The Seine Riverbank, now open year-round

If you're not from the city of lights, you may be wondering, what does Paris have to do with the boardwalk? For the past twelve years, quite a lot: in the annual tradition known as Paris Plages, the city carts in 5000 tons on sand and sets up all the proper boardwalk stands, public toilets, sand castle competitions, beach volleyball courts, kayaks and paddleboats, ukelele lessons, and more along the Seine and the Paris canals, for one month every summer. In a city where vacation is considered a right more than a privilege, even the people who don't leave the city get summer vacation brought in for them. But this year, we don't have to say goodbye to our Parisian boardwalk along the banks of the Seine come late August.

This summer Paris opened its banks in a more permanent fixture, Les Berges

In addition to the standard Paris Plage, this year the highway that once ran along the Seine has been re-opened as a public promenade with picnicking areas, bars, cafés, playgrounds, and lots of free activities. Suddenly, the center of the city isn't exclusively tourist-friendly. Les Berges, as the former highway is now called, is better summed up by its own website, from which I'm stealing the excerpt:

The principal objective at the center of the Seine Riverbank regeneration project is to enable people who love Paris, residents and visitors alike, to reclaim the heart of their city.

The Seine Riverbanks are a classified UNESCO World Heritage Site, and are situated on the left and right bank, an ideal area and unique space to set up recreational activities that are open to the public.

And most importantly for me given the parts of the city I frequent,

The Left bank quays, between the Royal Bridge and the Alma Bridge, have been closed to traffic in order to turn them into a 4.5-hectare promenade. The space has been converted into a hub of nature, culture and sport with a program that offers activities for all and that changes according to the season.

I certainly can't complain that Les Berges are in such close walking distance (five to ten minutes) from Peter's new apartment.

About a block away from Peter's home and only a few blocks from Les Berges

Honestly, I'm really impressed with what the city's put together. Les Berges are about as central as you can get in Paris, yet they feel so friendly, so personal, and so far away from the hubbub of the city just above. I could go on, but they say a picture's worth a thousand words, so I'll spare you the text.

Les Berges