| Less overtly touristy than the Bateaux-Mouches and their clones are the canal-boat trips. Canauxrama (reservations tel 01.42.39.15.00, www.canauxrama.com) chugs up and down 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) on the Canal St-Martin. There are daily departures at 9.45am and 2.45pm from La Villette and at 9.45am and 2.30pm from the Pont de l'Arsenal. At the Bastille end is a long tunnel from which you don't surface till the 10e arrondissement. The ride lasts almost three hours – not bad for €13 (students €10, under-12s €8, under-6s free; no reductions weekends or holiday afternoons). A more stylish vessel for exploring the canal is the catamaran of Paris-Canal, with trips between the Musée d'Orsay (quai Anatole-France by the Pont Solférino, 7e; M° Solférino) and the Parc de la Villette (La Folie des Visites Guidées, on the canal by the bridge between the Grande Salle and the Cité des Sciences, 19e; M° Porte-de-Pantin), which also last three hours. The catamaran departs from the Musée d'Orsay at 9.30am daily. Parc de la Villette departures are at 2.30pm. Trips cost €16, 12–25s and over-60s €12 (except Sun and holiday afternoons), 4–11s €9; reservations tel 01.42.40.96.97.
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