> Once he obtained all the necessary permits to swim in the river—an ordeal in itself as he’d be swimming through 360 communes, each of which required its own a

> Once he obtained all the necessary permits to swim in the river—an ordeal in itself as he’d be swimming through 360 communes, each of which required its own approval process That says so much about life in France - the fierce independence of even the smallest bureaucracies, and the stalwart patience of the citizens dealing with them.