20. Some Truths Are Better Left Unearthed…
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Paris, the famed vacation resort may be recognized as the City of Light, but things can go awry out of nowhere. Not only the authorities, but the Parisians themselves were shocked to see what came up after the popular Saint Martin Canal was dragged for cleaning purposes.
19. A Series of Unfortunate Findings!
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All sorts of “treasures” came up – and let me reiterate that almost 90% of the stuff was utterly useless. The ironic part of this shocking discovery was the realization that France still had a lot to learn despite all the technological advancements.
18. Behold! Canal Saint Martin In All Its Glory
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There is an interesting story behind the origin of Canal Saint Martin. It was one of the few other canals that were held responsible for fueling a constant supply of clean drinking water to the men and women of the local vicinity.
17. A Look Into The Background History of Canal Saint Martin
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Canal Saint Martin was constructed during the times of Napoleon Bonaparte I. The 4.5 Km long canal offered not only a breathtaking view but also a constant supply of what would be an ideally clean source of water.
16. Napoleon May Have Got It All Wrong
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Well, guess what! Napoleon was wrong. He hoped to supply clean water to the residents of Paris, but he somehow failed. During the poor guy’s time, Paris was dealing with a crisis of different ailment outbreak.
15. So Many Infectious Diseases
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Take your pick! Cholera, diarrhea or dysentery; it was all in there. Napoleon was hoping to mitigate these issues and his approach was absolutely necessary to cull the outbreak.
14. Things Went Downhill After the Inception of These Canals
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Thanks to French people’s love for shopping, various skirmishes, World War 1, weird antics and all, the Saint Martin Canal lost its purpose.
13. Don’t Let the Calm View Fool You Into Believing Anything Otherwise
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Above the water levels, this canal offered a great visual perspective to both the local residents and foreigners who would visit the area from the tourism point of view.
12. Some Interesting Revelations about Saint Martin Canal
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An interesting thing about the canal is that within the ensuing decades, three other Canals were constructed from a ground-up approach.
The idea was same; i.e. to supply the people with an unrelenting clean water source. I’d urge you to look into the history of Canal de l’Ourcq, Canal Saint-Denis and several others to get the idea.
11. Thousands Gather to Witness the Shocking Discovery of Random Items
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On the day the canal was supposed to be dragged, hundreds of locals gathered around at both sides of the bank to see what would be unearthed.
The findings were remarkable and astonishingly shocking, but they didn’t hold any real value.
10. Some Questions Are Still Pending Answers
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At some point, several questions were raised to. For instance, how did a slightly deteriorated toilet seat end up at the bottom of the canal? Was someone taking a dump there, or did Napoleon build the canal around a bathroom?
9. It Wasn’t Such a Shameful Experience
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The good thing which came out of this entire endeavor was a sense of realization. Paris may look shiny and beautiful on the surface – and the French may be the most famous people for inventing perfumes, but they really need to focus on how the waste material is discarded.
8. Fond Memories for Years to Come
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The entire cleaning crew couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of recovering hundreds of wine bottles, beer cans, World War 1 bomb shells and even a car. Come to think of it, maybe France gets its finest supply of wine from the dark depths of Canal Saint Martin…
7. A Good Day for Fishing and Rescuing
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As soon as the process started, authorities had little to no time to rescue over 4,500 types of fully grown fish. Somehow these fish were commuting underneath the calm waters of the canals as a thriving massive community.
6. Bottoms Up
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Eh… that’s a boatload of liquor bottles stocked up at the bottom of the canal. There was a time when European water channels were so clean that the authorities would encourage swimmers to take a plunge in there. Things have changed now…. Drastically, if one must add.
5. Paris Still Hasn’t Lost Its Charm for Shopping
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Oh, look! A shopping cart is in there too. No one has any idea how it ended up in the canal. To think of it that poor guy Bonaparte was encouraging people to drink water from the Canal is highly ironic – and toxic too.
4. The Number of Deaths Rose During Napoleon’s Tutelage
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The fact that these canals were made to serve as clean water resources seems unbelievable. Napoleon may have made a bold move to make lives easier for the locals, but things didn’t work out.
According to a rough estimate, there were more deaths during 1799 – 1802 and onward because of the incidents related to water reserves in the canals.
3. A Good Day to Take a Stroll on a Bicycle
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What you are looking at are the last remnants of a bicycle that may have been part of Tour De France.
2. They Found Coins In There Too
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People were hoping for authorities to recover France’s finest and oldest stamp collections at the bed of the Satin Martin Canal, but they did find something else. Some rare coins were discovered; their value was estimated to several thousand quids by experts.
1. Perhaps If People Paid More Attention To How They Dispose Of Stuff
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According to a cleaning crewmember, people need to be more careful about what they throw the water. “If everyone mucks in and avoids throwing anything in the water, we may be able to get by with a canal that’s at least safe for swimming!”