The date was September 22, 1985, when environmental artist Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude completed what had been their ten-year obsession; "The Pont Neuf Wrapped." For fourteen days, 440,000 square feet of polyamide fabric, silky in appearance and golden sandstone in colour, covered the legendary seventeenth-century bridge that has inspired artists, lovers, and the people of Paris. Christo in Paris chronicles the decade-long struggle it took to achieve this astounding and provocative architectural poem.

The film documents Christo's and Jeanne-Claude's lobbying efforts, their conversations with Parisians explaining the wrapping, and their candid meetings with city officials. But in the course of presenting this film about an artist at work, the Maysles team takes the opportunity to explore Christo's personal history, so that we can understand the significance such an unusual work of art has for the man.