The Buzz | French towns swim in floodwaters that are rising in Paris

Floodwaters have transformed the streets of scenic French towns into murky canals, swallowed up picturesque parks and drained the demand for riverboat cruises through Paris. And the waters are still rising.

Swollen by weeks of heavy rains, the Seine river is expected to reach its peak in the French capital today.

The bottom floor of the Louvre museum, several Parisian parks and riverside train stations were closed as a precaution. Water lapped the underside of historic bridges and engulfed cobblestone quays, where treetops and lampposts now poke out of the brown, swirling Seine.