Paris Plages started up this week and seems like it will be a great fun and FREE thing for us to do here in Paris. Very little is free and frankly most everything here is crazy expensive. They have closed off this road that runs along the Seine and set up tons of activities for young and old alike. There are places where they have trucked in sand to make an actual Plage and build sandcastles, a place to play boules (petanque), a lending library complete with loungers to hang in and read, beach chairs right on the edge of the river, concerts, exercising, and loads more. To the right you can see at the bottom of the page a climbing structure for kids under 7. This is on our end of the Seine so it is an easy walk from our apartment.
Here is a view down the river of some of the festivities.
Hello? Beautiful!
They have misters set up so you can cool off when things get hot. I wish I grabbed a picture of this guy who was sunning himself along the banks in a lovely French Speedo and then got up - stood under the mister to cool off and returned to his seat. When there is no ocean around people just improvise with summer!
Buddy mixing it up with other kids.
And finally they have installed a pool right on the edge of the Seine with fabulous views. It is also on our end of the river so it is a 20-minute walk from our apartment. Lucky us! It is free to the public and has certain hours for certain ages. From 3:30 pm -6:30 pm it is reserved for kids under 10 and their guardians. There are however rules. Boys and men must be in speedos for hygeine purposes and everyone must be in a swimming cap. You walk through feet cleaning pools and a shower before you get to the swim deck.
But when a FREE city swimming pool looks as clean as this, one can hardly argue with the rules!
It was however freezing.
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