Anyone who knows the symbol of Paris (a ship on a red and blue background) knows that the city's motto is "Fluctuat Nec Mergitur" or in Hebrew "Swaying but not sinking". Indeed, since the Middle Ages, Paris has had a love affair mixed with fear with its river, the Seine. In the past, the river was the source of the city's wealth, which is why the symbol of Paris is actually the symbol of the guild of water merchants, who used the Seine to transport goods from Paris throughout France and from France to the City of Lights. Today, the Seine is one of the elements that make Paris such a magical and romantic place, as any couple who has kissed on one of the bridges over the Seine in the evening can tell you. Eiffel Tower Sparkling in the background, the Fontainebleau is illuminated with precious light. On the other hand, throughout that period, the Seine was often responsible for the floods and disasters that befell the city.
1910: The Great Flood of Paris
Over the centuries, the Seine has occasionally overflowed its banks, which is why many of the city's historic bridges no longer exist (the vast majority were washed away by it). The most famous flood in Paris occurred in January 1910, when the river overflowed its banks and reached a peak level of 8.62 meters. As a result, the riverbanks and the city center were flooded and Paris became a kind of Venice for 35 days. That flood affected not only the riverbank districts (1,4,5,6, 7, 8, 9 and XNUMX) but also more inland districts such as the XNUMX and XNUMX, and the water reached almost as far as the Saint-Lazare train station.
As a result, the sewage overflowed and flooded the the metro and the basements of the houses that became a kind of makeshift swimming pools. Even the Eiffel Tower moved about 2 cm from its axis, but Gustave Eiffel, effectively French Exceptionally, he erected the tower on hydraulic pumps and thus managed to easily level the tower and not turn it into the French version of the Tower of Pisa. The Parisians of that time adapted quite quickly to the fact that the Seine had caused Paris to form a twin-city alliance with Venice and began to organize themselves accordingly. Boats sprang up everywhere and became a legitimate means of transportation. At the same time, a kind of “refugee camps” were organized inside churches and schools to house residents who had lost their homes in the floods. However, even French efficiency had its limits and sometimes stupid things were done during the floods that the Israeli bureaucracy could be proud of. Without a doubt, the stupidest decision was to move the garbage that had accumulated in the houses and streets to the Pont Tolbiac Bridge and from there to throw it into the Seine. Why was it stupid, you ask? The reason for this is the direction of the river's flow, which caused the garbage to return to the streets of Paris exactly where it was soon collected by legions of workers who toiled for hours...
At the end of January and beginning of February, when the water began to recede, it became clear that the damage from the flood was about 400 million francs, but fortunately for everyone there were no casualties, as the river water rose relatively slowly and allowed for an orderly evacuation of residents. Perhaps that is why the event remains a kind of comic event in history. France Which created endless jokes, some of which were created during the flooding. One of the most amusing photos (at least to me) is a photo of a cafe closed due to the flooding. The name of the cafe, in case you were wondering, is “The Aquarium”…
The Zouave Statue – the official water level gauge of Paris
Although more than a century has passed since the great flood of 1910, the way to measure the water level of the Seine has not changed. Parisians still look up at the statue of a Zouave (a French soldier from the colonial army in North Africa) that stands on the Pont d'Alma. The Zouave statue is part of a series of statues of French soldiers, which were created to decorate the original Pont d'Alma. This bridge is named after one of the battles of the Crimean War, in which the French managed not to lose, and the statues of the soldiers marked the units that participated in that battle. In the 70s, the bridge was rebuilt and the statues of the soldiers were moved to various locations in France. The only one that survived on the bridge was the Zouave…
On normal days, the soldier stands on a pedestal on the river, looking down the river. If his toes are submerged in the water, Parisians are already checking gondola prices on Amazon. In 1910, the statue was submerged up to his elbows and looked like he was about to join the French army’s “Frogmen” unit (literally).
Flooded Paris: Then and Now
Parisians know that a flood like the one in 1910 can happen once every hundred years (that's why everyone was sure that Paris would flood in 2010 and the city did flood… in the exhibitions dealing with the flood of 1910). In order to better prepare for the case of a flood (as is happening these days), the “Neptune” program was prepared, which includes about 10,000 municipal workers and soldiers. Of course, the most important thing is that the radio programs do not stop for a moment. After all, Paris cannot survive if, in the background of the work to save the city, discussions about the philosophical meanings of the flood or politicians blaming each other in the French version of the program of Razi Barkai… Therefore, a 330-meter barrier was prepared to protect the French Radio building, which stands on the banks of the river, from flooding. Special taps were also installed in the restrooms on site to prevent the French Radio sewage from overflowing (a nice trick, let's try it on Galei Tzahal and Reshet B).
Of course also The Louvre Preparing in March and already partially closed to tourists. Don't worry about the artworks, an army of volunteers is already ready to move them from the basements to higher floors and I'm pretty sure the heavy sculptures have already been moved since the rumors of flooding started (and here's another reason for you Why you should give up on your visit to the Louvre again) . And if you thought Paris only cares about its culture, then you'll be happy to know that it also cares about the homeless, whom it removes from the banks of the Seine (so that their bodies don't float, God forbid, and enter the Louvre through its windows. After all, the Louvre is not a museum of modern art, and the bodies of homeless people would not be welcome there as art exhibits).
So dear Francophiles, there is nothing to worry about. Paris will survive this flood and will soon be flooded again, this time with something worse than the Parisian sewer. It will be flooded with football fans….
The article was written on June 3, 2016.
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