Our port is on the canal Saint-Martin with a lock on the Seine and a tunnel heading up to the 10th arrondissement at the Bastille end of the port. La Villette is at the other end of the canal in the 19th arrondissement. The trip along the canal to La Villette is only about 5 kilometers long, but because you have to pass through 4 double locks and two swing bridges,the trip takes at least two hours each way.
When our friends Jerry and Suzanne, whose barge "La Lavande" is just across the port, invited us to cruise along with them and their friends for a picnic at La Villette, we didn't hesitate for one second before saying, "We'd love to!". We have made this same trip on our barge, but this time we would be the guests instead of captain and crew.
Camera in hand, we had time to make a little movie of our fabulous day cruising through the streets of Paris.