Canal Saint-Martin
Nineteenth-century waterway of iron footbridges, swing locks, and the line that made Paris say "Atmosphère."
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris starts with a 1938 film shoot that couldn't afford to film here, so the crew built a full replica on a studio lot instead, and traces how Arletty's line from that fake canal made the real one famous. It follows the canal back to Napoleon's 1802 order to dig it as a public-health project against cholera, and to the 1960s plan to fill it in and pave it over as a motorway. Walk the quai de Jemmapes and look for the real Hôtel du Nord at number one hundred and two, still standing among the iron footbridges.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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