A RIVER VIEW OF PARIS

THE REMARKABLE French music-hall star Mistinguett described the Seine as a "pretty blonde with laughing eyes." The river most certainly has a beguiling quality, but the relationship that exists between it and the city of Paris is far more than one of flirtation.

No other European city defines itself by its river in the same way as Paris. The Seine is the essential point of reference to the city: distances are measured from it, street numbers determined by it, and it divides the capital into 2 distinct areas, the Right Bank on the north side of the river and the Left Bank on the south side. These are as well-defined as any of the official boundaries. The city is also divided historically: the east is linked to the city's ancient roots and the west to the 19th-20th centuries.
Practically every building of note in Paris is either along the river bank or within a stone's throw of it. THe quays are lined by fine bourgeois apartments, magnificent town houses, world-renowned museums and striking monuments.

Above all, the river is very much alive. For centuries fleet of small boats used it, but motorized land traffic stifled this once-bustling scene. Today, the river is busy with commercial barges and massive bateaux mouches pleasure boats carrying sightseers up and down the river.