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.

Piscine Georges Vallerey is the swimming stadium among the pools in Paris. The Basin does not…read morequalify to be called "Olympic" anymore by the current standard (50x25 Meters and Piscine Georges Vallerey 'only' has 50x21), but who gives a damn? 50 Meters length, plenty of lanes, and no shallow end. The biggest basin in(side) Paris and real Public Pool for Swimmers. Thanks to a variable floor on one side of the basin, they can use this pool in different configurations over the days, so if you want to use all the 50 Meters of length, make sure to check the website when they are operating that way and not in other configurations. The best bit about this Pool? In Summer they can open the roof. Why only 4 Stars then? Piscine Georges Vallerey is not without fault. The last big renovation was 1989 and the pools age is showing here and there. The starting blocks were rusting. Showers and the dressing-room area (men and women separated in both) are quite dark and unwelcoming. Not many individual changing cabins and those who are there are rather small and marked with lots of Graffiti and Stickers. Toilets are not up to modern Standards. The pool hall itself was quite cold when I was there, it was a lot warmer in the other areas.

From the owner: Bassin de 50m La Piscine Vallerey, vieille piscine parisienne, est l'une des seules à disposer d'un…read morebassin découvrable de 50m.

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.