The city of Paris was recently on high flood alert after a deluge of rain. Parisians looked on with increasing concern as the River Seine continued to rise, the water levels creeping up the legs of the Zouave statue on the Pont d’Alma bridge in central Paris, which has served as an unofficial flood gauge since the devastating 1910 floods in the city. Thankfully, the immediate threat to Paris appears to be receding, although many other towns along the Seine are experiencing widespread flooding.