PARIS, FRANCE — Magasins généraux and Enlarge Your Paris team up for a second time to bring you The Greater Paris Guide– a 208-page publication that celebrates Paris inside and outside the city centre. The guide, available in both English and French, can be preordered now and hits bookshelves and online retailers on 6 May 2021.
The Greater Paris Guide demonstrates its creators’ conviction that Greater Paris is the Paris of tomorrow: more innovative, creative, welcoming, responsible, and sustainable. A new playground and workplace for the French capital’s 12 million inhabitants, and countless admirers who post over 100 million photos with the #paris hashtag on Instagram.
With 1200 cultural venues, 300 concert halls, 200 festivals, and 300 museums and art centres, Greater Paris already exists, albeit somewhat unknown to larger international audiences. With this new edition of The Greater Paris Guide, Enlarge Your Paris and Magasins généraux speak up about the Greater Paris movement internationally for the first time.
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Truly a cultural object, The Greater Paris Guide features bold graphic design and captivating photography by Vincent Migrenne. The exhibition, ‘Vu Dans le Grand Paris’ (‘Spotted in Greater Paris’), takes place in May 2021 at Magasins généraux’s hybrid exhibition space in Pantin, coinciding with the guide’s launch.
A new cultural map of Greater Paris
At a time when the function of cities faces a major rethink, The Greater Paris Guide asserts a fresh perspective on the French capital by introducing a brand-new map of the city, redefining the traditional Parisian quartiers and cultural scene.
The map consists of ten neighbourhoods (adding leafy Pontoise and Fontainebleau to the roster since the 2018 French edition) that are a combination of traditional Paris and its lesser-known suburbs. This redefinition tells its own story with Paris now comparable size-wise with Los Angeles, Shanghai, and other world metropolises. Each one of The Greater Paris Guide’s ten chapters is dedicated to a specific area– the Green Ocean, the Hyper-Museum, the Factory, the Little Riviera, the Street Gallery, the Delta, the Rooftop, the XXL Park, the Fields and the Enchanted Forest –with more than 300 insider tips on culture, lifestyle, the outdoors, family activities, food and rest.
Why now’s the time for a refreshed guide to Greater Paris
Enlarge Your Paris was conceived and launched in 2013 as a means of championing the opening of Paris’ traditional borders. The ‘Greater Paris movement’ has also been a passion project for Magasins généraux since it was founded by BETC in Pantin in 2016. Their partnership, therefore, was destined from the start and cemented by the runaway success of the first edition of Guide des Grands Parisiensin February 2018 (in French –sold out).
The book, praised by officials at Paris city hall and the presidential Elysée Palace, led to further collaboration in 2019 and 2020 with the first two iterations of Signalétique, Greater Paris’ first-ever signpost system. Deemed a thundering success, a third version of Signalétique is currently under discussion.
With a consistent program of exhibitions, events, and rollout of unique creative content, Magasins généraux is now an indisputable cultural player in Greater Paris. BETC’s founder, Rémi Babinet, further champions this belief through his work as President of the Grand Paris Express corporate endowment fund, for the cultural aspect of the metro system’s stations.
Rémi Babinet, BETC Founder states: “Greater Paris was invisible in 2016 when we moved to Magasins généraux in Pantin. Today, it is a movement at the core of conversations about urbanism. It’s time to start a dialogue with inhabitants and key players from other cities around the world with the first international edition of The Greater Paris Guide.”
Eugenie Lefebvre, director of Magasins généraux and Pantin resident since 2012, adds: “We strive to connect local stakeholders, establishments, media and brands who share our belief that the boundaries between art, society, and the economy are much more permeable than people think. We’d like to thank our partners for helping us bring an alternative vision of Paris to the general public and businesses alike.”
Renaud Charles and Vianney Delourme, co-Founders of Enlarge Your Paris, conclude: “This is the time for local tourism when we are being encouraged to discover the multitude of riches that surround us. The Greater Paris Guide changes the way we look at and think of the Paris Region, offering new ideas for exploring the beautiful area we all think we know.”
The Greater Paris Guide is available to order now and hits bookshelves and online retailers on May 6th 2021.
