LAST week proved to be a tough challenge for Zouave (pronounced zoo-aav), one of the most recognisable symbols of the French capital, when he started getting his feet in water.
Following non-stop rains all over the country for the past three months and freezing cold weather, much to the chagrin of global-warming enthusiasts, the Loing, a tributary of the Seine, boiled over turning the streets of sidelong cities such as Montargis, Nemours and Souppe into canals.
In newspaper photographs and television camera shots showing boats rowing along buildings and houses one could easily confound these towns with Venice. When the Loing emptied its extra load into the Seine, panic also gripped Paris.
Louvre, Musée d’Orsay and other museums in the risk zones closed their doors and hurriedly shifted paintings and sculptures to upper floors. River bank parks, cafés and driveways were barred to the public.
An event largely ignored for some reason by local and international media was the submergence into water of a part of the Jatte island, north-east of Paris. Reputed for its ‘open-air studio’ where famous painters like Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Vincent Van Gogh and many others created their masterpieces, Jatte is today most frequently visited by art enthusiasts who come to see the replicas of works and the details of their creations. Last week these landmarks slid many metres deep into the rising waters of the Seine.