Across Europe, at least 17 people have been killed in floods caused by pounding rains that have trapped people in their homes and forced rescuers to navigate swamped streets in lifeboats.
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But authorities warned it could take up to ten days for the river to return to normal after swelling to its highest level in almost 35 years, about 4.5 meters (15 feet) above average.
Authorities have also shut the Louvre museum, the national library, the Orsay museum and the Grand Palais, Paris’ striking glass-and-steel topped exhibition center.
On opposite banks of the Seine, the Louvre and Orsay museums, which see a combined total of 12.5 million visitors a year, closed their doors on Friday so that artworks could be moved out of basement archives to higher floors.
Officials said the river could peak at 6.50 meters later on Friday (local time), and warned flood waters could take several weeks to recede after the wettest May in France for 100 years.
Eleven died in the Germany states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, four in France, two in Romania and one in Belgium, according to an AFP compilation of official tolls and news stories.
France’s rainfall levels in May were the highest since 1873, but the crisis is eclipsed by the 1910 floods that saw Paris submerged for two months.
France’s environment minister, Segolene Royal, has said further victims could emerge as floodwaters begin to recede.
France is starting to take stock of its share of damage after a week of storms that scarred Europe, getting a look at how the Seine hitting its highest levels since 1982 has affected the city.
At the Louvre, home to Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, some 250,000 pieces of art are being moved from basement storage areas in a painstaking operation by curators.
The Seine river rose to about 6.10 meters (20.0 ft) on Saturday morning and was now stable, authorities said.
Enry de Brolles, 78, found his bookshop in Neumours completely inundated after days of heavy rains.
But, the picturesque walkways along the riverside, nearby metro lines and area parking lots have become flooded as rain-drenched tributaries around the French capital surge into the main river and threaten sections of the city with flood waters.
The floods and strikes also come ahead of the monthlong Euro 2016 soccer championship, which kicks off next week and is expected to attract some 2.5 million people.
French President Francois Hollande made a late night visit to the Louvre, where dozens of volunteers worked through the night to save some of the 38,000 artworks thought to be at risk.
The heavy flooding of the past week could cost French insurance companies some 600 million euros ($680.5 million) or more, industry association AFA said.
In Evry-Gregy-sur-Yerre, south of Paris, a man on horseback drowned, the prefecture said in a statement.
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Four people have been killed in floods that have hit France in recent days, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Saturday.
