For the first time in over a century, Parisians and tourists will be able to take a refreshing dip in the River Seine. The long-polluted waterway is finally opening up as a summertime swim spot following a 1.4 billion euro ($1.5 billion) cleanup project that made it suitable for Olympic competitions last year.
Three new swimming sites on the Paris riverbank will open on Saturday — one close to Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral, another near the Eiffel Tower and a third in eastern Paris.
Swimming in the Seine has been illegal since 1923, with a few exceptions, due to pollution and risks posed by river navigation. Taking a dip outside bathing areas is still banned for safety reasons.
And this is why while while everyone was bitching about how much money this will cost i was just thinking about how nice it will be when you can finally swim in it again. Of course there is a lot of long term infrastructure that needs to be built so big rains dont flush all the shit into it but still good news. It was also smart of the mayor to do this “for” the olympics.
No thanks I’ll stick to my local secret lake that nobody shits in
Jokes on you, I’m already there, shitting.
Move over I was shitting here first.
Can we hold hands?
Why not, let’s show that turd who’s boss.
OK I’m on my way to literally murder you so you have ten minutes to clean up or else
Fish fuck in it.
Problem?
Friends with a pool had a sign saying “don’t pee in our pool, we don’t swim in your toilet”. In Paris however…
I assume embarrassment on the world stage helped move this along given the Olympics?
Who knew anything good could result from the Olympics
Really hilariously stupid that it took a goddamn sporting event for them to even try to clean up this river
Great to see the Seine finally reopened for swimming after a century! A €1.4B investment in clean water and public access is a win for both the environment and city life. Hope other major cities follow Paris’s lead.
Reason #4,538 why I’ll never live in or near a large city.
You won’t live near cities that clean up their waterways? You could rival Michelin publishing that list of reasons you have.
My local waterways aren’t so fucking filthy that swimming has been banned for a century. We spent the 4th happily boating (electric!), swimming, fucking around on the local river, no thoughts of foul water.
Neat
