Tour · 6 stops · ~90 min walking
Canal Saint-Martin
The northern canal, slowly.
A walk along the iron-bridged canal that defined the 10th. From République up to the Bassin de la Villette — about 2.5 km following the water, mostly. The canal locks open and close visibly every 30 minutes; if you can time it, the experience is the boats.
Through the10e · Canal Saint-Martin & Gare du Nord19e · La Villette & Buttes-Chaumont
1Place de la République
1880, redesigned 2013. The 9.5 m bronze statue of Marianne (allegory of the Republic) at the centre, with the three smaller figures at her feet representing Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Pedestrianised in 2013; one of the few large public squares in the city without traffic in the middle.
The square is a major demonstration site — if there's been an event in the news, the base of the statue is often covered in candles, flowers, and posters. Walk to the north-east corner of the square; that's where Rue du Faubourg-du-Temple begins, and the canal is one block north.
From Wikipedia›
The Place de la République is a square in Paris, located on the border between the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements. The square has an area of 3.4 ha. Named after the First, Second and Third Republics, it contains a monument, the Monument à la République, which includes a statue of the personification of France, Marianne.
Read more on Wikipedia →Verified nearby ·Lavomatic3 min
→Walk north on Rue du Faubourg-du-Temple, then turn left at the canal at Quai de Valmy. Hôtel du Nord is on the opposite bank at no. 102 Quai de Jemmapes. About 8 min walking.
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2Hôtel du Nord
102 Quai de Jemmapes. The 1885 hotel made famous by Marcel Carné's 1938 film of the same name — the building survived demolition only because the film made it iconic. Ground floor is now a restaurant; upstairs is no longer a hotel. The facade is exactly as it appears in the film.
Cross the iron footbridge in front of the hotel — the green lock-keeper's hut is original, and the locks below operate every 30 min when there's boat traffic. Stand on the bridge for two minutes if a boat is coming through; the water-level change is the photograph.
From Wikipedia›
Hôtel du Nord is a 1938 French drama film directed by Marcel Carné that stars Arletty, Louis Jouvet, Annabella, and Jean-Pierre Aumont. It tells the story of two couples in Paris, one being a prostitute and her pimp and the other two young lovers without regular jobs. A work of poetic realism, cinematography, music, and dialogue add a poetic dimension to the lives and surroundings of working-class people.
Read more on Wikipedia →Verified nearby ·Le Cambodge1 minLe Petit Cambodge2 min
→Walk north along Quai de Jemmapes for about 5 min. The Pont tournant de la Rue Dieu is the next bridge — it pivots open horizontally for boats, not vertically.
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- 3
Pont tournant de la Rue Dieu
A swing bridge that pivots horizontally to let canal boats through — built 1885 along with the canal itself. One of three swing bridges still operating along the Saint-Martin. Watch it open and you'll see a barrier descend on the road, then the entire span rotates.
The bridge swings open about every 30 min during boat hours (~9 am to 7 pm). The crossing itself takes 5 min; the operator climbs out of the small green cabin and physically operates the lever. Tourists rarely catch this — it's worth a 15 min wait if it's about to swing.
Verified nearby ·Le Citizen Hotel1 minLe Verre Volé2 min
→Walk south one block to the Square Frédérick Lemaître — where the canal disappears underground for 2 km before re-emerging at the Bassin de l'Arsenal. The square sits directly over the buried channel.
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- 4
Square Frédérick Lemaître
The point where the Canal Saint-Martin disappears underground — covered over by Haussmann in 1860 to create Boulevard Richard-Lenoir. From here south, the canal flows under Boulevard Jules-Ferry, Boulevard Voltaire, and Boulevard Richard-Lenoir before emerging at the Bassin de l'Arsenal near Bastille.
Look at the slatted iron grates set into the boulevard's central reservation — those are the canal's ventilation shafts. You can hear the water echoing below if you stand on one. The square's small fountain marks the underground entrance.
Verified nearby ·Le Verre Volé2 minLe Citizen Hotel3 min
→Walk back north along Quai de Valmy or Quai de Jemmapes for about 15 min — the long stretch with the cafés. End at the Rotonde de la Villette and the Bassin de la Villette beyond.
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- 5
Quai de Valmy cafés
Between Rue Bichat and Rue Beaurepaire — the canal's café stretch. Chez Prune (no. 36) was the first to open in 1995 and started the canal's gentrification. Le Comptoir Général (no. 80, behind a small alley) is a cabinet of African-curio decor and one of the city's least describable bars.
Sit on the canal-side terrace of any café. Sundays the quay is closed to traffic; locals bring picnics and sit on the iron mooring posts along the water. The bookshop Artazart on the canal opposite no. 80 has the city's best art-book selection.
Verified nearby ·Le Petit Cambodge1 minLe Cambodge2 min
→Continue north along the quay — about 10 min on foot to the Bassin de la Villette and the Rotonde at the top.
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6Rotonde de la Villette
Built 1788 by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux as one of 50 toll houses ringing pre-revolutionary Paris. Octagonal classical pavilion, surprisingly grand for what was essentially a customs booth. Now hosts a restaurant and exhibitions; the Bassin de la Villette behind it is the city's largest artificial body of water.
Walk around the rotunda once before entering — the four neoclassical porticoes are different. Behind it, the Bassin de la Villette stretches for 700 m to the Parc de la Villette; the wide quays are pedestrianised and full of pétanque players in the evenings.
From Wikipedia›
The wall of the Fermiers généraux was one of the several city walls of Paris built between the early Middle Ages and the mid 19th century. The purpose of the wall of the Fermiers généraux was to facilitate collection of municipal taxes on merchandise entering Paris.
Read more on Wikipedia →48.88380, 2.36830