The Bras Marie bathing site has closed its doors for good after a successful first summer season in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. Over 75,600 people took advantage of the three free bathing sites set up on the Seine during the summer of 2025, making this experiment an undeniable popular success. However, this emblematic site at the foot of the Pont de Sully and opposite the Île Saint-Louis will not be reopening its pontoons next year.
This definitive closure is part of a commitment made by the French government and the City of Paris at the outset of the project. The Île-de-France prefecture points out that "since the formalization of the three bathing sites last May, it has been announced that the site would be moved in subsequent years. This is a commitment made by the State with the City of Paris to offer a site more suitable for boat navigation".
Back in March, river transport professionals voiced their concerns about the impact of swimming in the Seine on their business. The Bras Marie poses a particular challenge due to its geographical configuration: navigation is divided in two, with the main arm on one side and the Bras Marie on the other.
Didier Leandri, President of Entreprises fluviales de France (E2F), explains that"if [le] closes [pour], cruise ships will have to pass through the main branch and insert themselves into alternating traffic, which would create traffic jams". This situation would have a direct impact on the river tourism sector, which carries 9 million passengers a year, mainly during the summer months.
Taoufik El Amrani, director of Compagnie des Bateaux-Mouches, admitted to Le Figaro that his crews had been able to work most of the time, but regretted the lack of information about weather-related closures. A cargo boat owner also testified to the additional constraints, explaining that he had to work Saturday nights to avoid Sunday closures.
The prefecture assures us that"no boat or barge was prevented from navigating" during this first season, but recognizes the need to find more sustainable solutions, actu Paris informs us. Two options are currently under consideration to replace the site in the 4th arrondissement: a location at the Pont Louis-Philippe in the 4th arrondissement, or another at the Tino-Rossi gardens in the 5th.
The Tino-Rossi garden has an interesting historical advantage: back in the 16th and 17th centuries, Parisians would gather here to bathe in the Seine. This site, which runs along the banks between the Austerlitz and Sully bridges, could offer a setting just as prestigious as the former Bras Marie, with greater compatibility with commercial navigation.
This search for a new location is in line with the Plan Baignade, launched in 2016 and endowed with over 1.4 billion euros of investment. The goal remains ambitious: to gradually develop some twenty potential sites spread across 16 communes of the Greater Paris Metropolis by 2028.
The other two Paris bathing sites - Grenelle in the 15th arrondissement and Bercy in the 12th arrondissement - continue to operate as normal. The Grenelle site remains open until September 7, and the Bercy site until September 14, with a bonus weekend planned for September 20 and 21 in the 12th arrondissement.
This first bathing season on the Seine will have tested the cohabitation of different uses of the river. The Bras Marie may be drawing to a close, but its legacy lives on in the search for a sustainable balance between aquatic leisure and economic activities on the Paris Seine. Swimmers will have to wait until 2026 to discover the new site that will take over from this pioneer of urban bathing in the capital.
Recommended age
For all
