National Geographic - USA (2021-11)

THE LOST RIVER OF PARIS

upstream suburbs, and the Paris mayor’s office has

launched a feasibility study to look at uncovering

stretches in the city. The renaissance of the Bièvre

reflects a green shift in city planning. “There’s new

momentum for this project as we face the climate

crisis, increasing heat waves, and the threat to biodi-

versity,” says Dan Lert, the deputy mayor overseeing

Paris’s ecological transition, climate plan, water, and

energy. “We can’t continue the way we used to with

urban development.”

The Bièvre bubbles up from its source in Guyan-

court, roughly 22 miles southwest of Paris. From

this boulder-strewn stream, it snakes through the

land, spilling into ponds that fed the fountains at the

Palace of Versailles and hydrating a string of suburbs.

A RIVER USED TO MEANDER through my Left Bank

neighborhood in Paris. From the southern city limit

that’s now Parc Kellermann in the 13th arrondisse-

ment, the Bièvre fed mills and tanneries before its

confluence with the Seine in the 5th arrondissement.

But by the early 20th century, the Bièvre had become

so odoriferous and polluted that it had been buried

underground, its water diverted into the sewers.

Although the Seine evokes romance, the Bièvre is

largely unknown to the millions of travelers who visit

the French capital every year. But many Parisians

have harbored a long-standing dream of resurrecting

a river that, to them, has taken on mythic status. This

dream is now close to becoming a reality. In recent

years, sections of the river have been reopened in

BY MARY WINSTON NICKLIN

VICTOR HUGO WROTE ABOUT THE BIÈVRE. NOW CONSERVATION

EFFORTS ARE BRINGING PARTS OF THE HISTORIC WATERWAY BACK.

The Bièvre River flows through a park in the suburb of Fresnes, one of the few places it can be seen above ground.

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PHOTO: TOMAS VAN HOUTRYVE