First, France cleaned the polluted river so that Olympians could swim there. Now, a year later, it is opening three sites for locals to plunge in.

Dozens of people arrived early in the morning on Saturday to paddle into the once-polluted water, following a clean-up brought on by last year's Summer Olympics.

The French capital's iconic waterway has been largely closed to swimmers since 1923 due to pollution and risks from river navigation.