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In August 1997, I made a tour in
Paris in order to identify the most prominent places in my
history in Paris. After I die, I expect some men (or persons...)
of good-will will put up a plaque at each of these places to
explain to the following generations why it was of special
importance to me. I indicate the hour of my tour and the years
these places were related to my life.
To see a full-sized picture, click on its icon. It will appear in a new window, which will avoid you a reload of this one for every pic you view... And all the pics will appear in the same new window.
Folie-Mericourt (since 1992). My present
home, for 5 years.
Keller's bar. Generally acknowledged by the conoisseurs
to be he best leather bar in Paris.
The first time I was there, I felt very uncomfortable:
the patrons were too old for me, and looked very hard.
For almost ten years, and more intensely for the last 5 years, it has become the place where I had a lot of
very good time.
Rue
du Foin (Hay street), just behind the Place des
Vosges. (1976-86). It was my lover's and my first real home,
after the "chambres de bonnes" (maid's room, on
the 6th floor with no lift and toilet on the
landing!). We lived there 10 years, and had good times and not-so-good
times.
Rue
de Rivoli, St Paul (1975). My sister's and
brother-in-law's place. When I came on leave from the army, I would stay there, after they moved from
their Vaugirard apartment. It still remains the hub of family life in Paris.
Rue du Platre (Plaster street) (1972-73). My first own place in Paris, a "chambre
de bonne" on the 6th floor, with a tiny
balcony. Just opposite, there was a bar called "Baby
bar". I never had a drink there, but years later it
became a gay bar (Hollywood, then Chaps, and now Cafe
Chantant). When I had to find a room in Paris, I first
wanted to be in the Latin Quarter or in
St-Germain-des-Pres. But these places were too expensive,
and I was happy to find this room in the Marais, which
was not fashionable at all (nor gay) but was still a nice
neighborhood (as an architecture student,
I knew about the wonderful "hotels", which were
not yet restored), and within walking distance of
St-Germain. I left it to go to Israel, and then to
the army.
Quai
aux Fleurs, Ile de la Cite (1975). That's where I
met my lover Nyu. I was on the stairs leading to the water,
giving a blow-job to an Arab boy, at around 2 AM. When I
finished, I looked up, and I saw this cute Oriental boy
leaning on the parapet watching all the scene. I went up
quickly to speak to him.... and we stayed together almost
17 years, until he died in 1992. Who says it's impossible
to find a long-term relationship on a cruising place?
Thanh Binh, Place
Maubert (1975-86). Until the late '70, it was the main
Oriental grocery in Paris. Orientals came from all over
Paris and the suburbs to shop here. It was my first
contact with an Asian crowd. When I met Nyu, I knew
obviously he was Vietnamese, but to me it did not mean
anything special. A few weeks later, I visited him by
surprise and caught him during his dinner: he was eating
sticky rice, with chopsticks. There, I realised that he was
different! And I
used chopsticks at home for the
next 17 years...
Rue Lanneau,
Montagne Ste-Genevieve (1969). When I came to
Paris for the very first time, for an exam, I went
directly there, in the Latin quarter (between Ecole
Polytechnique and College de France) at my
mother's aunt's. She was a very nice and open-minded old
lady. It's from here that I discovered Paris.
"Le
69", 69, rue St-Jacques (1971). A few years
after the student's movement in France in 1968, a
"Gay Liberation Front" (FHAR, Front Homosexuel
d'Action Revolutionnaire) appeared in Paris. They had a
column in a "maoist" newspaper, and that's
where I first heard of it when I was a student in
Strasbourg. I was still in the closet at that time. At
the beginning of the Autumn, I went to London for the
first time. I enjoyed very much the gay pubs, including
some leather pubs (as The Coleherne). I met there a
French guy living in London, and I spent the night with
him, more talking than actually having sex. He spoke to
me about the FHAR, and their weekly meetings at the
school of Fine Arts, and their "afters" in a
bar in the Latin Quarter, the "69". These
meetings were every Thursday, and it was Wednesday night.
So, on the next morning, I rushed (hitch-hiking...) back
to Paris to attend the meeting. I arrived too late, so I
went directly to the "69". And there, for the
first time, I saw plenty of gay boys, happy to be gay and
to be together... I spent the night with a group of them,
and I returned to Strasbourg to meet my (straight)
friends and make my come-out!
Boulevard St-Germain, Odeon (1975-76). When I met my
lover Nyu, he was living in a maid's room
there. Tiny, but with a view over the Sacre-Coeur in
Montmartre! During the first few months after I met him,
I had my own place, but quickly enough I moved to a room just opposite his, across the corridor.
Rue
d'Assas (1973...). Here is the health center where I went to
cure my first gonorrhea... and most of the following
ones!.
Rue Littre (1975). Here is the maid's room I found when I
settled back in Paris after the army. But I did not stay long there.
Rue La Quintinie,
Vaugirard (1970-72 and 1974-75). My sister and brother-in-law were living
there in the first half of the '70s. So, it's the place
where I stayed every time I came to Paris when I did not
have my own place there. Subsequently, they moved to Rue
de Rivoli.
Rue
Jacob (August-September
1975). When I was going to the army in Hyeres, I spent the last night as a civilian in Toulon. Of course I checked the public park
and there I was picked up by a man who was very
interesting. I saw him several times while I was in the
army. At the time I was released from the army, he had to
be away from Paris, and he left me his apartment for the
rest of the summer, with the charge of taking care of the
plants. A very nice flat, on two levels, in the heart of
St-Germain. There, I could receive my friends, and
impress my new lover... I still feel guilty because I
left an avocado-tree dying. I left this place to go rue
Littre.
"Le
BH", rue du Roule (1980-88). This place opened in 1980 and was supposed to
be a leather bar. In fact, it was not that much leather,
but it had a very good backroom, and it was open all
night long. I liked it first because of the name (my
initials and the way I like to be called), but also
because it was the only place where one could find such a
mix of people, from leather to disco, and particularly a
lot of young men from non-European countries. I used to
go there very often until 1988. After that, it turned
more into a discotheque, and it became more difficult to
have a good time in the backroom and toilet, and
eventually the place disappeared a few years ago. But I
keep vivid the memories of some strong experiences there!
Rue
de la Presentation (Belleville) (1986-92). When Nyu and I had to leave the apartment we
rented rue du Foin, we bought a small flat there, in the highly cosmopolitan (and relatively
inexpensive) neighborhood of Belleville.
Last update October 21st, 1997.
