River Seine is the river that flows through Paris. It cuts the city into two halves, the Right Bank, or La Rive Droite, to the north, and the Left Bank, or La Rive Gauche, to the south.
Within Paris alone there are 37 bridges across the Seine. The more famous ones within Paris includes the Pont Louis-Philippe and Pont Neuf. Outside of Paris, Pont de Normandie is one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world.
Bridge over the River Seine, Paris
Author: Joshua Veitch-Michaelis (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
The Seine is the second longest river in France. It is 776 kilometers (482 miles) long. Of this length, only 120 kilometers is navigable by ocean-going vessels, that is, as far as the city of Rouen. Commercial riverboats can go up as far as Burgundy near the Swiss Alps, which is 60% of the length.
The name Seine is believed to have been derived from the Latin word sequana, which is said to mean "sacred river". In the Normandy area, the Seine is also known as Rodo. This Celtic name means "river" in general, and is also the stem for the name of the Rhône.
Barges on the River Seine, Paris
Author: Pline (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
View of the River Seine from Pont des Arts
Author: MarkusMark (public domain)
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