Vive le village Community project turns Paris district into a party
The Guardian Weekly|July 22, 2022
It was a distinctly un-Parisian revolution although it began on an inner city street. No barricades were assembled to block the nearby boulevards and no radical students hurled cobblestones ripped from the pavement. Not a single monarch had their head chopped off.
Peter Yeung
Vive le village Community project turns Paris district into a party

Instead, a 215-metre-long banquet table, lined with 648 chairs and laden with home-cooked produce, was set up along the Rue de l'Aude and those in attendance were urged to openly utter the most subversive of words: bonjour.

For some, that greeting led to the first meaningful exchange between neighbours. "I'd never seen anything like it before," said Benjamin Zhong, who runs a cafe in the area. "It felt like the street belonged to me, to all of us."

The revolutionaries pledged their allegiance that September day in 2017 to the self-styled République des Hyper Voisins, or Republic of Super Neighbours, a stretch of the 14th arrondissement on the Left Bank, encompassing roughly 50 streets and 15,000 residents. In the five years since, the republic - a "laboratory for social experimentation" - has attempted to address the shortcomings of modern city living, which can be transactional, fast-paced and lonely.

"The stereotype of a Parisian is brusque and unfriendly," said Patrick Bernard, who launched the project. "But city living doesn't have to be unpleasant and anonymous. We want to create the atmosphere of a village in an urban space."

This story is from the July 22, 2022 edition of The Guardian Weekly.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the July 22, 2022 edition of The Guardian Weekly.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE GUARDIAN WEEKLYView All
No 298 Bean, cabbage and coconut-milk soup
The Guardian Weekly

No 298 Bean, cabbage and coconut-milk soup

Deep, sweet heat. A soup that soothes and invigorates simultaneously.

time-read
1 min  |
January 03, 2025
Cottage cheese goes viral: in reluctant praise of a food trend
The Guardian Weekly

Cottage cheese goes viral: in reluctant praise of a food trend

I was asked recently which food trends I think will take over in 2025.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 03, 2025
I'm worried that my teenage son is in a toxic relationship
The Guardian Weekly

I'm worried that my teenage son is in a toxic relationship

A year ago, our almost 18-year-old son began seeing a girl, who is a year older than him and is his first \"real\" girlfriend.

time-read
3 mins  |
January 03, 2025
BOOKS OF THE MONTH
The Guardian Weekly

BOOKS OF THE MONTH

A roundup of the best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror

time-read
2 mins  |
January 03, 2025
Dying words
The Guardian Weekly

Dying words

The Nobel prize winner explores the moment of death and beyond in a probing tale of a fisher living in near solitude

time-read
2 mins  |
January 03, 2025
Origin story
The Guardian Weekly

Origin story

We homo sapiens evolved and succeeded when other hominins didn't-but now our expansionist drive is threatening the planet

time-read
3 mins  |
January 03, 2025
Glad rags to riches
The Guardian Weekly

Glad rags to riches

Sarcastic, self-aware and surprisingly sad, the first volume of Cher's extraordinary memoir mixes hard times with the high life

time-read
3 mins  |
January 03, 2025
Sail of the century
The Guardian Weekly

Sail of the century

Anenigmatic nautical radio bulletin first broadcast 100 years ago, the Shipping Forecast has beguiled and inspired poets, pop stars and listeners worldwide

time-read
5 mins  |
January 03, 2025
How does it feel?
The Guardian Weekly

How does it feel?

A Complete Unknown retells Bob Dylan's explosive rise, but it als resonates with today's toxic fame and politics. The creative team expl their process-and wha the singer made of it all

time-read
7 mins  |
January 03, 2025
The Guardian Weekly

Jane Austen's enduring legacy lies in her relevance as a foil for modern mores

For some, it will be enough merely to re-read Persuasion, and thence to cry yet again at Captain Wentworth's declaration of utmost love for Anne Elliot.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 03, 2025