Urban agriculture cruise and visit of la Prairie du Canal de l'Ourcq

Paris and the Seine Saint-Denis region have known centuries of large-scale farming and market gardening in order to feed the ever-increasing number of inhabitants. 

The cultivation of cereals and specialized early market gardening was mainly established and developed in Bobigny, while the "Plaine des Vertus", which extended from Aubervilliers to La Courneuve, was specialized in the cultivation of vegetables. Specific varieties from this region were grown and consumed in large quantities by the people in Ile-de-France.

With urban development, these fields where replaced by housing complexes. However, nowadays, concerns about our food, short circuits and the restoration of a link with nature are being raised everyday in our large urbanized societies. 

This cruise will revisit the past of the Seine Saint-Denis and Parisians' diet through the history of these large-scale agricultural and market gardening crops, and more recently on the development of contemporary urban agriculture projects.

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The 1h30 cruise is animated by the guide Thomasine Zoler. It starts at the Bassin de la Villette headed to Bondy, once in Bondy it then turns around and drops you off at the Prairie du Canal where you will be greeted with a visit of the site and discover the urban agriculture project: an ecological and ephemeral farm, made of a flowery meadow with beehives, a hop farm to make craft beer, 800 straw bales to grow old vegetables such as the Bobigny melon, a 4-meter high TROY henhouse, a productive vegetable garden to supply the restaurant...

Don't hesitate to extend the afternoon by enjoying the bucolic setting of the Prairie!

The station the Bobigny-Pantin-Raymond Queneau on the line 5 is only a 15 minute walk away.

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To access to the Prairie du Canal, you need to be a member of their non-profit La Sauge. The membership cost 5€ and it lasts a year. A membership card will be handed to you upon arrival. 

* Normal rate : You're already a member of La Sauge

* Non-member rate: you are not a member of La Sauge yet.

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Photo credit : Bruno Lévy

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If sailing is not your thing you can join a guided walking tour of the urban agricultural past of Paris and its region which also includes a visit of the Prairie du Canal. 

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Street art cruises :

Street art and hip-hop cruise on the Ourcq Canal

Street art cruise on the Ourcq Canal and outdoor movie theater in La Villette 

Street art cruise on the Ourcq Canal

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Cruises on the Ourcq Canal: 

200 years of the canal: cruise about the history of the Ourcq canal

Cruise on the Ourcq canal and picnic at the outdoor movie theater of La Villette

BLACKPEARL Dj set cruise with JP Mano