Many Parisians never thought they would get to enjoy the refreshing waters of the Seine. No swimming allowed, pollution, waste, lack of supervision, the reasons kept piling up. But for the past few weeks now, residents of the capital and visiting tourists have gathered to take a dip in the waters of the Parisian river. This is an even more impressive figure considering that the kickoff had a few hiccups.
A Bittersweet Start
The enjoyment was short-lived. On July 5th, a historic event took place in the capital: the opening of the Seine for swimming, after 100 years of prohibition. However, the very next day, Parisians had to pack their swimsuits and goggles away. Indeed, due to heavy rain that occurred on the 6th, the City Hall had to close its various spots, and that was a real bummer.
for several days. Because while the rain had stopped relatively quickly, the tests stayed in the red for several days.La Seine retrouve les Parisiens, et les Parisiens retrouvent la Seine.
— Ian Brossat (@IanBrossat) July 5, 2025
100 ans après, la baignade fait son grand retour au cœur de Paris.
Un symbole fort, un bonheur simple : se baigner dans ce fleuve qui fait l’âme de notre ville.
À vos maillots ! pic.twitter.com/Q0lssViiej
It was only on Thursday, the 10th that the three new swimming pools opened on the Seine. We even had to wait until Sunday the 13th, the day before the national holiday, to enjoy the waters of the Saint-Martin Canal. But it seems this little delay didn’t stop the Parisians, who gathered in huge numbers last weekend, enough to make up for the four days of closure.
A Successful July 14th Weekend
After a few days of storms and bad weather, the sun and the heatwave returned to the capital by the end of last week. It was the perfect weather to go for a swim, something all the locals understood well.
nts of the City of Light. In fact, according to the accounts of Parisien, there were more than 12,000 who responded during the 3 days of the extended weekend. 6 683 people at Bercy, 3,065 at Bras Marie, and 2,606 at the site of Grenelle.Foule gigantesque pour se baigner dans la Seine aujourd’hui.
— Pierrick Lavoine (@PierrickLVN) July 13, 2025
Pensée pour toutes celles et ceux qui disaient que ce serait un échec.
Comme d’habitude, ils ont tort.
Et bravo à Anne Hidalgo. pic.twitter.com/yY7pd9ebBA
This undeniable success delights the City, which shared its excitement in a press release. The large number of swimmers “shows a true desire for open, shared, and peaceful living spaces, a new way to live in Paris”. However, we are waiting to see whether this trend will last as rain and bad weather are back this week, leading to new longer closures in the days to come…