Paris Plages

Every summer for some years now, the city of Paris closes off a thoroughfare along right bank of the Seine, hauls in tons of sand, umbrellas, lounge chairs, and all the rest, to create the Paris Plages. They do the same for the Canal St. Martin, which I think is more for the locals--the ones stuck in Paris in August--than the tourists. After the Louvre, and en route to other sights, we took a look.