SDP on tour....Two women of Paris Number 2: Josephine Baker

From the Simone de Beauvoir Bridge, shown yesterday, you can see the Piscine Josephine Baker  - a floating pool moored on the Seine. Of course, I had to check it out for a swim. Cameras are banned inside (why? is it concern over photos being taken of people in swimsuits in public?) so I had to sneak the shots below. For a modest sum ( 5 euros for 2 hours) I swam some 25 metre laps, on a day when it wasn't too crowded. I imagine that when Paris Plage (the "beach" set up along the river terraces) is in full swing, it gets very busy.

If you do want to swim, bear in mind that, like most pools in France, it is compulsory to wear a bathing cap.

Piscine Josephine Baker from Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir

Josephine Baker was an American who found fame in Paris as a singer and dancer. She was a French Resistance fighter, the first American woman to be awarded the Croix de Guerre. Baker was also awarded the Rosette de la Resistance and made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. She was active in the Civil Rights Movement in the US and refused to perform for segregated audiences.

I am not nearly as brave or intrepid; the only thing I did was suffer the wrath of a pool attendant who ticked me off for taking the photo at left. This particular piece of ingenuity is a moveable hair dryer, which adjusts up and down the runners according to desired height.