You Can Swim in the Seine Again. Trust Me. I Just Did.
I dived in near the heart of Paris — the elegant ancient mansions of Île Saint-Louis rising above me, and the Seine's stone bridges stretching into the distance. A crowd splashed around me, giggling with pleasure and wonder.
'What a joy. What a joy,' said Martine Laupin, 76, breast-stroking nearby. 'This is Paris. Imagine!'
Swimming has been banned in the river since 1923 because of boat traffic and pollution. France promised to clean up the pollution, and on Saturday it delivered, opening three dedicated bathing sites in Paris. Two sites were also opened in the Marne River, a tributary a few miles upstream, in the southern Parisian suburbs.
The water was green and silky. A gentle current pulled me along a line of orange buoys marking the official swim zone. I took a breath and dived under. It was warm.
A green flag hung on a pole nearby, signaling that the latest water-quality tests, taken two hours before, had come back clear.
1 mile
AlexandER III BRIDGE
Seine
BIR-HAKeiM
BRIDGE
Eiffel Tower
Île Saint-Louis
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Grenelle
Bras Marie
Paris
SULLY
BRIDGE
FRANCE
SIMONE
DE BEAUVOIR
BRIDGE
Paris
Seine
Bercy
Swimming sites opening in the Seine
Marne R.
Map data from OpenStreetMap
Maisons-Alfort
1 mile
AlexandER III BRIDGE
Île Saint-Louis
Eiffel Tower
Seine
Grenelle
Bras Marie
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Paris
FRANCE
Paris
Bercy
Swimming sites opening
in the Seine
Marne
River
Seine
Map data from OpenStreetMap
Maisons-Alfort
By The New York Times
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