It is in 2000, at the dawn of the new millennium, that the amicale of the friends of the museum, founded seven years before, reached its goal. The creation of the city of the boatmen answers a need to know better the life which took place on board of the barges of transport which crossed and stopped in Longueil-Annel (Oise).
A destiny linked to the canal
Built between 1823 and 1826, the lateral canal to the Oise is a 34 kilometer long redemption route that participates in the link with the north of France and Europe from Paris. Of Becquey gauge at the time of its inauguration, it will be quickly transformed into Freycinet.
The commune of Longueil-Annel was, from the beginning of the construction of the new waterway, an important place of life and parking of these barges which were going to participate soon in the service of the capital.
Construction of houses, opening of shops, etc. No less than 32 cafés have existed in this small town of barely 6 km²!
Many boatmen lived on the spot, waiting for a new embarkation, an exit from the shipyard or taking some rest on land.
It was therefore natural that the inhabitants, whose destinies are intimately linked to the canal, should mobilize to create a place of museography and memory. Thus was born the city of the boatmen.
Animated and lively course
The city of the boatmen is not to be visited like a sleepy museum. Organized in three distinct times, the visit of the place is made as interactive as possible by a real immersion in the life which was that of the 19th century in the Oise.
Social and local, the house museum is the space that speaks of the boatmen in their environment. Social struggles, difficulties of life on the water as well as technological revolutions inherent to the construction of such a link are presented and explained with testimonies of those who lived them.
The Freycinet museum barge immerses visitors in the reality of the barge industry. It is an almost real encounter with the daily life of these canal workers, with the loading and unloading of transported goods. The working conditions, the provisioning as well as the small details of the daily life are explained, always in a mode as immersive as possible.
Finally, the banks of the canal are populated with audiovisual and tactile illustrations that allow visitors to experience a life-size waterway. They will be able to discover how a lock works, the rules of life on a canal as well as the ways of protecting the canal as a working tool (preservation of the banks, maintenance of the biefseuros).
A fourth location gives a more bucolic feel to the walk while offering the visitor the opportunity to visit other places of interest in the area. This is the cruise aboard the Escapade, an electric passenger boat.
Museum for the family
The aim of the museum is to offer the whole family an immersion in a daily life often poorly known by the general public. Young children will be attracted by the presence of real equipment used at the time (gaffs, rodent traps, lifebuoys). Older children will appreciate the interactive discovery tools. And all will learn a lot about the major interest that these canals have had throughout French economic history.
The place has toilets, picnic tables and is accessible to people with reduced mobility.
Finally, the Cité des Bateliers is committed to the "Musée Joyeux" approach, which promotes a visit adapted to children through a few principles (innovation, fun, welcome, speech and words adapted to all) and an organization conducive to interest the youngest. Thus, at the Cité des Bateliers, families have direct access to a program of dedicated activities (game booklet, lock simulator, Freycineteuros bar).
One of the 3 museums of inland waterways near the Paris region
The city of the boatmen is part of a trio of museums about the life of the boatmen in the Paris region, with the museum of the inland waterways of Conflans Sainte Honorine (Val d'Oise) and the no less interesting Museum of the inland waterways of Poses (Eure).
