French life
Swimming Pools in Paris
More than 38 swimming pools and 2 nautical bases in Paris offer the possibility to practise one's favourite water sports be it swimming, aqua-gym, diving, canoeing, kayak, rowing or sailing. There exist 10 basins for school children as well.

© Rufino Uribe. Creative Commons Attribution
Out of these 38 swimming pools, 23 are equipped to receive handicapped persons or those with reduced mobility. More than 20 swimming pools are open up to 8 PM at least once in a week; 14 swimming pools (notably Josephine Baker with more than 300 places, Saint Merri, ...) have solarium or sun-rooms for sunbathing; and 6 swimming pools (Keller, Auteuil, Hébert,...) are turned open-air during summer months.
Vacations on the beach- Safety & Health Concerns
Safety is a non-negligible factor when it comes to enjoying the vacations without any spoilers. Most of the popular beaches in France have lifeguards, lifesaving and first-aid equipments during the 'bathing' season. If it is a good beach, usually, there is a map of the beach indicating different facilities such as drinking water, toilets, showers, access and facilities provided for the physically disabled as well.

Crédit photo : Ville de Saint-Jean-de-Monts
The academic year 2009-2010 draws to a close on July 2nd, 2010 all over France. The 2-month long school vacations will start from the afternoon of Friday, July 2nd, after the class. The schools will reopen on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010.
Paris and Films
Paris has appeared in countless films of Hollywood to Bollywood passing through the French cinema, of course. Each year, more than 650 film shoots take place in more than 4,000 outdoor locations of Paris. Paris landmarks and landscapes have appeared in films, television soaps, advertisements, documentaries, short films etc. made by French and the foreigners alike.
As the just released film 'Adèle BlancSec' by Luc Besson takes the viewers on a trip to Paris of 1912, let us look at the relation of Paris with the 7th art.
Pigeons in Paris
Seeing pigeons on the Parisian landscape is as common as the famous dog poop on Parisian streets. With the ratio of 1 pigeon per 25 Parisians, what does it mean to share one's space with this bird kind ? Here's their story, second hand of course !

In Paris, there are three existing species* of pigeon- the Rock pigeon (Columba livia), Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) and the Stock pigeon (Columba oenas). It may be known that as many as 174 species of birds form the biodiversity of Paris along with 2000 species each of plants and animals, 3 species of reptiles, 10 species of amphibians, 33 species of mammals and 36 species of fishes.
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