Eleanor Beardsley, Jackie Lay/NPR
Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly collection during which NPR’s worldwide correspondents share snapshots of moments from their lives and work around the globe.
This summer season, for the primary time because the 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 may sunbathe or swim laps in opposition to the river’s gentle present in a roped-off space. All of the whereas, the barge and pleasure boat visitors continues — giving the expertise a form of surreal picturesqueness. Once I stopped by right here final month, two lifeguards advised me there’s much more to look out for right here than at a daily pool.
For years the town’s mayors have been promising to wash up the polluted river for swimming. It lastly occurred with final summer season’s Olympic Video games, the place large 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 So similar to in Impressionist work and outdated sepia photographs, Parisians can as soon as once more cool off of their river.
See extra photographs from around the globe:
- 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 visitors essentially 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 purple cypress forests supply timeless magnificence
- Greetings from Odesa, Ukraine, the place a Black Sea seaside presents respite from battle
- Greetings from Shenyang, China, the place employees type AI information in ‘Severance’-like methods
- Greetings from Palmyra, Syria, with its once-grand resort named for a warrior queen
- Greetings from Mexico Metropolis, the place these canine experience a bus to and from faculty
- Greetings from the Galápagos Islands, the place the blue-footed booby reveals its colours
- Greetings from Afrin, Syria, the place Kurds danced their hearts out to rejoice spring
- Greetings from Dharamshala, India, the place these Tibetan youngsters have been having the most effective time
