When Pierre and I visited Paris, the apartment we rented while in Paris had the perfect address. The apartment was in Le Marias, a historically Jewish area, which was now also the gay area. It’s in the 2nd Arrondissement and it felt central enough to all that we wanted to see in Paris. The apartment was on Rue Martin and it was spitting distance from the Pompidou Centre.
The apartment was small, basically a room with a sleeper couch and a bathroom. We were a couple, and we didn’t spend much time inside the apartment anyway, so it was fine with us. We booked the room from Airbnb. What was really important for us was the location, and the location was perfect.
Since my travel companion had been to Paris before I let him lead me to all the places that he thought were crucial. Of course, there were places that I wanted to see and do, but mostly everything we wanted to do overlapped.
It matters who you are travelling with. Not everyone is a good travelling companion. After our time in France, Pierre and I agreed that we are good travel buddies.
The first night in Paris, we went to go food at some local spot, I can’t remember the name. We had some pasta and red wine in a carafe. What I was really excited about was going out for a drink that first night to the gay bars. The thought of gay bars in Paris made me really excited. With almost every city I visit, I am often intrigued and excited to discover the local queer “scene.” I am often fascinated by the ways queerness in a foreign city is organised, who goes where, what is the fashion like, what do people drink, how are the bars designed, who are the servers, are there people of colour in the bars, how are the bars gendered. So this being Paris, the stakes were relatively high.
On that first night, we went to two bars close to each other. They were dimly lit, and the staff was friendly. We didn’t experience any of the snobbery that French customer service is famous for. The service was not necessarily fast, but that is not just for us, the service is not fast all around. The gay bars in Paris are around Le Maris, and so it’s easy to hop in and out of them.
Throughout our stay in Paris, we would go out almost every night. We were in Paris for a week, so it was imperative not to waste any time. There were three gay bars that stood out for during my short visit in Paris. First was the Cox Café, which is a bar designed like a “supermarket”. The bar is designed like a supermarket, where on all the walls there are shelves with grocery items, except all of the grocery items are eroticised. The ordinary grocery store products are given new lewd and crude and highly suggestive names. It’s really funny. We discovered this bar while walking around Le Marias, and it was packed with men standing on the pavement. It was a hot summer’s day in Paris. We went it, and there was a bear special and a DJ spinning old school tunes. It was fantastic. The barmen and the patrons were extremely friendly.
The second bar that was really interesting was Raidd Bar, also known as the “naked shower” bar. This is a dance bar but had a built-in-shower where the patrons can watch a naked man take a shower while the DJ spins dance songs. It’s a popular bar, especially with out-of-towners. It’s a regular bar, but the shower gimmick ensures that the bar is packed. There is a quieter bar downstairs near the coat check and the bathrooms. It’s a fun space, and gay Paris would be incomplete without it.
The last bar that made an impression on me was this small bar called Le SPYCE Bar. It had a walkway as you enter and two elevated “stages” on the side for people to hang out and dance. The walkway and the bar for a T-junction and behind and above the bar is a platform where the Go-go dancers do their thing. When we arrived at the club, there was 4th of July, American Independence, celebrations. So after we bought our drinks and we were comfortable, the Go-Go dancers came out wrapped in American flags and started dancing. It was a sight! I remember thinking; THIS is how you show patriotism, naked, oiled, drunk, and wrapped in a flag. Unfortunately, the bar has since closed, but I have great memories from when it still existed.
After spending a week in Paris, I realised that one must try and have a decent amount of time in a city to really discover it. The week in Paris flew by, and we had to pack up to our next destination while I was still hungry for more Paris.
