Napoléon Bonaparte, wanting to do something for the Parisians, was told by Interior Minister Jean-Antoine Chaptal that he should “give them water.” In 1802 he ordered the city’s canals built. The idea was not only to bring more water into the city, but also to transport fresher and cheaper food and provide an alternative route for barges. The final stretch of the Canal St. Martin was completed in 1825. Today it and the Canal de l’Ourcq provide a healthy morning’s promenade.
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