The Life-Sized City - Paris, France - S01 E03 - Full Episode

Paris, France.

Look at the ship, the barge.

What's the name on the back, Sandra?

Sandra the barge, it could be like a children's book.

What do you think about Paris, Lulu?

It's a nice city and there's too many cars.

I think it's funny how grandpa only honks in the horn maybe five times a year.

Where the taxi drivers maybe do it 100 times in one drive.

Paris is a storied city, more than most others in the world.

It's a city that's synonymous with inspiring change.

Fighting for it, demanding it, forcing it, this is the birthplace of revolutions and right now a new revolution is underway, an urban revolution.

I brought my kids here to embed ourselves right here in the heart of this rebel metropolis.

France's mythical capital has been immortalized in countless novels and films.

Alphaville, Jules et Jim, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, Belle de Jour, Paris is a city that allows you to dream, think and feel while drinking wine.

But beyond the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower is a hidden Paris, one of struggle and hard work, one of solidarity and inventiveness.

And that's the Paris I've come to explore with my two city savvy kids, Lulu Sophia and Felix.

The life-sized Paris, far from the world-class restaurants and the high-end boutiques of the Champs-Élysées.

First stop, a corner cafe in the Bastille neighborhood, this is where Parisian filmmaker Cedric Klapisch shot his landmark film.

When the cat's away, back in the mid-90s.

Of course, Bastille hasn't escaped the clutches of the city's gentrification.

But Cedric's neighborhood still has that village-like feel he loves so much.

Monsieur.

Klapisch.

Bonjour.

Bonjour.

For me, Paris has the perfect scale.

It's 10 kilometers, you know, from the north to the south.

It's only 10?

Only 10, yeah.

Peripherique to Peripherique.

Yeah, and I think it's probably 12 east to west.

Okay, I didn't know that it was that little.

Yeah, okay.

So, it's small.

And it's crazy because I'm 55 and I've always lived here.

And I don't know everything in Paris.

You know, it's always a city that I need to discover every day, every month.

I think Paris is more friendly today.

Despite all of the, uh, the terror attacks.

Yeah, because I think it brought everyone together.

Much more than before.

After the attacks on Bataclan and the other places, we heard internationally that, you know, the next day or a couple days later.

Parisians went out and demonstratively sat at the cafe.

And, uh, maybe we're a little bit nervous inside.

But it was that true, I mean, did people really say, no, we're not going to take away the streets?

That's what we're doing today.

Okay.

So, we had to say that we have to defend our way of life.

We want to have drinks, we want to drink wine, we want to drink beer.

Even if other people don't like that.

We want to enjoy life.

And you know, I went there at Place de la Republique.

4 million Parisian were there.

And it's, you can't imagine what it is to meet 4 million people in the street.

It's, it was very strong, it's probably one of the strongest thing I've, I've ever lived.

And, uh, it really relieved me from saying that, okay, we live in a dangerous place.

We live in a place where people like to be peaceful.

Felix, if you feel freaky, get behind me, right?

Yeah, I will.

Careful.

So, Felix, you're a kid, you ride on the bicycle infrastructure of Copenhagen.

What's it like for you to ride here now?

Kind of spooky.

Spooky?

And confusing.

Whoa.

I'm in what's technically a cycle lane.

This is contraflow, you can cycle one way with the cars.

But you're actually allowed to cycle the other way as well.

We're traffic calming.

We're actually doing something good for the city of Paris.

We're calming the traffic.

Look at this intersection.

You got cars, you got bikes, you got 18 million pedestrians, you know.

Somebody's out of place here.

Yeah.

Hello.

Hello.

Nice to see you.

Welcome to the Grand Voisins.

Thank you.

This used to be a hospital.

500,000 Parisian who were born here.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

Like half a million.

Almost.

Half a million.

Absolutely, it was one of the main maternity.

And we really are in the middle of Paris.

We rode our bikes here.

And I mean, and all of a sudden you turn to the right and you're in this huge almost like a park in a way.

So, it's so massive.

What's the perception of the people living in the neighborhood?

Are they like awesome or are they going, no, why do you have to do it here?

Well, it's very mixed.

I mean, when we arrived, people didn't know us.

And people were very much afraid.

Uh, of us creating a bubble of poverty in the middle of Paris.

They were afraid of, uh, drug abuse, of people who didn't behave.

Of, uh, the price of their housing going down.

Uh, so we had to discuss a lot with the neighborhood.

Now, today, it's working very well.

When we do markets, food market or whatever, a lot of people come from the surrounding.

Okay.

So, over the last year and a half, uh, the general feeling around us has improved a lot.

William.

Hi.

Hello.

Hello.

Nice to see you.

Welcome to the Grand Voisins.

Thank you.

For years, this 365,000 square foot space was left for dead.

Right in the heart of magnificent Paris.

And this made no sense to William Dufourcq.

So, with his friends, he took over.

He transformed the place into a vibrant community they call Les Grands Voisins, the good neighbors.

The project now hosts a shelter for the homeless that accommodates more than 600 people.

30% of which are undocumented refugees.

But also, a restaurant, a brewery, pop-up markets, artist studios, startups, and even an urban campground.

From the hip Parisian to the homeless, people from all walks of life come together here every day.

See the chickens?

What's the perception of the people living in the neighborhood?

Are they like awesome or are they going, no, why do you have to do it here?

Well, it's very mixed.

I mean, when we arrived, people didn't know us.

And people were very much afraid.

Uh, of us creating a bubble of poverty in the middle of Paris.

They were afraid of, uh, drug abuse, of people who didn't behave.

Of, uh, the price of their housing going down.

Uh, so we had to discuss a lot with the neighborhood.

Now, today, it's working very well.

When we do markets, food market or whatever, a lot of people come from the surrounding.

Okay.

So, over the last year and a half, uh, the general feeling around us has improved a lot.

What's amazing here is that the project isn't just about sharing space.

It's more about creating a deep sense of community.

Everyone here, from the undocumented refugee to the struggling artist, has to pitch in their share of volunteer work.

The people living here who don't have the money to go and buy food in the restaurant.

They work an hour and a half, they can get a meal.

We don't want the general public to be able to go and eat in the restaurant.

And then for the people which we are housing, for them just to stay in the centers and eat the food which we are providing them.

The idea is for them to be able to change.

Go and eat there so they can get back in a position as a consumer.

For one hour, they can get pants.

You can get a phone.

For 15 minutes, you can get a T-shirt.

You can get a bag.

In the restaurant and the lingerie, let's say one hour.

You can have a cake.

Generally, one hour is equivalent to 10 euros.

Okay.

If you look at the European average, that's a fair, totally fair price.

Absolutely.

He said five hours of work for a bag of chips.

Is that okay?

Yeah.

All right.

It's worth a coffee.

It's a coffee.

When it's really, really hot, you can have a quick little shower to cool off, right?

Yeah.

Oh.

Oh, it's warm.

That was cold.

All right, shut up and brush your teeth.

Let's go.

Good evening.

Good evening.

This has been an amazing experience here at Les Grands Voisins, the Grand Neighbors.

These old hospital grounds converted by many, many passionate people into something quite spectacular.

It's an amazing experience in the heart of Paris in a densely populated neighborhood.

We're camping, but we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.

So, it's time to say good night.

Good night.

Good night.

It's the same boat on the very first day.

It's Sandra.

Sandra.

Sandra.

Sandra.

I love you.

What about you, Felix?

What about the people that we've seen on the street and the people that we've met and all the, the projects that we've been visiting?

I thought it was, I thought it was very cool that people was doing that.

And I could, I also thought about why we, why we weren't doing the same thing with the harbor in Copenhagen.

With transporting vegetables and fruits.

And you said to me, Daddy, I want to move to Paris.

I want to live here at some point.

Why would you want to move here?

It's about how you can live on the street and you know everybody, you go down to your local cafe and have a coffee in the morning.

Eating a croissant.

And just knowing everybody and so that local feeling on on whatever street you're living on.

Yeah.

And the girls?

Yeah, they're also kind of nice.

Okay.

What do you remember most from the last five days in Paris?

The family.

The family?

And the football.

And the football.

Because the winning goal, right?

Felix to Daddy and yeah, that's all we're going to remember from this trip.

We came to Paris in search of an urban revolution.

We've met inspiring urban citizens, like in many cities around the world.

We're trying to force, trying to inspire change.

And here they're rallying against the greatest hurdle, bureaucracy and an elitist political system.

This city is a survivor, it's a fighter.

But right now it is balanced delicately on a razor's edge between doing all the right things in the most epic and visionary way.

A way that will set the standard for cities around the world for the next 100 years.

And falling under the wheels of extreme gentrification.

Turning this place into a playground for the rich and famous and a glossy amusement park for tourists.

This is now, this is where Paris must decide its future.