“In three years, I will go swimming in the Seine in front of witnesses to prove that it is a clean river.” Fortunately, Jacques Chirac knew not to persevere. But Macronism is not Chiraquism, it is a will. Tenacious. Organize the Paris 2024 Olympic Games without an event in the Parisian river on the pretext that some bacteria would splash around there? Unthinkable, for Emmanuel Macron. These Olympics will be magnificent. “Of course I will go [me baigner dans la Seine]”, he declared in February 2024 to the press. At Paris town hall, we are of the same opinion. “I tell you: yes, we are going to swim. Yes, we’re going to do it”, swore Anne Hidalgo in January. Rivalry in politics works wonders. But it turns out to be relatively useless in fighting the Escherichia coli.
While the Seine (and the Marne), for months, have benefited from sanitation treatments, the latest samples still indicate an excessive presence of bacteria, the fault, in particular, of the weather which keeps the water temperature below the 22 degrees necessary for the disappearance of these organisms. June 23, the date hoped for by Anne Hidalgo for a first demonstration of “her little crawl”, in her words, the Escherichia coli could still be too numerous, thus preventing a dive. Most likely scenario at this stage: a postponement of the festivities on June 30. What if this frightening underwater world and “the still too powerful flow” of the water, according to the City Hall advisors, constituted the Parisian swimmer’s greatest chance?
Because, according to our information, the official letter sent by the mayor of the capital on May 23 to Emmanuel Macron, in order to offer him a shared bath, remains unanswered to this day. At the Elysée, we confirm receipt of the missive, the absence of a response, but we are careful not to specify the date of the butterfly swimming demonstration by the Head of State. The presidential agenda is so moving…
“It’s a mayor’s business, not a president’s thing”
A silence which could suggest, we imagine in Anne Hidalgo’s entourage, that the synchronized swimming show organized by the town hall – and for which the mayor has already chosen her “suit covering the upper thighs and the upper arms, because the water will be cold!” – be replaced before the time by a solo from the Élysée swimmer. In short: let the Head of State pull the rug out from under the mayor by inaugurating the Seine first, alone. His advisors neither confirm nor deny.
“I don’t know what sign he would like to give by doing this,” observes Anne Hidalgo placidly. “I don’t think he has the inelegance of a solitary dive. Chirac was mayor of Paris when he made his promise… It’s a mayor’s job, not a president’s job.” And the same to reiterate his invitation: “He is welcome, I share the photo!” Around her, faith in human beings, especially when his name is Emmanuel Macron, seems less tenacious: we are betting instead on the sudden appearance on social networks of a slick and foggy photo, in black and white. , signed by official photographer Soazig de la Moissonnière, representing the Head of State tasting the water, before anyone else. A bath to finish drying up relationships. Uncommon.