Greetings from Paris, where you can swim in the Seine for the first time in a century
Eleanor Beardsley, Jackie Lay NPR
Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPRs international correspondents share snapshots of moments from their lives and work around the world.
This summer, for the first time since the 1920s, the Seine River is open for swimming!
There are designated public swimming places and docks have been built at several, like this one near the Eiffel Tower. Even on cloudy days, Parisians and tourists are flocking to them.
You can sunbathe or swim laps against the rivers light current in a roped-off area. All the while, the barge and pleasure boat traffic continues — giving the experience a kind of surreal picturesqueness. When I stopped by here last month, two lifeguards told me theres a lot more to look out for here than at a regular pool.
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For years, the citys mayors have been promising to clean up the polluted river for swimming. It finally happened with last summers Olympic Games, where massive overflow tanks were built to contain sewage during heavy rains.
Opening the river to bathers couldnt have come at a better time, with Paris suffering from successive heat waves. So just like in Impressionist paintings and old sepia photos, Parisians can once again cool off in their river.
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