PARIS: Swimming in the Seine is an increasingly popular tourist attraction in the French capital — and a must-do for Parisians themselves. Thousands of people have enjoyed a dip in the river since three public bathing sites opened last month, the first in over a century.
The swimming areas are expected to get even more crowded as a heatwave arrives in the region on Tuesday. Paris has been placed under “high vigilance” by national weather service Meteo France, with temperatures up to 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) expected.
At the Grenelle site in the west of Paris, visitors swim and sunbathe with a unique view of the Eiffel Tower, with small fishes darting near the surface.
Water quality is tested daily to conform with European regulations. Swimming in the Seine had been illegal since 1923, with a few exceptions, due to pollution and risks posed by river navigation. The new bathing sites are possible following a 1.4 billion euro ($1.6 billion) cleanup that made it suitable for Olympic competitions last year.
“Imagine that,” said Constanze Martens, a tourist from Mexico. “Swimming with view of the Eiffel Tower and in pure natural water, clean, safe, and with all this lovely people too, you have every age here.”
On Monday, the water temperature in the Seine was 22 degrees Celsius (71 Fahrenheit).
“It’s quite warm, warmer than the sea, which was quite surprising, and is very pleasant,” said Elisabeth Lorin, from the Paris eastern suburb of Montreuil.
Until the end of August, bathing sites are open for free at scheduled times to anyone 10 or older or 14 or older, depending on the location. Details are in the Paris city hall website, in English as well. Each swimmer must be equipped with a yellow buoy, attached to their waist, for safety reasons. There are changing rooms with lockers.
The site welcomes between 800 and 1,200 visitors per day, with a limit of 200 at any one time, said the manager of the Grenelle site, Yann Forêt.
Paris Deputy Mayor Pierre Rabadan last week said over 40,000 people had swum at the sites since they opened on July 5. That’s despite almost two weeks of closures largely due to rainy weather, which increases water pollution upstream.
“Right now, the water quality is excellent and we have optimal conditions with warm weather,” Rabadan told The Associated Press on Monday. He said the daily decision to open the sites depends on weather conditions and factors including water flow rate and any known pollution.
Several lifeguards monitor the sites, occasionally using their whistles to remind swimmers not to jump or leave the perimeter. No major incident has been reported, Rabadan said.
Marina Gicquel, a 22-year-old lifeguard at Grenelle, said the main difference from a swimming pool is the river current, along with the murky water.
“You can only see people’s heads sticking out. That’s why buoys are useful,” Gicquel said. “And it’s also quite deep. It’s three to five meters (10 to 16 feet) deep, so people find no foothold.”
Some visitors, like Australian Thurkka Jeyakumar, had been skeptical about swimming in the Seine, citing the river’s murky color and bacteria issues.
Unsafe levels of E. coli or other bacteria appear during prolonged periods of rain that overwhelm pipes, leading untreated wastewater to flow into the river instead of a treatment plant. Last year, some Olympic competitions were postponed for that reason.
In the end, Jeyakumar gave it a try because she lost a bet.
“For the moment, I have to say that it was much nicer and cleaner than I thought it would be,” she said. “So the bet worked out for the better!”
The Seine in Paris is open for swimming. Tourists and residents embrace it as temperatures soar
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The Seine in Paris is open for swimming. Tourists and residents embrace it as temperatures soar
- At the Grenelle site in the west of Paris, visitors swim and sunbathe with a unique view of the Eiffel Tower, with small fishes darting near the surface
- The swimming areas are expected to get even more crowded as a heatwave arrives in the region on Tuesday
‘Right to enjoy culture’: Prisoner sues Australian state for ban on Vegemite
- Andre McKechnie, serving a life sentence for murder, takes his battle for the salty, sticky, brown byproduct of brewing beer to the Supreme Court of Victoria
MELBOURNE, Australia: A prisoner is challenging an Australian state’s ban on prisoners eating Vegemite, claiming in a court suit that withholding the polarizing yeast-based spread that most of the nation revers as an unfairly maligned culinary icon breaches his human right to “enjoy his culture as an Australian.”
Andre McKechnie, 54, serving a life sentence for murder, took his battle for the salty, sticky, brown byproduct of brewing beer to the Supreme Court of Victoria, according to documents the court registry released to The Associated Press on Tuesday.
While more than 80 percent of Australian households are estimated to have a jar of Vegemite in their pantries, inmates in all 12 prisons in Victoria are going without as the national favorite for smearing thinly across breakfast toast is considered contraband.
McKecknie is suing Victoria’s Department of Justice and Community Safety and the agency that manages the prisons, Corrections Victoria. The case is scheduled for trial next year.
Prisoner argues Vegemite ban breaches Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities
McKechnie is seeking a court declaration that the defendants denied him his right under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act to “enjoy his culture as an Australian.”
The Act guarantees “All persons with a particular cultural, religious, racial or linguistic background” the right to “enjoy their culture, to declare and practice their religion and to use their language.”
He also wants a declaration that the defendants breached the Corrections Act by “failing to provide food adequate to maintain” McKechnie’s “well-being.”
He wants the court to order the decision to ban Vegemite to be “remade in accordance with the law.”
Vegemite has been banned from Victorian prisons since 2006, with Corrections Victoria saying it “interferes with narcotic detection dogs.”
Inmates used to smear packages of illicit drugs with Vegemite in the hope that the odor would distract the dogs from the contraband.
Vegemite also contains yeast, which is banned from Victorian prisons because of its “potential to be used in the production of alcohol,” the contraband list says.
The Australian favorite since 1923 considered an acquired taste
Manufactured in Australia since 1923 as an alternative to Britain’s Marmite, Vegemite was long marketed as a source of vitamin B for growing children.
The spread is beloved by a majority of Australians, but typically considered an acquired taste at best by those who weren’t raised on it.
The last US president to visit Australia, Barack Obama, once said: “It’s horrible.”
Australian band Men at Work aroused international curiosity about the yeast-based spread when they mentioned a “Vegemite sandwich” in their 1980s hit “Down Under.”
The band’s lead singer Colin Hay once accused American critics of laying Vegemite on too thick, blaming a “more is more” US culture.
It’s a favorite on breakfast toast and in cheese sandwiches, with most fans agreeing it’s best applied sparingly. Australian travelers bemoan Vegemite’s scarcity overseas.
The Australian government intervened in April when Canadian officials temporarily prevented a Toronto-based cafe from selling Vegemite in jars and on toast in a dispute media branded as “Vegemite-gate.” Canadians relented and allowed the product to be sold despite its failure to comply with local regulations dealing with food packaging and vitamin fortification.
The Department of Justice and Community Safety and Corrections Victoria declined to comment on Tuesday. Government agencies generally maintain it is not appropriate to comment on issues that are before the courts.
Queensland prisons also ban Vegemite, but Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, does not. Other Australian jurisdictions have yet to tell AP on Tuesday where they stand on the spread.
Victims of crime brand Vegemite lawsuit frivolous and offensive
Victims of crime advocate and lawyer John Herron said it was a frivolous lawsuit and was offensive to victims’ families.
“As victims, we don’t have any rights. We have limited if any support. It’s always about the perpetrator, and this just reinforces that,” said Herron, whose daughter Courtney Herron, was beaten to death in a Melbourne park in 2019. Her killer was found not guilty of murder by reason of mental impairment.
“It’s not a case of Vegemite or Nutella or whatever it may be. It’s an extra perk that is rubbing our faces in the tragedy that we’ve suffered,” Herron added.
McKechnie is currently held at maximum-security Port Phillip Prison. He was 23 years old when he stabbed to death wealthy Gold Coast property developer Otto Kuhne in Queensland state in 1994.
He was sentenced to life for murder and transferred a decade later from the Queensland to the Victorian prison system.
He wrote last year that he spent eight years out on parole in Victoria before he decided that the system “had done more damage than good” and opted to return to prison.
McKechnie’s lawyers didn’t respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
