Bota Bota, spa-sur-l'eau
Converted ferry hull turned floating spa, guiding bathers through a Nordic hot-cold ritual on the river.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Bota Bota spa in Montreal's Old Port follows a boat through two earlier lives, as the Arthur-Cardin ferry shuttling passengers across the river in the 1950s and 60s, then as a floating theatre called l'Escale before it sat abandoned. You'll hear how Geneviève and Daniel Émond bought the wreck in 2008 and how architect Jean Pelland and more than a hundred workers rebuilt the hull to carry rows of hot tubs. It closes with the Nordic bathing tradition the spa now houses, and how it feels to practice it on a hull that once carried commuters and actors.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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