Swimming in the Seine : NPR

Eleanor Beardsley, Jackie Lay / NPR

The distant postcards are a weekly series in which international NPR correspondents share snapshots of moments of 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 places of designated public swimming and quays have been built in several, like this near the Eiffel Tower. Even on cloudy days, Parisians and tourists compete.

You can sunbathe or swim the towers against the light current of the river in a stringing area. During all this time, the barge and the pleasure of pleasure boat continue – giving experience a kind of picturesque surrealist. When I stopped here last month, two rescuers told me that there was much more to look for here than in an ordinary swimming pool.

For years, city mayors promise to clean the polluted river for swimming. This finally occurred with the Olympic Games last summer, where massive infinity tanks were built to contain wastewater during heavy rain.

The opening of the river to bathers could not have come at a better time, with Paris suffering from successive waves of heat. So, just like in impressionist paintings and old sepia photos, Parisians can again cool off in their river.

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