Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's 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 river's 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 there's a lot more to look out for here than at a regular pool.
For years the city's mayors have been promising to clean up the polluted river for swimming. It finally happened with last summer's Olympic Games, where massive overflow tanks were built to contain sewage during heavy rains.
Opening the river to bathers couldn't 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.
See more photos from around the world:
- Greetings from Gujarat, India, where a banyan tree is a place for rest, prayers and play
- Greetings from Khartoum, Sudan, where those with the least offer their guests the most
- Greetings from Moscow, Russia, where Lenin's tomb attracts a new surge of visitors
- Greetings from New Delhi, India, where performing monkeys spark delight — and ambivalence
- Greetings from Damascus, Syria, where a crowded bar welcomed post-Assad revelers
- Greetings from Alishan, Taiwan, whose red cypress forests offer timeless beauty
- Greetings from Odesa, Ukraine, where a Black Sea beach offers respite from war
- Greetings from Shenyang, China, where workers sort AI data in 'Severance'-like ways
- Greetings from Palmyra, Syria, with its once-grand hotel named for a warrior queen
- Greetings from Mexico City, where these dogs ride a bus to and from school
- Greetings from the Galápagos Islands, where the blue-footed booby shows its colors
- Greetings from Afrin, Syria, where Kurds danced their hearts out to celebrate spring
- Greetings from Dharamshala, India, where these Tibetan kids were having the best time
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