Delightful art deco 33m pool in Paris. Remember to take a bathing hat!…read moreSo pleased to have found this large, airy pool in Paris! 4.50 Euro per visit, with very complicated opening hours in between school use, so check times before going. After buying a ticket, you go upstairs and enter the 'no outdoor shoes area' where an unsmiling member of staff will snatch the ticket from your hand, and point you towards one of the individual cubicles which encircle the pool on two floors, in which to change. After changing you leave all your things locked in this personal cubicle, pulling the door shut behind you. Next - the 'obligatoire' (obligatory) shower (with your swimsuit on, even though it is a single sex shower) before entering the pool. Gentlemen please note bermudas are not allowed, and you too need to wear a bathing hat, even if you are bald. The water temperature is spot on, and the pool is not too crowded especially in the mornings. The lane discipline can be a bit lacking, with dawdlers kicking along with a float in the same lane as tanned speed kings churning past in a high velocity front crawl, nearly missing a plump granny doing slow but steady breast stroke, but amazingly it never seems to come to blows. Afterwards, return for another bizarre shower in your swimsuit, and then wait for the still-unsmiling attendant to come and open your cubicle to get dressed again. All in all, a wonderful pool, a delightful swim and I just wish they had something like this in London. Convenient Velib parking spot down the other end of the street. Perfect.

Like an old-ship, this old pre-ww2 pool is kept alive with some new paint every now and again,…read moremasking the fact that this little gem is overdue for a big overhaul and a Trip to the 21st century. The old industrial-hall-style Building undoubtedly has it´s Charme and they try their best to keep it clean (apart from the roof windows), but there is no hiding the fact that everything is just very old. I don´t see why this pool is more expensive than the others in Paris, as you are not exactly getting more for your money. What you get more of, is inconvenience (like waiting for the man to go around and open your dressing-booth, lots of stairs, blow-dryers not at the exit) and a public swimming-pool that is in no way Handicapped-accessible. Opening hours during school-weeks are also not very consumer-friendly. 1 hour 15 minutes they open some days around noon and still expect you to pay 4 Euro 80. And that´s just not worth it. But it´s different and if you want different, Pontoise is for you. The only authentical 1940ies bathing-experience that I know of ...

For the first time in a while, I had a bad swim in Paris. Even by parisian standard some of the…read moreswimmers I encountered during my visit to Piscine de la Cour des Lions were exceptionally ruthless and rude. And that´s saying something. Just one thing: If you wanna hit something, go boxing. Swimming means neither punching the water as hard as you can, nor your fellow swimmers when they get in your way (or rather, you get in their way because your water-punching swim-technique means you are quite slow). The lifeguards will be happy to teach you a proper swimming technique - or recommend you a gym to train martial arts. But that´s not the pools fault and may also not be representative as to how it normally is at Piscine de la Cour des Lions. As with so many things, it only takes a couple of Idiots to spoil something for everyone. Piscine de la Cour des Lions is quite an decent pool overall. I quite liked the 1980ies Style it has going on - inside and out. I liked the pool hall. Big windows on two sides, mostly white walls and thanks to that not dark at all. The Basin itself (25x15 Meters) is in very good shape but the Water was quite dirty when I was there. Lanes are assigned to certain swimming speeds, but of course not everyone knows in which of the three categories they belong. Especially if you use the water-punching technique - it seems to be hard to realize that lots of noise and big splashes don´t equal speed. ;) Where things aren't that pretty, are the showers and the changing rooms. I recon those have been redone a decade or so, but they still let the sight down due to poor maintenance. Only a couple of years and the showers and cabins will have do be redone again. Cleanliness was alright when I was there. Other negatives? They opened 15 minutes late and even then were still not in a hurry to open. The counter for people inside of the pool started at -8 (which means the counter doesn't show the correct number). Maximum Occupancy is 325 People, I already had a bad time with 60 people (according to the number on the broken counter) in there. If that counter shows three digits, I would advise not to go to Piscine de la Cour des Lions.

From the owner: A proximité de République la maison popincourt vous attend pour des cours d 'aquabiking dynamiques…read moreet ludiques ainsi que des moments de détente exceptionnels grace a son iyashidome! Les cours sont assurés 7j sur 7 de 8H a 22H par des coachs professionels et grace aux 9 vélos mis a votre disposition. La piscine est sous verriere ce qui vous offre le luxe de pédaler a ciel ouvert.

Piscine Alfred Nakache is a small modern public swimming Pool. It has three stainless steel basins,…read moreone for swimming of 25 Meters length, a smaller multi-purpose basin and a tiny basin for toddlers with water-fountains and stuff. Opend in 2009 and designed by famous Architects, it´s a modern and interesting pool. In the pool hall there is a lot of emphasis on light with huge windows. Even on the rainy that I was there it was very nice to swim in. The basins are impeccable and the pool hall is in very good shape. Is it charming? Piscine Alfred Nakache has more of a neutral, no-fuss theme going on - but I like that. Negatives? On the busy weekend when I was there, cleanliness was not good. Especially the stairs between the lockers and the showers were filthy. There is a general lack of places to put your stuff. There are very few chairs inside the pool hall to store things like your towel (the walk back to the lockers is a long one that you don´t want to do dripping wet), there is no little shelf next to the shower (mixed!) to put your shower-gel and near the hair-dryers there are also no chairs, shelves or coat hangers to put your stuff on while you dry your hair. So your stuff is constantly on the (rather dirty) floor. Too few showers for a pool that is supposed to be able to cope with well over 300 swimmers at the same time (which is a ridiculous Number to begin with - but even with 80 people inside I had to wait for a shower to be free). Overall, I still like Piscine Alfred Nakache despite it´s inconveniences and the partial dirtiness. With some applied common sense and some more cleaning it would be perfect.

The pool and facilities are fair but, as with other public pools in Paris, the staff can be rude…read moreand aggressive. We paid 3.50EUR to swim from 7.45am - 8.30am. At 8.16am, the "lifeguards" who had been sitting at the side of the pool chatting, not watching the swimmers, used sticks to get the attention of swimmers to tell them the pool was closing. Aside from the issue of paying to swim when the pool is closing early, the attitude was rude, macho and aggressive. Pathetic. Avoid this place unless you enjoy being treated like shit.

Piscine George Rigal is a small 2 basin swimming Pool in the 11th Arrondissement of Paris. One…read moreBasin is 25 Meters in length for swimming and the second Basin is for children and non-swimmers. Showers (mixed) and the changing-room area were quite clean when I was there - if you discount grime and other old residues. The 25 Meter-basin is in bad shape with clogged drains and a lot of dirt on the floor in the deep bit. Lanes were not marked for specific swimming styles or speeds when I was there. The pool-hall (especially the wall&ceiling tiles) also has seen better day. Curious: The only parisian pool where you can feel the vibrations of the Metro passing by while swimming.

Piscine Saint-Merri (within the Sports-complex "Centre Sportif Saint-Merri) isn't very welcoming…read more Just looking at this awfully dirty & dark block of cement from the Rue du Renard, I knew I wasn't going to like this one. And inside things weren't much better. Changing rooms were grimy and full of old chewing-gums. Toilets were awful. Showers were alright (must have gotten the deep-clean the changing cabins and toilets are still waiting for), but far away from modern or inviting. The pool hall isn't very inviting too. Dark and old are the words that come to mind. Strangely Piscine Saint-Merri does have some windows and even a tiny area to step outside in Summer (it´s a tiny inner courtyard and I suspect there is no sun there in Summer) but it´s still generally quite dark in there. Some basement-pools without any windows have more light. The Pool-basin itself is in decent shape compared to the rest of the building. But: 60cm depth at the shallow end? Outch! Kudos to the Regulars at Piscine Satin-Merri that actually succeed in doing a turn with that sort of draught. Positives? The Staff was really friendly. Not many swimmers. It was relatively clean when you discount the decade old grime. Lockers work with code.

From the owner: Bassin de 25m X 10m Petit solariumCour d'aquagym pré et post nataleread more

Piscine Catherine Lagatu (formerly Piscine Parmentier) is situated in the 10th Arrondissement of…read moreParis and is a small, single basin (25x15m) basement pool without natural light in there. When I arrived, I found it hard to pay for my visit as neither the cashier nor the front desk were staffed. I waited a bit and then someone showed up I could hand my money to. When I exited the pool later, there was again nobody at front desk & cashier. Downstairs towards the pool I noticed that the automated barriers that do the actual entrance control were out of order and I basically could just have walked through without paying. In the Pool Hall another strange occurrence. 4 (by the looks of it) Lifeguards in such a tiny pool at a table directly at the pool - having (what looked like) Lunch together. The sign that explicitly forbids to eat within the pool hall basically right next to them. The pool hall is also lit oddly. On the shallow end of the pool it is very bright but on the deep end it is quite dark because there are less flood-lights there. Lanes are not assigned to swimming speeds or styles, but everyone manged to get along fine when I was there and sort this out. The Basin itself is in good shape. I don´t really get why showers and changing rooms are mixed because that totally wouldn't be necessary. Some signs "women left" "men right" and you would have both sexes separated. Changing cabins are decent in size and were quite clean when I was there. Showers were also alright (too little water-pressure for my taste), the toilets on the other hand are not up to standard. The yellow material they've hung under the roof like some sails/waves could use some cleaning, especially in the area where you take off your shoes and dry your hair - where it would be easily accessible. Overall a decent experience, but with some hick-ups.

From the owner: Bassin de 25m X 12,50m Profondeur : de 0,90m à 3,40m 5 lignes de nage Le bassin-école Parmentier…read moreest résevé aux scolaires et est intégré au complexe du centre sportif du même nom. Certaines associations sportives y organisent des cours d'aquagym et de plongée subaquatique le soir. Vous ne pourrez être admis dans ces cours qu'à condition de faire partie d'un club. On peut aussi s'initier à la plongée dans le cadre des Centres d'initiation Sportive mis en place par la Mairie de Paris. Renseignez-vous auprès du centre sportif ou de l'association APSAP de Saint-Louis.

This review only covers the Swimming Pool…read more Reopened in 2006 after a complete overhaul, modernisation and several additions, Piscine Pailleron is now a modern pool within a Sports-center, the Espace sportif Pailleron. Pailleron is a showcase what the City of Paris could do with Pools like Piscine Pontoise or Piscine Château-Landon. Modernisation while also conserving the charme of the old Pool-buildings. The old Pool-hall with the 33x15 Meter Basin for swimming has been modernized with a great Glass-roof. It´s a real joy to swim there, just looking at the building. In Summer there is also an area outside to soak in some sun. There are also three other pools, one for water-jet massages and one for small children and another 25 Meter (2 Meter maximal depth) basin for everything in between. There are also supposed to be another 2 Basins, but there is some construction going on with those at the moment. Lockers are money-less (you pick a code), cleanliness was alright when I was there and the showers are separated for men and women (with signs not to get naked). Small negative point here - there were too few showers for such a big pool. Maintenance-wise you can see a couple of negative things if you look closely; like white-floor tiles that are getting brown-ish or some pieces of wood decor that should be replaced/refurbished - but nothing major was to be seen (there are renovations at the Moment on two basins and a part of the dressing-area). It has been almost 10 years since the reopening - and it does show here and there. Coming back to the main Pool, the "historical basin"; Swimming Lanes are usually 2,5 Meters in width (FINA Standart), at this pool the lanes for certain swimming-speeds are well under 2 Meters in width. My arms span 1,95 and I was able to touch both lane dividers at the same time, so I recon the lanes are 1,90 Meters in width. So, If you are tall and want to swim breaststroke in this pool - you´re gonna have a hard time doing that. But the width of the lanes also makes it harder to deal with oncoming traffic for everyone. You can of course avoid these problems if you swim in the big Lanes on the sides, reserved for slow swimmers. But still, on balance I quite enjoyed going to the Pool at Espace sportif Pailleron.

With three pools, one of them Olympic size and two others heated and child-friendly, this is…read moreclearly the best spot to swim if you live in northern Paris. (There's also an ice-skating ring, café and workout area but none have been tested by me, so this review concerns the pool activities only). Despite the largess and sophistication of the space, there are some serious technical and service issues at this establishment. For one, the staff is just about as friendly and knowledgeable as a plank of wood. When I called to find out whether my toddler could wear bathing "shorts" instead of a speedo since that's all I had for him, they said, "bien sur" (of course) on the phone. Fast forward ahead, after many parenting pirouettes to get said kid to the pool and then undressed, changed, showered, suited up with wings, and happily swimming around, after only 10 minutes in the pool one of the guards comes up to me and tells me that my kid needs a different swimsuit, and that the one he's wearing isn't allowed. I tell them that I called specifically to ask and was told it was fine, he said, no it wasn't and that they sold baby diapers and speedos for kids at the front desk and that if we wanted to stay we'd have to change him pronto. Without the energy to back track, reverse and do it all over again while soaking wet, we left the pool. I complained at the exit and they gave me two free tickets to come back. A nice gesture, but one that I'll probably never take up. Too much of a hassle to trek there considering the pool by me has super friendly service and a nice size kiddie pool.