Draining the Canal Saint Martin in Paris
 

The Canal Saint Martin gets emptied and cleaned out every 15 years or so (last time was the winter of 2001-2002), and the cleaning process began again this week. The water is drained lock by lock from Place de la Bataille de Stalingrad to Bastille and this morning only the first lock had been emptied, but it was already revealing the bicycle graveyard for which Vélibs have paid a very heavy price. I will add more photos to my report about it soon, but here is how it looked on the first day of draining: http://tinyurl.com/gvq7wwl

The cleaning and repair work will take three months, and the canal will open again at the beginning of April.

Great report, Kerouac! Looking forward to your follow-up photos. I'm particularly interested in seeing if they find the TA editor bodies you and Pariswat put there. :-)

I love noodling around looking at your photos. I have to stop taking only pictures of sites and sights and just take pictures of life. By the way, where did you buy that peking duck?

Thanks! Certainly looks like it needs it. Would have thought scavengers would be a good idea - instead of recycling, the city has to do something with the trash.

I have already seen pictures of a motorcycle, several grocery store shopping carts and a baby stroller!

We have not reached the end of our surprises.

<i>By the way, where did you buy that peking duck?</i>

Off topic: I get those from 'Paris Store' which is a Chinese supermarket chain in Paris. Boned, vacuum packed, frozen, imported from Thailand. The whole duck costs just 7 euros.

I had absolutely no idea the canal is periodically drained. As they say..... you learn something new every day. Looking forward to more pictures.

great shots -- glad to see no bodies :)

No bodies....yet. I think those TA ladies may still be in the deep end.

I love Paris Store, and those ducks are really, really good and make several meals, at least for us.

Enjoying your report - looking forward to the next installment!

I was there yesterday and found it quite fascinating. Here's a link to my photos: http://tinyurl.com/jay9vp6

Yes F1, saw them on that other forum.

Nuke : thanks for that comment :-)

They cleared out our local canal a few years back and solved where two minor criminals had gone to. ;-)

Forgot to say: Thanks kerouac. Enjoyed your report. And- seeing the difference a day made. I plan to head back in a few days too.

kerouac, since I messed up my last Canal Saint Martin walk (I'm blaming cough medicine and sticking to that story), do you have a recommended walk somewhere in all your reports that can guide us better for our autumn trip? Thanks.

((H))

Your report brought back memories of a similar, though far more extensive, canal housekeeping back a half-century ago in Ontario, Canada. As a very young student journalist, at the end of a quiet stretch of August, I was handed a press release regarding a channel for hydro-electricity at nearby Niagara Falls. This open canal, quite steep and fast-running, drained water from above the falls for a number of kilometers to the generating plant where the currents drove the generators that had powered the province's early industrialization. The list of refuse was not quite as intimate (the canal was deep and screened off from the public.) Nevertheless, based on my knowledge of the area but no first-hand visit, I generated a general story that earned me my first by-line for the summer. The canal has been supplanted by a tunnel running under the city of Niagara Falls, and my career led to much less watery endeavours that are now devoid of any current. But I have traversed the St-Martin tunnels and consider the trip a genuine if off-beat Paris experience. I doubt, however, if the refuse could compare to any Amsterdam watery graveyard.

Maitaitom, I have always been the kind of person who wants to see everything along the canal, both the bad and the good, so I recommend going the entire length from Bastille to La Villette.

However, for someone with limited time or unable to walk long distances, I would recommend going to Gare de l'Est, crossing the Square Villemin next to it which borders the canal and walking south to the Faubourg du Temple (République) where the canal disappears into the tunnel.

I also like the canal cruise, but some people find it boring due to the time it takes to go through the locks.

I was thinking of all the sludge in the bottom and wondered if it smells nasty now that it's been drained.

Maitaitom
Ker is a real lover of Paris.
I'd stop at Stalingrad (la Rotonde) coming from about level of Republique (where the canal goes underground).

If you can do it on a bike (Velib), that is a very nice journey, then you can go further. Stop at La Villette.