Paris: secrets of the Canal St. Martin

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00:00We're going to take a moment now to delve under the surface of Paris, where in addition

00:04to metro lines and catacombs, you will also find rivers and canals.

00:09In recent years, the waterways of Paris have become increasingly accessible and popular.

00:14Chief among them is the Saint-Martin Canal or Canal Saint-Martin.

00:18Now the slow current, the low embankments, and the historic system of locks have contributed

00:23to that canal's popularity that's helped transform the surrounding area from an industrial

00:28zone to a youthful, edgy, vibrant neighborhood in its own right.

00:32And at the end of the now fashionable canal, there's also an almost two-kilometer-long

00:37segment where it dips under the surface and takes on the appearance of any other boulevard

00:42in Paris right under the Place de la Bestie.

00:45We're going to talk all about the Canal Saint-Martin now with Hilbrun Baez, who joins me on set.

00:49Hi, Hilbrun.

00:50Now, you are a captain on the canals and rivers of Paris for pariswaterway.com.

00:54You're also a specialist in marine facilities for click and boat.

00:57Welcome.

00:58Thank you very much, Janie.

00:59Absolutely, there is a canal that passes underneath the Bastille Square.

01:04And from experience, I can say that being underneath the Bastille Square, one is worlds

01:09away from all the bustle and the sound and the noise that you know from the city above

01:13on the surface.

01:14I bet.

01:15And was this tunnel always there or was there always a canal joining the Seine and Place

01:20de la Bestie?

01:21There hasn't.

01:22This is really the result of centuries of thinking and reflection about how to alleviate

01:26traffic pressure at the center of Paris where the islands create a narrows in the sand.

01:31So the islands of Paris.

01:34And we're starting to find the first works on our hydrological works on the canal towards

01:41the 16th century and will end in 1826 with the full delving of the canal.

01:49All right.

01:50But let's talk about the tunnel, the vaulting of the canal.

01:52Now, that apparently can be linked to a revolution.

01:55Yes, indeed.

01:57So ahead of the Industrial Revolution, we're going to have a series of revolutions.

02:00The French are known for their revolutions, quelling revolutions also.

02:04And in this case, we're in 1848, not the most famous of the revolutions, but an important

02:08and seminal one nonetheless.

02:10And in this case, what you had is around Paris, a series of these communes that would emerge,

02:14which essentially are autonomous communities of revolutionaries, proletarians who barricade

02:19themselves in.

02:20And these must be dispersed usually by the cavalry.

02:23And so whilst the canal was still open, one of these communes developed at the level of

02:28the 11th and the 12th districts.

02:31And it was particularly difficult to break up because it was buried or it was defended

02:36essentially by the Canal Saint-Martin, which at the time was still open.

02:40So from the middle of the 19th century, then the canal starts to be covered.

02:45Tell us a bit more about that and if that tunnels proved efficient in suppressing future

02:49uprisings.

02:50Exactly.

02:51From the middle of the 19th century, we see that it's going to be progressively more covered

02:55and the vault will lengthen until we reach 1806, the end of the vaulting, almost 1800

03:01meters long.

03:02And it hasn't always proved successful.

03:04In 1871, France suffered a humiliating defeat at the Incident for the Franco-Prussian War.

03:14And this created unsettlement in Paris.

03:17People were unhappy, afraid of the restoration of the monarchy and these sorts of things.

03:20And so a new commune emerged around the Bastille Square.

03:23A series of people had put hands on a oil tanker, which had managed to sail underneath

03:29the canal and underneath the Bastille Tower, which itself is a commemoration of the Revolution

03:33of 1848, and set it on fire.

03:35So you see the thing turns in circles a little bit.

03:38But it's said that one could see flames gushing out of the tower itself and out of the tunnel

03:42at that time.

03:43So it was impressive.

03:44All right.

03:45So when there isn't a commune, when there aren't flames gushing out of it, what's it

03:47actually like to visit this tunnel?

03:49I've never done it.

03:51It's really most extraordinary.

03:52It's a beautiful experience.

03:53One has to come by boat.

03:54There isn't another way to enter the canal unless you have access to a boat or you're

03:58on a boat.

03:59One will have to go through a lock at least, or a couple, which is a pleasant experience

04:02in itself.

04:03And then you find yourself in this beautiful stone vault with oculi letting light in at

04:09different stages.

04:10And towards the middle, there's also a curb, which gives it this, you can't see the end,

04:13so it gives it a sense of infinity, which is truly extraordinary.

04:17That sounds so magical.

04:18All right.

04:19The Canal Summertime was built to answer a need that's no longer relevant in theory to

04:23Quell Revolutions.

04:24Do you think there's any possibility the canal might be fully exposed in the future?

04:28At different stages, there has been talk of it, and it emerges from time to time.

04:32At some point, there even was talk of building a motorway instead of the canal.

04:36But the canal in itself is a monument as it is.

04:40It's pretty, it's an engineering feat, it's had its own value.

04:44And so I think there isn't much traction for this.

04:46But most of all, the infrastructure around it, the market that takes place above the

04:49surface, the metro lines that surround it, the buildings that have been created around

04:53the canal, just make it so ingrained, it would be difficult to imagine it away.

04:57And to discover underground Paris for people who might want to be visiting is such a great

05:01thing too.

05:02Hilbrun, thank you so much for coming in on the show.

05:03Now, don't forget, if you want to experience the Canal Summertime on the water or in the

05:07vault, you can schedule your own tour, a boat ride on pariswaterways.com or by searching

05:12on Click and Boat.

05:13Hilbrun Weiss, thank you so much.

05:15Thank you very much.

05:16Thank you, Jeannie.

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