We went swimming, outside, in Paris, today. January 13! We’ve finally started swimming again in Paris and it was such a good choice for today.

I love swimming outside in the winter months. It is one of my favorite things to do. I loved swimming outside in the Stanford University pool at night in the winter. The steam rising from the water and the lights inside the pool made it feel like such a special exprerience. Once we joined our pool club in California I would go as often as possible in the winter months. Such a treat!

Here in Paris there is one outdoor pool open in the winter located at Piscine Butte aux Cailles. You can swim laps in the outdoor 25 meters pool.  The pool is in an Art Deco building from 1924 and classified a historical monument in the 13th arrondissement. They call the/an outdoor pool a “nordic” pool.

Supposedly the water in the pool is supplied from a natural hot spring. I was expecting it to be noticeable through color or smell. I am used to hot spring pools in Hungary which are noticeable. However, the water was just normal and in fact pleasant. The outdoor pool was at a slightly lower temperature than the indoor pool and was good for swimming laps. There weren’t that many people outside. : ) Since today was a Sunday, the indoor pool was quite crowded and honestly not that appealing. The indoor pool is quite shallow at one end.

The facilities are pretty standard. There is a good area for removing your shoes, a few hair dryers, and good lockers for storing your stuff (remember to bring your 1 euro piece for the locking mechanism). Another thing to remember is a pair of pool shoes (e.g. flip flops) so that the walk from the inside to the outside pool is more comfortable. Be warned, the outdoor pool is not connected to the indoor pool. It is a bit of a walk. I didn’t see any vending machines for forgotten items like googles or caps. Check out this earlier post for general tips on swimming in Paris.

By the way, this wasn’t our first winter swim though! We did go swimming outside in the Alps a few weeks ago though! Here’s a photo of the two kids. Unfortunately, it was night time so you can’t see the Alps in the background.

Here is the info on hours and fees. Happy swimming!