How long is seine

A section of the pedestrian bank has been designated the "Paris Beach" by the new Mayor, and has become THE summer attraction in the city. Thousands of tons of sand are imported along with full size palm trees, beach chairs and chaise-lounges to create what may be the only artificial "beach" in Europe.

It's bizarre, but the French love it. Whether you like it or not, it's a good chance to see some scantily clad Parisians. The riverbanks are worth exploring.

There are floating restaurants, discos, cafes for those who can afford it, and free benches for all those travelers who are just as happy to enjoy the same view with their own wine, bread and cheese from a local grocer. Houseboats can be examined close up on the right bank near the Orangerie, and the stone walls of the quays are a type of code language for the river's past.

If you look carefully you can see the various water levels form past floods, the giant iron rings used to tie river barges to the docks, the odd iron grate or doorway leading to an underground passage, an ancient sewer system, metro portals, an unknown catacomb?

The best way to get the feel of the river is of course by boat. There are many boat tour operators in Paris offering various levels of service form taxi-boats to private dining experiences. The most famous are still the Bateaux-Mouches. There is another sightseeing cruise that sails the Canal St Martin. From the Paris Arsenal Marina to the Parc de la Villette or the other way around the trip takes around two and a half hours.

Beyond the mere technical facts surrounding the river and its environs is a deeper and more inexplicable attraction. The water speaks to us of a past we will never experience but nevertheless find ourselves linked to by association. Staring at the murky river from a cold bridge in a Parisian winter it is impossible not to think of Paul Celan, the tormented poet of the holocaust, who plunged to his death in those same waters, or the less known victims of French revolution when hundreds of bodies were dredged from the depths, or simply the unnamed and uncelebrated who also met their ends at the river bottom.

This is not to say the river represents a cult of death, but it's interesting to conceive of it as part of the full cycle of life. Great triumphs and great tragedies have occurred near the river which less aware tourists view as the background to their photo collection.

It works just like bus service which you can hop on and off. You can buy a day pass or a two day pass and use it to travel up and down the river at your pleasure. The boats are nice too wooden decks and glass walls and roof.

For the convenience of plaisanciers entering the system from the English Channel, we describe here the Lower Seine Seine aval from Le Havre to Paris, a distance of km.

Over the first 68km from Marcilly the river is in effect a branch of the waterway network, developed for large-scale navigation up to the busy grain terminal of Nogent PK This is open to tonne barges. Works remain to be completed to bring the waterway to Nogent up to European Class V standards.

The river is here called the Petite-Seine. At Montereau PK 68 , it becomes the Haute-Seine, and is joined by the canalised river Yonne on the left bank, forming part of the Burgundy route from Paris to the south of France. Despite the volume of commercial traffic, the Seine above Paris remains largely unspoilt and offers some of the most picturesque river scenery in France. This is of little importance, however, since the two bridges are level with each other on either side of the island.

Locks — There are 19 locks between Marcilly and Paris, of which 11 are situated on the Petite-Seine down to Montereau overcoming a difference in level of 21m , the remaining 8 on the Haute-Seine overcoming a difference in level of 20m.

The first four locks down to Nogent are 38m long and 7. The following five down to Bray-sur-Seine are The last two locks on the Petite-Seine, Grande Bosse and Marolles, built in the s, are of large dimensions, by 12m. The m long man-made embankment was built in and served as a point of reinforcement for the construction of three Parisian bridges. The wide meander it formed on the Right Bank became redundant when the river eventually managed to open its current bed.

The large enclave of land became a marsh Marais. These two religious establishments were for many years the only settlements in the Marais. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Skip to content. River Seine — the source The River Seine is fully associated with Paris, but it originates in a distant land! Source of the River Seine. Seine by Notre-Dame Cathedral. Seen from the river Seine.