Seine River, Paris, France

1600x1200   1024x768   200x150

Seine River

 

The Seine River is France’ second longest river. It is one of Paris’ most notable natural features.

It greatly contributes to the unique character of the city making it very distinctive and remarkable.

“Seine” originates for the Latin word “Sequana” which means “sacred river”. The Seine has inspired the works of artists such as Maurice Boitel, Frédéric Bazille, Raoul Dufy, Richard Parkes Bonington, Camille Corot, Eugène Boudin, Charles-François Daubigny, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Raimond Lecourt.

Apart from serving as artistic inspiration and as a romantic backdrop in many photographs of the

city, the river is a major commercial waterway in the Île-de-France and Haute-Normandie regions.
With tourist boats offering sightseeing excursions of the Rive Gauche and the Rive Droite, the

Seine River also contributes largely to Paris’ thriving tourist industry.

The river ends at the English Channel. Ten percent of its length going towards Rouen is traversable by oceanic transport while sixty percent from Burgundy is navigable by commercial riverboats. Recreational boating is allowed on most parts of the river.

Within Paris, the river’s width is spanned by 37 bridges while dozens more lie outside the city. These bridges include the Pont Neuf, the Pont Louis-Philippe and one of the world’s longest cable-stayed bridges , the Pont de Normandie