Situated in an old industrial hall, this little public pool has some good points going for it and…read moresome bad ones too. But let me start with the positives: There is a lot of light in this pool and for me this a welcome change to all the basement-pools that I have visited in recent times. They can even open the roof on warm days and then it is a bit like like an outside pool. The 25 Meter Basin is only for Swimming with no shallow-end 1,80 Meter to 2,30 Meter deep). There is another smaller basin for children which is between 70cm and 1,20 Meter deep. The staff was numerous and very friendly, the changing-cabins are big enough and the locker-keys (bring 1€) have a proper wristband that you won´t lose in the water. Negative when I visited the pool was the cleanliness. The showers and some cabins were rather dirty. Also the building isn't really well maintained. There is rust showing everywhere and a lot of the ceiling tiles are moldy or show signs of having been moldy in the past. Also, in a pool where you can have this much sunshine and where they can open the roof, it would be great to have some sort of area where you can sit down and enjoy the sun a bit on some reclining chair or so. Sadly there is nothing like that at Piscine Hébert. It´s a bit of a shame, if this pool had been clean and better maintained it would have been my favorite parisian pool to date.

Ca y est! I've taken the plunge and have resumed my swimming habits after a (gulp!) 10-month…read morehiatus.This, my dear friends, is major news. For the last few weeks I have been preparing myself mentally for the return to water, dusting off the bathing suit, refilling my toiletries case, locking a date into my calendar, and telling my husband to hold me accountable if I made up excuses not to go. As luck would have it my Esther Wiliams moment coincided perfectly with the long weekend, so there were fewer people at the pool than usual and the people at the front door were letting every one in for free. While many municipal pools in Paris can be pretty raucous and/or ratty, the Chateau Landon pool is neither. The several story-high glass ceiling makes the space feel lofty and light, and the water, dressing cabins and showers are clean. My 30-minute swim was perfect and drama-free (Parisian swimmers can be quite caustic, not that that's much of a surprise) and the shower water was hard and hot. All in all is was a reminder to me how great this pool is and how a great swim can make you feel like a billion bucks. Now if they'd only make the showers single sex, this place would get 5 stars..

Yes, Piscine Château-Landon is the oldest indoor pool in Paris. There are a couple of reminders and…read moreold pictures inside that tell you the story of the pool. And it clearly shows that this pool has changed a lot over time since 1884. Sadly it hasn´t changed enough again in the last 20 years, but I´m getting ahead of myself. What´s also a bit sad is, that the art-deco style light-fixtures you can see in one picture are no longer there. The whole building has seen better days. Changing rooms are small and dark, in some places the paint is coming off the walls. In and around the small 25x10 Meter Basin (there is a second small basin for children) you can also find a lot of signs of repairs and general "old-ness". Around the pool, there is a lot of equipment being stored out in the open due to lack of storage-space. There are also water-marks on some of the ceiling-tiles. I was there on a very busy day and the showers were quite dirty. You should really bring shower sandals/flip-flops. That the showers for men and women aren´t seperated perhaps isn´t such a big issue, since all the showers are out in the open anyway. Upsides? The People working at Piscine Château-Landon are very nice and very relaxed. The high ceiling and big (milk-glass) windows let in a lot of light. On Balance neither a bad experience, nor a good one. I think Piscine Château-Landon deserves a trip to 21st century sometime soon and then it could be a really great pool. But as it is - it´s one of many parisian pools struggling to reach modern standards.

I finally got to visit Piscine des Amiraux after it was completley renovated and I was quite happy…read morewith the result. Renovations were only meant to take under 1 year originally, but they took over 2 years now - donc, voila, vous etes en France. It is still this old school 1930ies pool at heart with the changing cabins above the basin. Nothing has really changed apart from some led-lights in the basin. The rest of the building is as it was before the renovation, just that everything is new and works. Piscine des Amiraux only has one small pool with only 4 small lanes. There is no natural light inside the pool hall. At the shallow End (under the stairs) it's a bit too dark for my taste, but nothing really to complain about. Practical Info: Bathing Caps and tight swimwear mandatory (no surfer shorts). You don't need money for a locker. Negatives? Well, such a small pool feels crowded fast. And while I like the charm of the olden days and having your own dressing room (and no key for it - someone ), the staffing feels excessive. I counted 7 Members of Staff. How is this a bad thing? Normally parisian pools all feel terribly understaffed. And here you have 7 guys sitting around twiddling their thumbs in this really, really tiny swimming pool. That makes the understaffing at other pools feel even worse.

From the owner: Bassin de 33m X 10mProfondeur de 0,70m à 2,70m Une piscine qui a gardé son charme d'autrefois, ou…read moreplutôt des années 1930. Le bassin est entouré de cabines sur deux étages et de douches au premier niveau. De nombreuses animations y sont proposées, aérobic aquatique, aquagym (le mardi de 17h30 à 18h30), plongée subaquatique, sauvetage et même du water-polo. L'établissement compte aussi 18 cabines de bains-douches qui fonctionnent toujours chaque matin.

From the owner: Une piscine moderne Inauguré en février 2002, la Piscine Delaune est certainement l'une des…read morepiscines les plus modernes de la région parisienne. Ce complexe sportif est doté de 3 bassins : un bassin sportif (25m), un bassin ludique avec tobbogan (38 m) et un petit bassin plein air. A noter que des activités thématiques sont proposés tous les dimanches après-midi. Et pour ceux qui souhaitent simplement faire de la gymnastique, un espace forme est également disponible.

To get the few positive things out of the way: dressing-area and showers were clean when I was…read morethere. The guy cleaning them, was still busy cleaning them when I came - so it would have been really bad if not. It is also is very bright in the pool hall with big windows on one side and a general color-theme on the lighter side of things. To start with the long list of negatives, there is the state of the whole building. To say that the building has seen better days, is already pushing it. It´s quite bad. Rust and grime everywhere you look. Rotting plywood doors at the showers. The radiators in the changing cabins are full of trash, lint and they are also rusting quite badly. Said changing-cabins are also tiny. Mixed showers for men and women, but there are also 2 separate shower cabins. The 25 Meter Basin for swimming (there is another second basin for children) is also not in good shape. Joints full of grime/mold and there was quite some dirt underwater on the floor. The Lane dividers were floating around, and only one of them was the type that stops/weakens waves (usually all of them are the latter). Lots and lots of "forbidden" signs and notes everywhere. The same rules apply as in every other parisian pool - but at Piscine Mathis they really go the extra mile to let you know what you are not allowed to do. Laughable is also the maximum occupancy of 340 People listed at the entrance. They should divide that by two.

Originally opened as an open air pool in 1891 and converted to what it is now up until 1939,…read morePiscine Rouvet is the second oldest Public Swimming-pool with a roof in Paris. But while the history of a place can be very interesting, it is 2015 and Piscine Rouvet has to compete with every other pool in town. The good news right from the start: despite it´s age, this pool isn't half bad and thanks to some updates over the decades, Piscine Rouvet isn´t a museum but a decent pool in 2015. Piscine Rouvet has got a lot of charme going for it. The color-scheme seems to have been taken straight out of the 1970ies and thanks to a lot of light (floodlights combined with the milk-glass ceiling), it isn't one bit depressing. On the contrary, because of the arches the whole pool has a very airy feeling to it. It´s one of the odd sized 33 Meter-pools with 5 Lanes. 1 Meter in Depth on the shallow side, 2,80m on the other. The basin is in good shape, especially considering the age. The changing-cabins are the type where you leave your clothes in there and take the key with you (1€ piece required). They all have been renovated in 2004 and are quite nice. Showers are separated for men and women. Everything was very clean when I was there (just after they opened in the morning) and they seem to be doing a good job at building maintenance (no rust or mold). Negatives? While the changing cabins are decent in width, they are not high enough (under 2 Meters, I recon). The showers could also be showers in a prison and that´s where you can really get a sense of this building's age. The pool is not handicapped accessible. Some of the wristbands with the cabin-keys were broken.

This Review only covers the swimming-pool…read more The Public-swimming pool in the Sports complex Bertrand Dauvin is not a charming place to be, but it was quite clean when I was there and everything seemed to work. They have 2 Basins, one of 25 meters length for swimmers (80cm to 3 Meters 80 deep) and another small 12 Meters pool for non swimmers/learners/children. There is also a small area outside to soak in some sun in summer, but it is a very unwelcoming place of concrete. Showers and dressing rooms are mixed, lockers require a 1€ piece.