Urban Exploration - The Abandoned Swimming Pool

We received photos from a traveler and compiled them into a historical summary.

For months, I had been under a curse. I was going out scouting for urbex sites and racking up a staggering number of failures. To be more precise, despite the long drives and the motivation, I would hit 11, 12, even 15 dead ends in a row. It was incredibly demoralizing.

One day, under a shy sun, Anthony offered to exorcise me with a remarkably effective voodoo rite: we were going to hit a swimming pool! We headed out together to some scouting points, starting with this one. And what a surprise!

When we arrived, a guy was mowing the lawn right in front. Well, that's just my luck! I exclaimed that whatever the project, if a truck is going to show up out of nowhere, it's for me! Regardless, it didn't matter in the end, as a most pleasant park allowed us to access the pool in the blink of an eye.

This is an abandoned "Sunflower" pool (piscine Tournesol). They all have the same standardized look - save for a few color variations or minor layout tweaks - but from town to town, the pool is ultimately identical. Because of this, you can visit this kind of place in just a few minutes. But what a joy it was!

First, because for those of our generation, we all learned how to swim in these things! Secondly, it marked the beginning of a new cycle. The "jinx" was over. That day, we visited five or six locations (my memory fails me slightly), and the vast majority were a success. This means, among other things, that Anthony successfully broke the spell. I desperately needed it. The rest of the week was an absolute urbex marvel.

This pool is located right in the city, within the perimeter of a nuclear site. This means that almost all of the surroundings are blurred on Google Maps. The pool closed in December 2020 due to a total boiler failure. It was supposed to run for one more year before permanent closure, but it was decided not to replace the boiler just for a few months. This pool served for 44 years.

The vandalism has been terrible; since it's in the city, things move much faster than in the remote countryside. Nevertheless, it remains a magical little place, bathed in sunlight streaming through the portholes. This time, there were no frogs in the basin, but little lizards basking in the sun. I offer you, in all simplicity, this small moment of happiness in this humble pool. It truly felt good - and thank you, Anthony!