The Seine is geographically and symbolically central to Paris. The city originated on an island in the Seine (now called "Île de la Cité") around the third century BC. "Île de la Cité" is where the famous cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris is located. Over 4000 years the Seine has provided protection, transportation, and a source of water. The river also has had an important symbolic function: it separates political elites of the right bank (rive droite) from the students and artists of the left bank (rive gauche). The differing characters of these two districts led to the distinction between "right wing" and "left wing" politics, a distinction used in America as well as France. |