The Seine as Boulevard

The river that divided Paris also united it. The Seine served as the city's grandest boulevard, its bridges stages for daily dramas. The Pont Neuf's ancient arches framed modern life. The ornate Pont Alexandre III proclaimed French-Russian alliance. Each bridge had its character, its regulars, its rituals.

The bouquinistes—book sellers in their green boxes—created an open-air library stretching for kilometers. Here students found cheap textbooks, collectors discovered rare editions, lovers bought poetry. The myth of finding valuable first editions for centimes drew browsers, though most bouquinistes knew their stock's value precisely.

The bateaux-mouches, steam-powered excursion boats, democratized river views previously reserved for riparian property owners. For a few sous, workers could cruise past aristocratic hotels, seeing Paris from its ceremonial center. Evening cruises under electric lights created floating parties. "From the river," noted one guidebook, "Paris reveals itself as theater, each quai a different act."

Swimmers and bathers claimed the Seine despite its increasing pollution. The floating baths—enclosed pools filled with filtered river water—provided urban beaches. Men and women bathed separately, but the proximity of barely clothed bodies scandalized conservatives. The annual swimming races drew thousands of spectators watching nearly naked athletes struggle against the current.