“I used to come often when I was a child. Then in later boats I got a bigger boat to go further, but you see I’m still committed, I think that’s a good way to look at it Paris“. In the movie The Cave Rebels Maurice Birot thus reminds Jean Gabin of the so-called “bateaux-mouches”. We know less but this “A beautiful way to see Paris” was actually born… in Lyon. More precisely, in the district of La Mouche, on the left bank of the Rhone, in the 19th century. Produced in the shipyards of Lyon, these shuttles were sent to Paris in 1867 to transport visitors from one point of the capital to another at the Universal Exhibition. Great success. But quickly, from the end of the century, what was still only a means of transportation fell into disuse, due to the fault of the newcomer, the subway.
In the middle of the 20th century, a businessman who was smarter than most had the idea to resurrect these trucks from their ashes in the name of insects…
Source: Le Figaro
