The Secret Life of the Seine

An unforgettable boat tour of the Seine begins in Paris, where we meet the eccentric characters, famous and otherwise, who live along the river in the city, and then continues from the river's source to its mouth.

When Rosenblum, a correspondent for the Associated Press and former editor-in-chief of the International Herald Tribune , lost his idyllic apartment on Paris's Ile Saint-Louis, he and his companion set up housekeeping on a 54-foot launch on the Seine. Inspired by the "magical Seinescape" and by the diverse, raffish population of its boating community, he mastered the intricacies of navigation so that he could explore the length of the river. Snaking through its canals, surmounting its shallows and locks, Rosenblum followed the Seine from source to mouth, stopping at villages, picnicking on the banks, delving into local history and chatting with barge owners. Once a heavily trafficked freight route, the Seine now barely supports the many barge families struggling to earn a living on it and its waters are polluted (though daring swimmers still find the river irresistible). Its history is rich: entranced by the light, Renoir and Sisley set up their easels along the Seine; Monet designed his water garden; Victor Hugo and Flaubert wrote; and Gertrude Stein ran her dogs. "As for me," notes Rosenblum, "I was hooked." And although, as he adds, "a hundred generations of poets and painters have tried to capture the shifting spirit of the Seine, and no one has managed yet," his own affectionate tribute comes close.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A lively insider's look at life on the Seine from seasoned Associated Press correspondent Rosenblum (Who Stole the News?, 1993, etc.). When Rosenblum finds himself kicked out of his apartment on the Ile Saint-Louis, he buys a houseboat and explores the river that harbors France's soul. He begins at the source in Burgundy, where water wells up unspectacularly from three cracks among the remains of a Gallo-Roman temple, and ends at the mouth at Le Havre, where the Germans made a last stand in 1944. Along the way, he offers history as far back as the Paleocene period when the bed of the Seine was the floor of a shallow inland sea, investigates river towns like Giverny, which inspired Monet to realize those radiant panels of water lilies, laments pollution by nuclear power plants that generate 75 percent of France's electricity, and explains the economic evolution of a waterway that once flourished as mom-and- pop-run barges busily transported freight only to lose out when state-owned rails and roads undercut rates. Peppered throughout are anecdotal asides: a sampling of items that float by his launch in one half-hour period includes ``one mattress, countless Styrofoam containers, a bloated pig, several condoms, dead fish, live ducks, a television set, someone's jacket, someone else's trousers, many people's lunch.'' He also presents an astounding collection of river dwellers that makes one wonder ``if the Seine manufactures characters or merely attracts them.'' And despite his obvious Francophile tendencies, he recognizes that the homeless huddling in camps under the bridges represent ``the flotsam of a society headed for trouble.'' Rosenblum's prose brilliantly captures the spirit of the Seine--the name originates from the Gallic Sequana, meaning twisting or tranquil. Alternating romantic and acerbic tones inspire admiration, if not always envy, for a historically revered culture. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Rosenblum not only shares the romance of life aboard a houseboat moored alongside a quay in Paris, but also candidly (and good-naturedly) reveals the truth about that life. His eccentric collection of river-dwelling neighbors provides plenty of material to enliven this entertaining tour, with everyday happenings capturing the essence of a most curious lifestyle. But living on a houseboat in Paris is only part of the journey. Rosenblum's fierce attachment extends to an exploration of the undulating waterways of France's renowned river. He is a knowledgeable raconteur who travels from the river's source to its final destination, delving into the history of the French people and reflecting on the current living conditions those whose lives are intimately tied to the river's barges. Alice Joyce