Inside France: The huge Seine clean-up, upsetting the British and gassing about Chat GPT
Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.
Not so in-Seine
One hundred and two years ago, the city of Paris banned swimming in the Seine because of the dangerously high levels of pollution in the river.
Since then various city officials (including Jacques Chirac during his time as mayor) have tried to bring it back but none succeeded - until now.
Three swimming spots will open up in the Seine on Saturday, July 5th, offering locals and tourists alike the chance to take a dip - with the proviso that they will only open if water quality levels are safe. It's likely that the pools may close for a day or so if there are more storms or flash floods in the city.
READ ALSO
:
Where in Paris you can swim the Seine this summer
This is the culmination of a massive clean-up effort - and it's important to note that Paris didn't spend €1.5 billion to let people swim. It spent €1.5 billion to make the river clean enough that people could swim. This is an enormous legacy project that will hopefully benefit many generations to come, as well as bringing back to life the river's biodiversity.
There have been many people who were apparently keen to see them fail - both during the Olympic challenges that were the first stage of the swimming project and now.
2024 headline from The European Conservative
Headline from The Times on the day the Olympic triathlon swimming event was held in the Seine
I think that the city deserves immense credit for ignoring the haters and pushing ahead with a project that has been, yes, expensive, complicated and sometimes disappointing but will ultimately benefit billions.
I look forward to swimming in it this summer - not just to enjoy a cool dip on a hot day but because this seems to me to be a symbol of 21st century Paris; ambitious, bold, forward-looking, environmentally conscious and working to improve the quality of life for its inhabitants.
Advertisement
Talking France
We discuss swimming in the Seine in this week's Talking France podcast, as well as the landmark legal verdict over Brittany's toxic green algae and how France has, so far, managed to avoid anti-tourism protests of the type seen in Spain, Italy and Portugal. Listen
here
or on the link below.
Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of podcasting
I see that the French have been stirring up trouble in the UK again, indirectly anyway. Paris-based journalist Sophie Pedder's question to the British ex-MP and podcast host Rory Stewart was a simple one 'What is it that bugs you so much about the French? Why can you never be positive about any French politician?', but it
sparked quite a row
between Stewart and his podcast co-host Alistair Campbell.
My take is that Sophie is quite right, there is among certain Brits (especially posh older men) a lazy and frankly tedious strain of 'hating the French', based on very little actual knowledge of the country next door. There's plenty to dislike and criticise about French politicians, but doing so simply because they are French is just dull.
What prompted all this, incidentally, was ex prime minister Gabriel Attal's trip to London - following in the footsteps of his mentor Emmanuel Macron who made a big effort to court London's French community back when he was launching his presidential ambitions in 2016/7.
Advertisement
French language observation of the week
I will never again be able to hear about Chat GPT without thinking of this
In French chat gpt sounds like "chatte j'ai pété" which means "pussy I farted". Every time a French person talks about chat gpt it sounds like they are saying "pussy I farted" We don't talk about this enough
— Emily Herring (
@emilyherring.bsky.social
)
26 June 2025 at 09:40
Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local France
3 hours ago
- Local France
Europe bakes in summer's first heatwave as continent warms
Temperatures are set to rise to 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit) in Rome, driving the Eternal City's many tourists and Catholic pilgrims to the Vatican alike towards the Italian capital's 2,500 public fountains for refreshment. With residents of the southern French port city of Marseille expected to have to cope with temperatures nearing 40C (104F), authorities in the country's second-largest city ordered public swimming pools to be made free of charge to help residents beat the Mediterranean heat. Two-thirds of Portugal will be on high alert on Sunday for extreme heat and forest fires, with 42C (108F) expected in the capital Lisbon, while guests at – and protesters against – Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos's Friday wedding in Venice sweltered under the summer sun. "I try not to think about it, but I drink a lot of water and never stay still, because that's when you get sunstroke," Sriane Mina, an Italian student, told AFP on Friday in Venice. Scientists have long warned that humanity's burning of fossil fuels is heating up the world with disastrous consequences for the environment, with Europe's ever-hotter and increasingly common blistering summer heatwaves a direct result of that warming. The heatwave is forecast to become even more intense on Sunday. Spain, which has in past years seen a series of deadly summer blazes ravaging the Iberian peninsula, is expecting peak temperatures in excess of 40C (104F) across most of the country. Outdoor work ban According to the Spanish meteorological agency, temperatures may even register 42C (108F) in some areas, including the Guadalquivir, Guadiana, and Tagus regions. The past three years have been the hottest in Spain's history. Advertisement With peaks of 39C (102F) expected in Naples and Palermo, Sicily has ordered a ban on outdoor work in the hottest hours of the day, as has the Liguria region in northern Italy. The country's trade unions are campaigning to extend the measure to other parts of the country. In Nice, on the French Riviera, nearly 250 portable fans have been distributed to schools over the past two weeks to help cope with the heat. The heatwave comes hot on the heels of a series of tumbling records for extreme heat, including Europe's hottest March ever, according to the EU's Copernicus climate monitor. As a result of the planet's warming, extreme weather events including hurricanes, droughts, floods and heatwaves like this weekend's have become more frequent and intense, scientists warn. By some estimates 2024, the hottest year in recorded history so far, saw worldwide disasters that cost more than $300 billion.
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Carapaz knocked out of Tour de France with stomach bug
"Last week, he began experiencing abdominal pain and a high fever," said his team EF on their website. "(Doctors) have advised against long-haul travel and competition at this time. As a result, Richard will not take part in this year's Tour de France." Carapaz finished third in the Giro d'Italia earlier in June and would have led the EF Pro Cycling team in the Tour, which starts on July 5. "We're all gutted for Richard," said Jonathan Vaughters, the EF chief. "He came out of the Giro with amazing form. "He sacrificed a lot to get to that level, so the timing really couldn't be worse. We know how much the Tour means to him, so to lose him this close to the race is a real blow." Carapaz, the 2020 Olympic champion and 2019 Giro winner, won the climbing and combativity prizes in last year's Tour de France. The team said that the 32-year-old "will take a few weeks off to let his body fully recover" and then shift his focus to the least prestigious of the Grand Tours starting on August 23. "His goal? Win the Vuelta a Espana," said the team.
France 24
6 hours ago
- France 24
Pogba signs for Monaco, hoping to revive career
The 2018 World Cup winner has made only 12 appearances across the last three seasons due to injuries, an 18-month doping ban and an extortion case in which he was the victim. Pogba failed a drugs test in August 2023 after a match for Juventus and has been free to return to football since March, although his contract at the Italian giants had been terminated last year. The midfielder will now play club football in Ligue 1 for the first time in his professional career. "I am determined to get back on the pitch, mentally ready, physically ready, it's just a matter of time," the 32-year-old told French television last weekend. Pogba played in the Le Havre youth team before signing for Manchester United in 2009. He made only a handful of first-team appearances for the three-time European champions before signing for Juventus in 2012. Pogba won four consecutive Serie A titles in Turin before rejoining United for a then-world record 105 million euros ($123 million). He moved back to Juventus three years ago but struggled with a series of injuries. In 2024, his brother Mathias was sentenced to three years in prison, with two years suspended, for his role in a plot to extort 13 million euros from Pogba in 2022. Pogba has scored 11 goals in 91 appearances for the France national team, playing a starring role and scoring in their World Cup final victory over Croatia seven years ago.
