Photo by the Times

Looking for something different or interesting to do in Paris? Try the Canal St. Martin boat ride. It’s a take on the Bateau Mouche but done on a smaller scale: you ride in a small canal boat in a small canal which winds its way through the eastern arrondissements of Paris (starting at Bastille and ending at la Villette). The entire trip is 2.5 miles. Keep in mind, this is a slow moving boat ride: you wait for the locks to fill, you continue leisurely on your way, you repeat multiple times. The entire trip takes a few hours to complete. After spending a very hot afternoon on the canal, my suggestion for others would be to get off the boat somewhere in the middle and discover a new area of Paris.
A good article was recently written in The Times. It takes you an a virtual canal ride and lets you know what kinds of hidden gems you might see along the way.