Murder is Everywhere

Canal Saint Martin, still a working canal with barges and the tourist boats, was the brainchild of Napoleon. He'd been ousted and in final exile at Saint Helena before the canal opened. It's a slender khaki green waterway linking the Seine at the Arsenal at Bastille to La Villette site of the old slaughterhouses and now home to a cinema complex, science museum and music hall. Onward and up to Belgium from there. Part of the canal is covered over by boulevard Richard Lenoir, which for some of you Simenon fans know houses Inspector Maigret's apartment. Madame Maigret must have gone 'shopping' at the market held there on Tuesdays. Or is it Wednesdays? I'd lean out my window overlooking the Canal to see but my friend's apartment is too far, about four odd turning blocks, from where the market's held. The canal's progress from the Seine is by a series of locks operating in a slow but efficace manner, as the Parisians say. Over the locks are arched metal bridges so pedestrians can cross while the basin fills below to the proper height so the barge can pass through. Hope this photo shows up - http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&biw=1366&bih=570&tbm=isch&tbnid=tARhi0YrKeS7QM:&imgrefurl=http://www.chicline.com/Paris-Canal-St-Martin-photos-slideshow.php&docid=vubBFhwlCgZo0M&imgurl=http://www.chicline.com/Res/Pic/ParisSlideshows/Village/canal-st-martin-printemps-paris.jpg&w=515&h=345&ei=UerWT8C_M8ag8gP48un0DQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=697&vpy=254&dur=4290&hovh=184&hovw=274&tx=166&ty=129&sig=108299559858908687070&page=1&tbnh=113&tbnw=152&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0,i:109 Cara - Tuesday