Swimming within the Seine : NPR

Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly collection wherein NPR’s worldwide correspondents share snapshots of moments from their lives and work all over the world.

This summer season, for the primary time for the reason that Nineteen Twenties, the Seine River is open for swimming!

There are designated public swimming locations and docks have been constructed at a number of, like this one close to the Eiffel Tower. Even on cloudy days, Parisians and vacationers are flocking to them.

You can sunbathe or swim laps in opposition to the river’s mild present in a roped-off space. All the whereas, the barge and pleasure boat site visitors continues — giving the expertise a sort of surreal picturesqueness. When I ended by right here final month, two lifeguards instructed me there’s much more to look out for right here than at a daily pool.

For years town’s mayors have been promising to wash up the polluted river for swimming. It lastly occurred with final summer season’s Olympic Games, the place huge overflow tanks have been constructed to include sewage throughout heavy rains.

Opening the river to bathers could not have come at a greater time, with Paris affected by successive warmth waves. So identical to in Impressionist work and outdated sepia pictures, Parisians can as soon as once more cool off of their river.

See extra pictures from all over the world:

• Greetings from Gujarat, India, the place a banyan tree is a spot for relaxation, prayers and play
• Greetings from Khartoum, Sudan, the place these with the least supply their friends probably the most
• Greetings from Moscow, Russia, the place Lenin’s tomb attracts a brand new surge of tourists
• Greetings from New Delhi, India, the place performing monkeys spark delight — and ambivalence
• Greetings from Damascus, Syria, the place a crowded bar welcomed post-Assad revelers
• Greetings from Alishan, Taiwan, whose pink cypress forests supply timeless magnificence
• Greetings from Odesa, Ukraine, the place a Black Sea seashore provides respite from struggle
• Greetings from Shenyang, China, the place staff type AI knowledge in ‘Severance’-like methods
• Greetings from Palmyra, Syria, with its once-grand resort named for a warrior queen
• Greetings from Mexico City, the place these canine trip a bus to and from faculty
• Greetings from the Galápagos Islands, the place the blue-footed booby exhibits its colours
• Greetings from Afrin, Syria, the place Kurds danced their hearts out to rejoice spring
• Greetings from Dharamshala, India, the place these Tibetan children have been having the most effective time