Françoise, Marie-Pierre and Salvatore, suffering from Alzheimer's, moved three weeks ago into this bright pavilion, decorated with stained glass and located about ten kilometers south of Paris, where they each have their room, their belongings and the freedom to choose their daily occupations.

Coincidence: their move took place the week of the publication of the book-investigation "Les Fossoyeurs", denouncing the abuse suffered in many nursing homes.

"What I like here is to live in peace, because I am at home", confides with a frank smile Françoise, elegantly dressed in a golden yellow vest.

"I like the garden, I live normally, and there is everything to do, like in an apartment", continues the nonagenarian, who met Omar, a 39-year-old Colombian student there.

"He's nice", says Françoise.

Arrived in France in September, Omar Nino is accommodated against service in the shared apartment: he must be present six nights a week, to provide support to the carer if necessary.

He chose to invest more.

"With Françoise, we often talk about Parisian customs. With Marie-Pierre, I go for a walk in the market".

This promise of a daily life open to the outside world, far from the "confinement" of nursing homes, relieves Agathe Charnet, Marie-Pierre's daughter.

"It's her home"

Since the discovery of her mother's early illness in 2018, Agathe had been looking for "a solution" so that she "lived her illness with dignity", but "began to despair" of having to place her in a medical establishment - a "super drastic" measure.

Elderly people with Alzheimer's disease in their shared apartment in Haÿ-les-Roses, February 17, 2022 ALAIN JOCARD AFP

"There, I have a bit of the feeling that she has found a place where she is good, where she is at home," the 30-year-old young woman told AFP.

"It's a somewhat special + home +, with carers who are there to take care of her, but there is no white coat, no medical bed".

With a "true spirit of roommate".

"They prepare the meals together, we don't have to register to come and have lunch. If my mother wants to come and sleep at my house, she comes to sleep at my house, if we want to go on vacation, we go on vacation... C is at home".

At home, even if, sometimes, Marie-Pierre does not "know" if her room upstairs is really hers.

"For people with Alzheimer's, who are losing their bearings, going to nursing homes, in a large structure, is going to be a lot of disorientation", explains Clément Saint Olive, co-founder of the company "Biens Communs", at the origin of this colocation.

"The whirlwind of life"

"The advantage of a small house, with eight roommates, is to find the codes and the landmarks with which we lived. We know the people, the corners of the house", explains Clément Saint Olive, who has a similar project. in Rueil-Malmaison (Hauts-de-Seine).

At L'Haÿ-les-Roses, the current roommates pay between 2,000 and 3,500 euros net per month depending on the aid received.

A "Council of roommates" - a Whatsapp group and meetings with families, the host of the shared habitat, the student and a doctor - helps organize life together.

For the host, Isabelle Vignaud, nothing to do with her early career in Ehpad: "a place of death", where people "decline very quickly", explains the 59-year-old professional.

Three elderly people suffering from Alzheimer's disease share a roommate in Haÿ-les-Roses, February 17, 2022 ALAIN JOCARD AFP

"Here, we have time to understand the personality of the patients", rejoices the carer Néné Djouhe Diallo, 29 years old.

To please Marie-Pierre, the auxiliaries have taken to broadcasting her favorite music.

Dalida and Jeanne Moreau invited to the roommate.

When the first notes resonate, Marie-Pierre freezes.

Hands in her pockets, the 50-year-old hums in a clear voice: "It's the whirlwind of life..."

"My mother loves to sing and dance, it's her love in life", laughs Agathe.

"Even if we know that the disease takes her towards ever more dependence, I have the impression that she is living a new life here, rather than an end of life".

© 2022 AFP