The history of Paris is inextricably linked to the river that flows through its center—from Neolithic settlement to this year’s Olympic games.

For decades, the Charles has been a punch line, its “Dirty Water” memorialized in the rock song and known as something most would consider jumping in only on a dare.

On the eve of the Opening Ceremony, the banks of the Seine are decked out with bleachers and TV screens, a modern twist on the river that has always played such an important role in Paris. NBC News' Keir Simmons reports.

The Paris Olympics 2024 have officially commenced with the closing of the opening ceremony on the Seine River.

The three-hour show saw 205 delegations on 85 boats wind past a string of stages on the nearly four-mile course.

The Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics is just days away, and the city is about to make a splash. Literally. NBC 7’s Steven Luke takes us behind the scenes from Paris.

PARIS (AP) — Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a dip Wednesday in the Seine River, fulfilling a promise to show that the long-polluted waterway was clean enough to host swimming competitions during the 2024 Olympics as well as part of the opening ceremony, now only nine days away.

The boats are docked, the cauldron is lit and the 2024 Olympic Games are officially underway. The opening ceremony was not held in a stadium for the first time in Olympic history as the Seine entertained 85 boats.

The organizers of Friday’s opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games hope to provide relief, positivity and unity in a world increasingly beset with tension.