Before I arrived in Paris the other day, I had already been hearing about the great deal of rain that Paris had seen recently. Once I got settled in my Airb&b, I headed out for a walk in the Tuileries Garden toward the Seine. As I approached the Seine, I was shocked to see the lower entrance of the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor completely covered in water. There was already a fence in place, but I had rarely or never seen it closed. Today, of course, it was firmly shut to protect from going down to the lower access point to the bridge, which was now under water.

My cousins are in town at the moment and they’ve just informed me that they won’t be able to go on their Bateaux Mouches tour scheduled for tomorrow after all due to boats not being able to pass under the bridges. Can you imagine just how high the water must be for that to be true?!

There isn’t much to say about this, as the photos speak for themselves, I’d say. They aren’t pretty, but this is a good reminder that climate change is real and it has real effects that are far worse than pretty bridges being impassable.

Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

The path to Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor, which you can usually enter from beneath in the Tuileries

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

A set of stairs up to the bridge… notice the wheel

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

Square du Vert Galant, a garden at almost water level next to Pont Neuf

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

Notice the trees on the right halfway under water

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

View from Pont Neuf, artists still at work

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

Notice how high the boat is and how difficult it would be for it to pass under Pont Neuf

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

Beautiful Notre Dame standing tall in the distance

Musee d'orsay, Pont Royal, flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

The Musée d’Orsay with the impassable Pont Royal in front

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

Could-be water slide right in front of the Musée d’Orsay

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

Even the large péniches are difficult to access

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

Pont des Arts with the new glass panels having replaced the love locks

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

Louvre Museum – they have had to bring the art up from the basement!

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

Here, the benches and quais are no longer visible at all

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

No boats passing under that bridge!

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

Everyone in such disbelief that we are all constantly taking photos

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

flood, Paris, Seine, Paris flood 2016, grue 2016 Paris, Julia Willard, Julie Willard, Falling Off Bicycles

More images can be found in this second flood post.