Everyone knows about the Eiffle tower, most know about the Arc de Triumph, fewer know about the Louvre, even fewer know about the Seine river cruise boats. We've done all of that multiple times and this year we're doing things we've never done before so what's next? Doing something that most tourists haven't even heard of, the canal cruise.

Many don't know that there are miles of canals in Paris that pass through a bunch of locks and that you can take a boat or barge up them. Back when the citizens of Paris relied on the Seine for fresh water they'd neardly drain it most of the year so Napoleon decided to dig a canal (not him personally) from a water source many miles away. The canals have been in service for 175 years now. The ride is about 2.5 hrs and it goes about 3 miles through 7 locks and a stretch of tunnel under the Bastille. We had to get up early to get to the Musee Dorsay are of the Quay to catch our boat. Thankfully it was a small boat with possibly 30 people on it which contrasts nicely to the Seine river cruises with their massivly powerful spotlights, blaring speakers and the crowds of tourist that pile on them.

At 9 oclock sharp we head up the Seine past the Notre Dame and the Louvre to enter a tunnel near the Bastille.

More later...