By Louise Dewast and Patrick Reevell “You’re extraordinarily democratic tonight!” Dominique Voynet, France’s first Green mayor, looks heavenward, leans forward and, with restraint, hammers the table in front of her:…
By Anna Polonyi Peaches have been grown in Montreuil for nearly four centuries. Jacques Fantini, one of the last peach-growers of the city, and Pascal Mage, president of the association…
By Judith Chetrit It’s a Friday afternoon in March, and in a classroom at the Lycée Jean-Jaurès high school in Montreuil, six students are preparing for an oral exam that…
By Julien Gathelier A behemoth of concrete overlooks Montreuil. White. Off-White. Grey. A mosaic of windows runs all the way to the crenelated roof. Even in a town that is…
By Marcelle Balt As farmers know, straw provides excellent insulation. Now urban developers are starting to use it as a “natural” humidifier for buildings, including in a new eco-school being…
By Anna Polonyi and Rosie Hughes The courtyard of Foyer Bara is a humming micro-economy. It smells of burning metal, sweat, and old peanuts. Dozens of African men, most in…
By Jake Cigainero One of France’s most celebrated independent films this year almost wasn’t made. Writer-director Sólveig Anspach wrote a screenplay set in her mother’s native Iceland, but when the…
By Sunniva Rose If you want to understand why Montreuil was a French Communist stronghold for decades, walk up the hill to the elegant Italian-style mansion that is nestled amongst…
By Anna Polonyi On a side street in the southern part of Montreuil, two pasty green and grey shipping containers have been dropped on a plot of fenced-off land, one…
By Ben Schenkel After they split up for college, Stéphane Tholander and his best friends stayed close through a nerdy hobby: They made short videos about science, initially as a…
Montreuil on the move 