Some good news from the City of Light.

The Louvre and the Orsay – the premier museums of Paris – are open again, after their emergency closure to move masterpieces to higher ground – during the city’s worst flooding in decades.

35,000 artworks were moved from storage areas and low-lying exhibition rooms of the Louvre – as the Seine river rose last week.

Meanwhile, France’s cabinet has declared a “natural disaster” in 782 towns and villages that have been most affected by the flooding that has hit Paris and the central regions of France.

A total of 20,000 people have been temporarily evacuated from their homes in France – and flooding around Europe has taken the lives of at least 19 people.

The Seine’s levels peaked Saturday in Paris – but remain more than 3 metres above normal.