PARIS - France 2014 - page 98

Bateaux Parisiens has smaller covered boats with handheld audioguides, fewer
crowds, and only one deck. It leaves from right in front of the Eiffel Tower (€13, kids
3-12-€5, tel. [phone], www.bateauxparisiens.com ) .
Vedettes du Pont Neuf offers essentially the same one-hour tour as the other com-
panies, but starts and ends at Pont Neuf, closer to recommended hotels in the Marais
and Luxembourg Garden neighborhoods. The boats feature a live guide whose delivery
(in English and French) is as stiff as a recorded narration—and as hard to understand,
given the quality of their sound system (€13, €11 if you book direct with this topic in
2014, online booking costs just €9, kids 4-12 pay €7, tip requested, nearly 2/hour, daily
10:30-22:30, tel. [phone], www.vedettesdupontneuf.com ) .
Hop-on, Hop-off Boat Tour
Batobus allows you to get on and off as often as you like at any of eight popular stops
along the Seine. The boats, which make a continuous circuit, stop in this order: Eiffel
Tower, Orsay Museum, St. Germain-des-Prés, Notre-Dame, Jardin des Plantes, Hôtel de
Ville, the Louvre, and Pont Alexandre III, near the Champs-Elysées (1 day-€15, 2 days-
€18, 5 days-€21, April-Aug boats run every 20 minutes 10:00-21:30, Sept-March every
25 minutes 10:00-19:00, 45 minutes one-way, 1.5-hour round-trip, worthless narration,
www.batobus.com ). If you use this for getting around—sort of a scenic, floating altern-
ative to the Métro—it can be worthwhile, especially with a five-day pass. But if you just
want a guided boat tour, the Seine cruises described earlier are a better choice.
Low-Key Cruise on a Tranquil Canal
Canauxrama runs a lazy 2.5-hour cruise on a peaceful canal out of sight of the Seine.
Tours start from Place de la Bastille and end at Bassin de la Villette (near Mo: Stalingrad).
During the first segment of your trip, you'll pass through a long tunnel (built by order of
Napoleon in the early 19th century, when canal boats were vital for industrial transport).
Once outside, you glide—not much faster than you can walk—through sleepy Parisian
neighborhoods and slowly climb through four double locks as a guide narrates the trip
in French and English (adults-€16, kids 12 and under-€8.50, check online for discounts
for advance booking, departs at 9:45 and 14:30 across from Opéra Bastille, just below
Boulevard de la Bastille, opposite #50—where the canal meets Place de la Bastille, tel. 01
42 39 15 00, www.canauxrama.com ). The same tour also goes in the opposite direction,
from Bassin de la Villette to Place de la Bastille (departs at 9:45 and 14:45). It's OK to
bring a picnic on board.