos. I took more pictures but I don't want to fill this post with only "tree photos."

Besides bring water into the Seine, the canal and its system of locks also provides a way for boats to go up and down the river. The one boat we saw yesterday was full of sight-seeing passengers -- were they locals or out-of-towners? I don't know, but they all seemed to be enjoying their ride up the canal, watching as the locks would fill to take them to the next level. The process, of course, reverses for the ride downstream.

We might take the canal ride during our stay, but even if we don't, we can still enjoy the canal and the happiness it brings to the people who are drawn to the magical powers of water. It also helped that the day was a nice sunny day -- the first one we'd seen since we arrived last Tuesday morning. We do know that there will be more sunny days ahead, and even when it's not beautiful -- it's still beautiful Paris, France!

Au revoir now.

Stuart (and Darlene)