The plane ride back was the first time I opened the book Paris, Paris. As it was assigned as a suggestion to read before the trip, I took that as some reason to not read it until now. However, from the first pages of the foreword I can clearly tell that it was something I should have done already. The book has already (I'm only so far in) described major monuments and places in a way travel guides and most books don't.
The first chapter offers insight into the Seine River and talks about the beginning of Paris. Maybe its because I've been there and can now relate to the author, David Downie, when he describes the characteristics. The way he writes about the color, the smell and this sort of free flowing body trapped between walls are all things I can call back onto my own experiences and know just how true these things are.  Thus, I find interest when he explains the history of the names "Seine" and "Paris" and when he gives background information about the river... Like how it has ran red at least two times- once during St. Bartholomew's massacre in 1572 and in the French Revolution.

(pages with history on both here respectively 1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bartholomew%27s_Day_massacre 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution .. 1, 6, 10 to point out some areas to read)

 .. and how approximately 50 people try to jump off bridges and commit suicide each year..or that because of such heavy pollution over time there are now only 3 species of fish left in the River, and also the need for 6 oxygen pumping plants along the river just to keep those fish alive. Also, the stench of water I described previously makes perfect sense because 80% of the drinking water comes from the Seine and according to rumor, by the time it reaches the table, its been through at least 5 other people and come out the same.
But besides all this, the Seine has made itself a key player, if not the key player, in making Paris the city it is today. And Paris itself seems to have modeled its personality after the river, it's something free flowing and untamed which makes it all the more enticing to see.

In the words of Ernest Hemingway, "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."