I suspect this review would have been a bit more positive, had I visited Piscine Roger le Gall in…read moreSummer and not in Autumn. In Summer Piscine Roger le Gall is an open-air pool, during spring, autumn and winter it is covered by a tent-like roof. In Summer not only can you swim underneath the sky but there are areas to lie down and soak in some sun. What I doubt though, is that it is very relaxing at Piscine Roger le Gall in Summer. It is situated only a few Meters from the Boulevard Périphérique ("One of the busiest roads in Europe[...]"- wikipedia) and it was very noisy just standing outside of the building. With the Tent up this time of year, the entrance fee drops down to the usual parisian 3€ - from 5,80 in the summer. General impressions of the building were quite bad. Dressing rooms and lockers are downstairs and separated for men and women. It´s quite dark and unfriendly down there and in the showers I was greeted by quite a foul smell. Showers are also in bad shape and should be the top priority for renovations. Swimming underneath the tent-roof was actually more pleasant than I thought it would be. With the sun out, there is a lot of light in the pool-area, but when some clouds blocked out the sun the floodlights fail to make up for that. The 50x15 Meter pool basin (on a sidenote, that´s not an "olympic pool", those are 50x25) is in relatively good shape. They´ve replaced one of the lane-dividers with what I think is a yellow water-hose - and I´m not sure if I should congratulate them for ingenuity or criticize them for it. Other negatives: Far too few individual changing cabins for such a big pool. There is a second 25 Meter pool, but that is only for Members of the swimming club. Positives? It was quite clean when I was there.

La piscine est correct, en sous-sol, l'eau n'est pas trop froide. C'est juste vraiment dommage que…read morele personnel soit aussi peu aimable. Hier, quand je suis arrivée au guichet, la guichetière venait de traiter la personne devant moi qui se dirigeait vers la zone de déchaussage "c'est pas possible d'être aussi fainéante" en parlant bien fort avec son collègue, de manière à ce que la femme en question l'entende bien. Il y a des affiches partout dans les vestiaires, les douches, qu'on est verbalisé si on parle mal aux agents de la piscine, mais il faudrait vraiment que ce soit dans les 2 sens. Les agents de la piscine ne devraient pas non plus manquer de respect aux nageurs. Sans compter qu'ils font un métier de service, et on pourrait s'attendre à ce que non seulement les agents ne nous manquent pas de respect, mais qu'en plus ils soient vraiment dans une posture de service, qu'ils soient avenants, et pourquoi pas (rêvons un peu...) accueillants !

Small Basement-pool with one 25x15 Meter Basin. Clean and functional, but it was completely overrun…read moreby customers when I was there. There were cues for the showers and the changing cabins. And that was on a weekday... They list an absurd maximum occupancy of 340 People for this tiny pool and the 130 People that were inside when I was there already felt like we were sardines in a tin and getting some actually swimming done required a lot of patience. On top of that, they have a second set of showers, lockers and dressing rooms that they don´t let you use for no apparent reason. Other negatives include a lot of broken lockers that are not marked as broken. I tried 6 lockers before I found a functioning one. And it really is a basement pool with no natural light at all. On the postive side, it was quite clean when I got there despite being full. The basin is in good shape and I did not spot any mold or such. There is a little electric spin-dryer for your bathing suit/speedo. If this pool hadn´t been so full, I recon I would have quite liked it; so my advice at the end is: only go there when there are far less than 100 people in there (there is a display at the entrance that tells you how many people are in there). If that Number is in the triple digits ... go somewhere else.

Piscine Bernard Lafay sort of has two faces. The ugly one are the dressing rooms and the showers…read moreand the pretty one is the swimming pool hall itself. Showers and dressing rooms are very uninviting, grimy and due for renovation. They are separated for men and women, but that´s pretty much the only good thing to report. The pool hall on the other hand is in rather good shape. The main basin of 25x12,5 Meters is impeccable. There is a second, smaller basin for children, that I did not use. The whole pool hall is also infused with a lot of daylight and in summer you can even step outside to get some actual sun on the tiny terrace. The huge works of art on the sides of the pool I found a bit strange and not really to my taste - but hey, I´m no art-critic ;) The lifeguards were very friendly. Concerning cleanliness, I wasn't really impressed, but I was there on a busy day with many people in the pool and I fully understand that keeping everything clean while being full is almost impossible for a small pool like Piscine Bernard Lafay.

In Boulogne-Billancourt, only a short walk away from Metro Station Billancourt (Line 9), you will…read morefind Piscine Boulogne-Billancourt. It´s a big public swimming pool with one Basin for swimmers with no shallow end (25 Meters length), one shallow basin for learners (also 25 Meters) and a third pool with a connection to a small pool outside of the building. Inside this third pool has some water-jets for massage, outside there is a current you can swim against - that said this current is quite weak so you shouldn't come there expecting a great work-out. Outside there is also a grass-patch to lie down and soak in some sun (in summer). It´s generally set up to be a great pool for families with children who will love the small water-slide. Other practical information: Lockers need a 1€ piece, there are free shower-gel/soap dispensers in the showers which are separated for men and women. You´ll need a bathing-cap and men need tight fitting swim-gear (no surfer-shorts) - there are also vending machines for that. Piscine Boulogne-Billancourt was very clean when I was there and there was always someone going around with a mop in the dressing room & locker area. The Building is in good shape and functional. The Staff I encountered was very friendly. Problems? None. It is a good pool and there are no real reasons against Piscine Boulogne-Billancourt. The only slightly negative thing that I can say is that the pool lacks character or charisma. It´s functional, clean, well maintained - and boring.

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.

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 ...

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.