PARIS

The largest metro system in the first season of METROCOSMOS is in the capital of France - Paris. The metro network covers over 220 km and is currently divided into 16 different lines. With over 4 million passengers per day, it is the most used means of transport in Paris and is bursting at the seams despite constant expansion.

The new line, the “Grand Paris Express”, is intended to counteract the chaos. We get an exclusive insight into the major underground and overground construction sites of the new line and talk to design luminary Ruedi Bauer, who is responsible for the signaling of the new system. The Swiss communications designer explains how the new system is being planned to coordinate the traveling crowds in a sensible way.

In the hustle and bustle of the crowds at Chatêlet metro station, a few kilometers further on, we meet the Lyon rap legend Oddateee, who gives us a very personal insight into his world. He lets his new track “I am alive” echo through the seemingly endless corridors of the Paris metro for us.

However, the Parisian system is actually much larger than it is shown on the map. Few European cities have as many abandoned stations as Paris. Explorer and Urbex climber Ekton, better known online as “Gangsta Claus”, takes us on an illegal photo shoot in an abandoned 1930s station. A crazy creative project with thrills that has to be perfectly planned.

Despite numerous cameras and security personnel, the Paris underground is a place where many people cannot feel safe. Over 70% of Parisians say they have been harassed at least once in the metro. This information comes from Pauline Vanderquand, who is working to put an end to this negative trend with her app UMAY and an infrastructure of so-called safe spaces.

Finally, we meet the internationally sought-after stuntman Victor Lainé, who sees the escalators of the Paris metro as a training tool and rushes past us at excessive speed. He regularly fulfills the childhood dream of many passengers and slides down the longest escalator in Paris for us - please don’t imitate him.

This selection of protagonists represents only half of the people we meet in the METROCOSMOS. As in every episode, we also let the everyday passengers have their say in order to gain an insight into the Paris that takes place outside the tourist bubble.

The Paris episode of METROCOSMOS tells us a lot about the life of Parisians, about a city that is caught between cosmopolitanism and political division - and yes, the Eiffel Tower can also be seen from the windows of the subway.