A leisurely way of seeing the Canal St-Martin is the boat trips run by Canauxrama (reservations tel 01.42.39.15.00) between the Port de l'Arsenal, opposite 50 bd de la Bastille, 12e (M° Bastille), and the Bassin de la Villette, 13 quai de la Loire, 19e (M° Jaurès), north of the Canal St-Martin. Departing daily at 9.45am and 2.30pm from the Bastille and at 9.45am and 2.45pm from Bassin de la Villette, the ride lasts nearly three hours and costs €13. The more stylish catamaran of Paris-Canal also runs three-hour trips between the Musée d'Orsay, quai Anatole-France, 7e (RER Musée d'Orsay), and the Parc de la Villette (La Folie des Visites du Parc; M° Porte-de-Pantin); boats operate in both directions daily from the end of March to mid-November, leaving the museum at 9.30am, and the park at 2.30pm (reservations on 01.42.40.96.97; €16, children €9). More information is available on www.pariscanal.com. Both trips involve a rather spooky mile-and-a-half stretch underground along the covered-over part of the canal.
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