“That is the sort of thing Saccage Paris is about. We are in a cafe near the Porte Saint-Martin in Paris’s 10th arrondissement, where a local hairdresser has painted a large pair of scissors on the pavement under the 17th-century arch.
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“It’s amazing how it has caught on,” said Quentin, a young engineer and Saccage Paris activist, who preferred not to give his full name. Thousands of Parisians, and Paris lovers from all over France, ordinary citizens like me, spontaneously united under this hashtag,” he wrote. PanamePropre has said he is only expressing “the anger of seeing the city I have lived in for more than 20 years deteriorate before my eyes. In 1832, Victor Hugo published a pamphlet decrying the “vandals” razing the crumbling medieval towers and churches to build replacements in the then fashionable neoclassic style, and Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, credited for the vast 19th-century transformation of Paris and creator of the celebrated grands boulevards, faced bitter opposition and controversy. But even writing books about the state of Paris is hardly novel. She certainly has her share of responsibility but she doesn’t deserve all the attacks aimed at her,” Bern added.Īrt historian Didier Rykner was less forgiving in his recent book La Disparition de Paris (The Disappearance of Paris), a detailed critique of Hidalgo’s management of the city. The biggest culprits are first and foremost the people. “Her job is far from easy, and, as far as I’m aware, she’s not the one making it dirty, nor are the refuse collectors at fault. However, Bern pointed the finger at ordinary Parisians not Hidalgo. “What has happened to the City of Light?,” he said. Photograph: Julien Mattia/Le Pictorium Agency/ZUMA/REX/Shutterstock Parisians rally to demand the authorities clean up the city, on 10 October 2021. Last month, France’s best known royal commentator, Stéphane Bern, announced he was moving out of Paris because it had become dirty, violent and was “a rubbish bin”. Parisians, who live in one of the most densely populated cities in the world, often paint a different picture. To outsiders – especially fans of Netflix drama Emily in Paris – the French capital is the picture-postcard city of romance and dreams, of baguettes and boulevards, of high culture and haute couture. “City Hall is annoyed with us because what we show damages its image… but we have no other way.” What we reproach Anne Hidalgo and her team for is that they have the power to do something about this but they do not use it positively,” Desse told the Observer. It’s a citizens’ movement and there’s a wide mix of political opinions. “For many of us, Saccage Paris has no political motive. Much of the movement’s fury has been targeted at City Hall removing, neglecting or replacing Paris’s instantly recognisable architectural heritage, notably the street furniture, much of it dating from the 19th-century second empire of Napoléon III. But he is angry, and he is not alone.Ī member of Saccage Paris, he laments the destruction of the city’s historic symbols. The softly spoken bookseller would almost certainly prefer to bury his nose in a rare manuscript than speak to the press. Jacques Desse does not look or sound like an extreme urban warrior. Whatever the motivations behind the hashtag – the account PanamePropre that coined it remains resolutely anonymous – the movement is gathering momentum and has prompted City Hall to publish a “manifesto for beauty” to smarten up the city, which hosts the Olympic Games in 2024. The informal campaign has given disgruntled Parisians a catchy hashtag under which to complain about anything from potholed pavements and roads to ugly park benches, litter, fly-tipping and graffiti. Unlike traditional protests, Saccage Paris photographs the streets instead of occupying them.
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