dlejhunt

I'd like to take a walk around the Canal St. Martin neighborhood during my next trip to Paris and wondered if any experts out there might be able to recommend which Metro stop I might start my walk from. Thanks all!

Momliz

* Gare de L'Est (Lines 4 & 7)
* République (Lines 3, 5, 8, 9 and 11)
* Goncourt (Line 11)
* Jacques-Bonsergent (Line 5)

I would start at Republique, the south end and walk up to the Hotel du Nord for a bite or a coffee:

http://www.hoteldunord.org/english.html

then keep on going, if you want

Travelnut

When we came up from the metro at Republique, I had a little trouble getting us going in the correct direction. Here is my tip. Position yourself where your back is to both the statue and the carousel. The carousel will be behind on your right and the statue on the left. You should be facing a "Habitat" store. Cross to the store, then start walking along the side of it, with your back still to the statue and going away from the Place. You'll be on rue du Faubourg du Temple. The 2nd cross street you come to will be Quai de Valmy but you might not be able to really see the canal until you're right up on it. You can take it from there.

kerouac

République is indeed a good start. And please walk all the way to the Parc de la Villette (metro Porte de la Villette on the left side, metro Porte de Pantin on the right side).

dlejhunt

Thanks guys...Kerouac, I also want to thank you for the today/yesterday photos of your neighborhood that you posted a link to elsewhere...really, really cool. One of my favorite things about Paris is that one walks through history with almost every step (I'm a French history nerd, uh, fan).

kerouac

I'm glad you liked the photos. http://tinyurl.com/cwuoez

I will be adding more to that thread soon.

AnselmAdorne

Kerouac, thanks for the link; those are wonderful "then and now" photos. I have seen similar photos from the Great War ... a ruined village in 1917, and then a recent photo taken from the same spot. Fascinating stuff.

Anselm