Seine River Steamers The Élise was the first steam ship to cross the English Channel. She was bought in England 1814 by Pierre Andriel as" Margery", and renamed "Élise". Andriel intended to accomplish a spectacular crossing of the Channel to convince public opinion that steam ships could be ocean-worthy. She sailed up the Seine and arrived in Paris on 28 March, becoming a popular sensation. Two small saluting guns were mounted at the bow and fired in honour of Louis XVIII Early tugs used chains in the river to tow trains of barges up river. The low steam pressure and low power of
L'Inconnue de la Seine L'Inconnue de la Seine L'Inconnue de la Seine () was an unidentified young woman whose putative death mask became a popular fixture on the walls of artists' homes after 1900. Her visage inspired numerous literary works. In the United States, the mask is also known as "La Belle Italienne". According to an often-repeated story, the body of the young woman was pulled out of the Seine River at the Quai du Louvre in Paris around the late 1880s. Since the body showed no signs of violence, suicide was suspected. A pathologist at the Paris Morgue was, according to the story,