Aside from the piles of interesting treasures that were pulled from the canal, there were some less than desirable items that were found, too. Take this janky old chair they pulled out of the water, for instance.
Again, one wonders how this chair could have possibly ended up down there! Someone would have had to go through the trouble of dragging it out of their home and tossing it. But why?
Although, considering that the bike company has only existed since 2007, the numbers are definitely high. Another resident told the publication that “bobos,” which is what the locals call all of the young, new people flooding into the city, are responsible for the trash.
“That’s Paris for you, it’s filthy,” said one man. “I don’t remember there being that much rubbish in there. Bobos are using it as a dustbin.” And speaking of the bobos, they all lined the bridges, along with the locals, to see what else was going to be removed from the canal.
Bicycles aren’t the only form of transportation that authorities recovered. Although they didn’t find nearly as many, they did find a couple of motor scooters beneath the murky water as well. It’s kind of shocking that there were only two found, while they found so many bikes.
Even if they were stolen – especially if they were stolen – you’d think the thieves would have sold them for more money, not just dumped them in the river.
To reveal the garbage, workers dumped over 23,000,000 gallons in the river Seine. Then, people gathered in the streets and observed as the water was slowly drained from the canal. When it got down to just less than two feet, the fish were removed and relocated, and then the disposal process began.
Onlookers were left with mouths wide open when they saw the 45 tons of garbage looking up at them from beneath the murk.
And, while some locals who respect their city and its water may be unhappy about the way others treat the canal, they are anything but surprised. Deputy mayor of Paris, Celia Blauel reported that if everyone would just refrain from dumping, “we might be able to swim in the canal in a few years.”
There is still a long way to go before that dream can be made into a reality, but she’s keeping her eyes on the prize. The entire process took just over three months to complete, and everyone is hoping that the next time it needs to be done, it won’t be as filthy,