Alternative Paris

Came across a really interesting initiative today which aims to rehabilitate people who are excluded or on the outer edges of society, back into work. Alternative Urbaine is an association coordinating a programme of guided walks led by someone who is homeless or unemployed. 

The guides are paid by the association and enable visitors to discover a Paris that is authentic and unknown in the north-eastern districts of Belleville and Ménilmontant 
(11th and 20th arrondissements). 

Belleville and Ménilmontant were absorbed into Central Paris in the 1800s. The districts were initially used to house immigrants from rural France, then people from the former colonies of North Africa and Asia arrived. These days Belleville is home to a thriving artists' community and Chinese quarter. Ménilmontant has some of the buzziest venues in Paris, loads of nightlife and hip bars.

However there's more to be discovered. And part of the uniqueness of Alternative Urbaine project is the opportunity the guides offer to visitors, to meet and talk with Parisiens in places and spaces that are off the beaten track, but are important to the local area.

Generally organised at the weekend, each walk lasts between 1 and 2 hours. There isn't a charge. Instead each visitor pays a contribution directly to the guide. 

There is a quotation on the site of Alternative Urbaine credited to Alexandra David-Néel, a Belgian-French explorer, Buddhist and writer, born in the mid 1800s, which eloquently expresses the concept at the heart of the project:

Someone who travels without meeting another isn't travelling, he's just moving.

www.alternative-urbaine.net