Seine River Flooding at Notre Dame

by Liesl Walsh

Title

Seine River Flooding at Notre Dame

Artist

Liesl Walsh

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photograph

Description

In this image the flooding of the Seine River in Paris near Notre Dame has covered the lower walkways along the river. Boats are moored snugly along the edge of where the walkway ends, so you can see how far the waters rose. Trees and the batobus watertaxi signs are submerged. In late May and early June 2016 Paris received a lot of rain, which flooded the Seine River to 15-17 meters above its normal level. It was quite a sight to see! Thankfully the water did not go over the banks; however, the lower level walkways and buildings at the water level were flooded for at least a week. Water taxi stands were submerged. Water levels were too high for boats to travel underneath the ornate bridges so boat traffic ceased for nearly a week until the waters receded. In 1910 the Seine flooded at 28 meters above normal level which brought the waters into the streets of the city. The 2016 flood closed metro lines along the Seine and nearby metro lines traveled at slower speeds as they got close to the river. The Louvre and Musee' d'Orsay closed for around 6 days since the water levels endangered the safety of the masterpieces. Both museums ironically had recent emergency drills for moving masterpieces from lower levels of the museums to higher ones for safety, and during the flood they moved them again.

You can read about our adventure in Europe in my husband's book, "Vagabonds in France", by Michael A. Barry. Come with us as we lose our home, put everything in storage, and navigate through Europe for a few months with no return date or home to come back to. Sail across the Atlantic, dodge pickpockets, climb mountains, descend into the Paris Metro, endure nasty weather and illness, witness the flood of the century, and meet some wonderful and not-so-wonderful people. Chuckle with us as we live among the French and try to learn their ways and language. Then make it back home to an empty house we'd never seen before. The book with its 75 illustrations is available in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCUNSEK .

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October 10th, 2016

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