Paris-Plages
Paris-Plages ("Paris Beaches"; until 2006 Paris-Plage in the singular) is a plan run by the office of the
History
French city-dwellers traditionally escape to the seaside or the countryside during the summer, especially in August. Paris is avoided, as the weather is unpleasantly hot and humid, and the centre has many tourists. Nevertheless, each summer many residents are obliged to remain in the city, however reluctantly. The Paris-Plages scheme was instigated in 2002 by Bertrand Delanoë, the newly elected Socialist Party mayor, as a haven for relieving the misery of those cooped up in the sweltering city.
Initially there was a single beach on the Rive Droite. In 2006 a second beach was added on the Rive Gauche, and the scheme's name changed from singular to plural.[1] Unlike many beaches in France, topless sunbathing is not permitted. Swimming in the Seine is also not permitted, for safety reasons.[2]
The scheme has proven a major success; the number of visitors has grown each year and topped four million in 2007. Every season, new features are added.[2] These include a shuttle ferry linking the two riverbanks, a floating swimming pool, and another beach area at La Villette, in the northeast corner of the city.
The beaches were built free of charge by
Le Touquet naming dispute
The name "Paris-Plage" was
References
- ^ De Paris-Plage en Paris-Plages, la mairie de Paris a perdu sa bataille contre Le Touquet 20 July 2009
- ^ a b Paris Plage Archived 2008-01-05 at the Wayback Machine — Great Public Spaces
- ^ Baghdijan, Alice; Nussbaum, Ania (March 29, 2017). "Paris Boycotts LafargeHolcim in Protest Over Trump's Mexico Wall". Bloomberg. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
- ^ Appellation - Bataille autour de "Paris-Plage"
- ^ Le Touquet-Paris-Plage et Paris-Plage : vers la paix des braves (27/01/2008)
External links
Media related to Paris Plages at Wikimedia Commons