Piscine Josephine Baker

Flanked by the Seine, facing Bercy, not far from the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand and Batofar, this place is the star of Parisian pools in many ways.

The impressive glass and steel building by architect Robert de Busni houses a stylish aquatic centre. Supplementing the 25m pool (with sliding glass roof) are training rooms, a jacuzzi, hammam, sauna and solarium. It also has a 50m2 paddling pool for the kids and a nice entrance hall with Wi-Fi for parents who want to keep an eye on their kids without going into the centre itself. The late opening hours are also a plus, and the busy schedule of exercise classes.

Inaugurated the same year as Paris Plage, it gets so busy these days that one tends it’s best to avoid it at peak times. Luckily, there’s a small café area where you can wait it out with a drink until things calm down – a place to see and be seen.