La Ville Violette

An informal photo dump and some thoughts on French building elements, establishments, food and people.

03., La TEP Ménilmontant

On Wednesday, Katelyn Bonaccorsy, Max Puckett and myself stumbled upon a green-space with an interesting history and use. The “Terre d’Ecologie Populaire (TEP) Ménilmontant,” which has existed since the 1940’s as a sports ground, has been the center of relatively recent local and citywide interest.

In 2011, the city of Paris and Paris-Habitat pitched a project for this space and set the wheels in motion with the construction of an 85-unit building with nine floors, as well as a recycling center. In 2016, work officially began on-site and the sports facilities as well as the neighboring community gardens were destroyed. Not long after, local residents began to express doubts about the project and, by April of 2019, residents and activists mobilized to actively block work: demonstrations, picnics, and blockades were held in front of the gates of the TEP Ménilmontant.

The project’s opposition took it one step further… staking out. In the United States, squatting is illegal and squatters can be evicted for trespassing as well as receive a hefty fine. However, in France, squatting is a legal way to access ownership, at least since the 1804 Civil Code.

The home is a broad-ranging notion, it designates “the place where, whether the interested party resides in it or not, he/she is entitled to claim that he/she is at home, regardless of the legal deed of occupation or the use given to the premises.” In practical terms, the presence of furniture often defines a home… The legal protection of the home does well and truly apply to squats and slums, since the fact that occupants have sleeping and cooking equipment makes the occupied space their home.

— Christopher Driesbach, “Recognizing an Enforceable Right of Use for Unoccupied Housing: a Necessity”

By April of the same year, the inhabitants were successful in their campaign and any attempts to move foward with the project was abandoned. On May 29, François Vauglin, the mayor of the 11th arrondissement of Paris announced the official suspension of the project. “La TEP Ménilmontant,” according to their social media pages and web presence, has made plans for the space:

“…dozens of volunteers have taken turns to clean, secure and begin the redevelopment of this site so that it can once again benefit Parisians. Today, families have reinvested in it, young people from the neighborhood can once again play ball there, a collective composter has been set up to reduce the volume of waste sent to the incinerator, a henhouse and a beehive have been installed to make children and adults aware of the environment and structures have been fitted out to accommodate families and visitors who come to relax or let their children play with a minimum of comfort.”

— NatureRights, “TEP Ménilmontant: Victorie des habitants face au bétonnage!”

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07., Tramways d’Île-de-France

Although I love to spend my time chasing after crowded trains in underground stations, the Tram system offers a nice change of pace (and scenery). The T3a, the line that services our university station, offers a different traveling experience compared to the RER, for example. Above-ground and situated between lanes of traffic, the T3a rolls leisurely along the track, taking priority at all road junctions. They are extremely quiet thanks to the tracks being grassed over for a majority of the route, reducing both vibration and noise. My glowing review doesn’t stop there, as they have a low-floor ensuring easy access for people with reduced mobility AND they are equipped with air-conditioning.

It began as somewhat of an inside joke between me and my roommate, Katelyn Bonaccorsy, to mimic the announcements played on the speakers… now, we’ve realized that our pronunciations have become pretty spot on (we will happily inform you of your arrival to Denfert-Rochereau or Saint-Michel)! But, to the point, have you stopped to really listen to the voices guiding you to your destination? Let me tell you what I found out about them:

The city of Paris and RATP commissioned Rodolphe Burger, former leader of a French rock band, to come up with an innovative way of announcing the names of the tram stops. RATP noted that the background music should be heard but not intrusive and, after two years of work, 42 short melodies were recorded for each of the 42 tram stops on the T3 line!

RATP also required that each announcement should have two inflections and so each of the tram stop names are announced by different voices. The idea was to mix different type of voices from any age, any background, any accent! A call for volunteers was met with a large response, especially among people living near the line. In total, around 602 different voices were recorded! I have included a sound recording of one of my favorite stops and its announcer:

I also learned that, once a month, RATP employees are invited to a studio to record the announcements played in the metro, tram and bus networks. The project began in 2005, when RATP set up blind-castings, which were attended by 500 of the 50,000 RATP employees. The original computer-generated voices “lacked clarity and warmth,” both of which (clarity and warmth) are necessary and appreciated as commuting in Paris can be confusing and stressful for even the most experienced traveler!