Seine

PARIS -- In 1967, Georges Pompidou transformed the Right Bank quais of Paris into a "voie rapide": a high-speed expressway. "The French love their cars," the prime minister declared, cutting Parisians off from their tranquil Seine. But the election in 2001 of Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delano has reconnected citizens to their beloved river, if for only a few fleeting weeks each year. Delano's pet project is Paris-Plage, a riverside festival and "Paris-Beach" party occupying a 2-mile stretch between the Pont des Arts, by the Louvre, to the Pont de Sully, at the eastern tip of Ile Saint-Louis.

Rachel Polan spent half her senior year at the Boston University Paris Center. She studied, lived in a French household, and worked as an intern with the Dow Jones Enterprise Media Group, planning events and helping with ad campaigns. Read about her adventures in Paris on her blog, www.polanposts.blogspot.com. RIVER DANCING: One of the coolest places I have been to is called the "Batofar"(www.batofar.org), a boat in the Seine that has concerts ranging from dub to indie, with four floors of dancing and music.

It's every male wallflower's dream: walk into a hall of beautiful people, choose the woman you would like as a partner, nod confidently in her direction, and watch as she meets you on the dance floor. One caveat: In this country, when you take her hand you had better know how to tango. With the goal of understanding my fascination with the dance and maybe learning a few steps, I introduce myself to Edith Paez, a tango instructor in Buenos Aires. "It's OK to be a beginner in an all-level class?"

PARIS - It's the Paris version of the "staycation": Marc des Bouillons lounged in a beach chair with a book, surrounded by women in bikinis, ice cream stands, a DJ spinning summer tunes, and children running amok. Sounds like vacation, but it was just an evening after work at a makeshift beach on the banks of the Seine - a pale substitute for a real beach holiday, the best many Parisians can do in these troubled economic times. The European summer vacation just isn't what it used to be. With economies stagnating and inflation in the euro zone about 4 percent, people are cutting the length of...

Rachel Polan spent half her senior year at the Boston University Paris Center. She studied, lived in a French household, and worked as an intern with the Dow Jones Enterprise Media Group, planning events and helping with ad campaigns. Read about her adventures in Paris on her blog, www.polanposts.blogspot.com. RIVER DANCING: One of the coolest places I have been to is called the "Batofar"(www.batofar.org), a boat in the Seine that has concerts ranging from dub to indie, with four floors of dancing and music.

PARIS - It's the Paris version of the "staycation": Marc des Bouillons lounged in a beach chair with a book, surrounded by women in bikinis, ice cream stands, a DJ spinning summer tunes, and children running amok. Sounds like vacation, but it was just an evening after work at a makeshift beach on the banks of the Seine - a pale substitute for a real beach holiday, the best many Parisians can do in these troubled economic times. The European summer vacation just isn't what it used to be. With economies stagnating and inflation in the euro zone about 4 percent, people are cutting the...

PARIS -- Bikini-clad sun worshippers and other Parisians are flocking to Paris Beach, a lengthy stretch of trucked-in sand along the Seine River. Now in its third year, Paris Plage, as it is known in French, was designed to bring a feeling of the French Riviera and other beach hot spots to city dwellers stuck in the capital during vacation season. The sand will remain along the Seine until Aug. 20. This year's installation has included the construction of a waist-deep swimming pool for 200 people, built amid the volleyball courts, sandy beaches, and palm trees...

PARIS -- The mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, has a love affair with cycling, which is very good news for all other cyclists in the city. Designated bicycle lanes and bike rentals that offer five-speed bikes as well as helmets, locks, baskets, water bottles, and even shoes are springing up all over the city. Picture yourself cycling along the Seine past the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Louvre. Thanks to Delanoe, roads along the Seine are closed to auto traffic Sundays and holidays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the convenience of...

‘Dance at Bougival" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir is one of the best-loved works of art in Boston. Six feet tall and a couple of feet wide, it shows a man and woman, full-length and casually attired, dancing in an outdoor cafe on the outskirts of Paris. Cigarette butts are scattered on the ground at their feet. The painting, one of Renoir's most famous, hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts, where it sends out palpable vibrations of pleasure, creating its own mini-climate of amorousness.

PORTLAND, Maine - Fishermen say they are seeing more herring returning to the Gulf of Maine, where a ban on trawlers that drag nets through the water has been in effect through the summer. "There has been lots of sea life, and it kind of amazes me," Daniel Fill, captain of a Rockland-based fishing boat, said. "I have seen fish where I haven't seen them for years. They're in nice, big bunches for miles. " Other purse seine herring fishermen, whale-watching companies, and tuna fishermen are reporting similar observations.

It's every male wallflower's dream: walk into a hall of beautiful people, choose the woman you would like as a partner, nod confidently in her direction, and watch as she meets you on the dance floor. One caveat: In this country, when you take her hand you had better know how to tango. With the goal of understanding my fascination with the dance and maybe learning a few steps, I introduce myself to Edith Paez, a tango instructor in Buenos Aires. "It's OK to be a beginner in an all-level class?"

PARIS -- The mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, has a love affair with cycling, which is very good news for all other cyclists in the city. Designated bicycle lanes and bike rentals that offer five-speed bikes as well as helmets, locks, baskets, water bottles, and even shoes are springing up all over the city. Picture yourself cycling along the Seine past the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Louvre. Thanks to Delanoe, roads along the Seine are closed to auto traffic Sundays and holidays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the...

PARIS -- Bikini-clad sun worshippers and other Parisians are flocking to Paris Beach, a lengthy stretch of trucked-in sand along the Seine River. Now in its third year, Paris Plage, as it is known in French, was designed to bring a feeling of the French Riviera and other beach hot spots to city dwellers stuck in the capital during vacation season. The sand will remain along the Seine until Aug. 20. This year's installation has included the construction of a waist-deep swimming pool for 200 people, built amid the volleyball courts, sandy beaches, and...

PARIS -- In 1967, Georges Pompidou transformed the Right Bank quais of Paris into a "voie rapide": a high-speed expressway. "The French love their cars," the prime minister declared, cutting Parisians off from their tranquil Seine. But the election in 2001 of Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delano has reconnected citizens to their beloved river, if for only a few fleeting weeks each year. Delano's pet project is Paris-Plage, a riverside festival and "Paris-Beach" party occupying a 2-mile stretch between the Pont des Arts, by the Louvre, to the Pont de Sully, at the eastern tip of Ile Saint-Louis.

AMSTERDAM — Bobby Farrell, whose group Boney M topped the 1970s European charts with its glittering showmanship and blend of disco and Calypso music, was found dead in his hotel bed yesterday while on tour in Russia, his agent said. He was 61. The frontman appeared as scheduled in St. Petersburg Wednesday night, but complained of breathing problems before and after his show, said the agent, John Seine. The group had 38 top 10 hits, including 15 number ones in Germany. They included “Brown Girl in the Ring’’ and “Mary’s Boychild.’’ Their version of “By...

PARIS -- Rene Lasserre, a chef who hosted celebrities from Salvador Dali to Robert de Niro in his eponymous and renowned restaurant in Paris, has died at age 93, colleagues said. Mr. Lasserre died at his home in Morsang-sur-Seine, south of Paris, on Wednesday night, said Louis Canfailla, his business partner for 37 years. In 1949, at just 36, Mr. Lasserre earned his first star in the venerable Michelin guide to French restaurants, and he went on to become one of the top names in French haute cuisine.