It is said that God sees everything, and the neighbors see even more. Especially in the village where everyone knows everyone. Then it would be better to move to the big city, where at night it’s not just the chiming of the church clock that breaks the silence and during the day not everyone wants to look into the pram to then find out that the little one is looking after grandpa (the nose – definitely!).
But even the anonymity of a big city has its pitfalls. No hello among neighbors, not even a smile in the hallway. Living next to each other instead of together, that’s everyday life in Paris, as the Frenchman Patrick Bernard from the 14th arrondissement found out. Five years ago he decided to change that. And started a revolution.
Revolution, in Paris that usually means throwing stones, burning cars, and at least one politician has to take the blame at the end – metaphorically, mostly. But Bernard had a better solution: a blackboard. A long, very long table encircling the entire Rue de l’Aude, 215 meters long and flanked by 648 chairs. On a September evening in 2017, he put them up for the first time and invited the neighborhood to sit down and eat. The French know that eating is where the best conversations happen.
Since then, Bernard’s association République des Hyper Voisins (English: Republic of Super Neighbors) has organized many similar meetings. The panel is now 400 meters long and offers space for 1,000 neighbors. Incidentally, Bernard advises a simple “bonjour” to start a chat. But the cooking skills of the neighbors usually reveal more than can be said in words anyway.
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