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
Seine River Steamers manure, litter and rubble were removed from town. The Quais at Bersy, Rapee, Hotel de Ville and Louvre carried on trade. And by 1880, the trade was duty-free from tariffs. The Canal de l'Ourcq was constructed in 1808 between the River Ourcq and the Seine. Its purpose was to provide Paris with drinking water and a new navigable waterway. Geometricians at heart, the engineers of the Empire dug the canal along the axis of the Rotunda. With the industrial revolution along came mechanical workshops and boiler-works, replacing the countryside. Warehouses sprang up along the banks as 10,000 barges delivered to