One day I was crossing the Pont Neuf when the sun came out, which was a fairly rare occurrence that week, so I decided that would be a good time to take a boat trip on the Seine.

Unfortunately the sun didn’t stay out, but no matter. I still enjoyed seeing all the familiar sights along the river from a new (to me) perspective.

At the Square du Vert Galant, just down some stairs from the Pont Neuf (=New Bridge), is the dock of a boat company called, logically enough, Les Vedettes du Pont-Neuf. They had a boat leaving soon, at 5:30 in the afternoon, and the cost for an adult was 13 Euros, which I thought was not excessively expensive.

On the boat was a young lady with a microphone who pointed out the sights to us in French and English. She did not overload us with information, by any means, but just said one or two sentences about each place.

Orsay Museum from the boat

We set off going downstream, past the Louvre on the right and the Musée d’Orsay on the left.

Eiffel Tower from the boat

When we had passed the Eiffel Tower, we turned around (there are signs indicating where and how this is allowed, and where it is not) and went back upstream.

Grand Palais from the boat

We passed by the south side of the islands Cité and Saint-Louis, then turned again in a designated turning area and went by the same two islands on the north side, passing the Conciergerie before returning to the dock at Pont Neuf.

Conciergerie from the boat

Back at the dock

My photos in this post are from 2012. I revised the text in 2018.

See also: Canal cruise on the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris.