Paris neighborhood: Pigalle

The neighbourhoods in Paris as in many large cities appear to be divided by money as much as race. Add to that specific atmosphere that has always characterized a given quartier that seems to traverse any divides based on money or colour. Pigalle, for instance, is a quartier that people will say chaud (litterarlly, it means Hot)…it’s sex, vices and all the things that people are fascinated by but dare not say or do. But residents of Pigalle would probably tell you how it has changed. If Pigalle before really was a place of debauche (though the tourists had always been there), today only vestiges or gentrified version remains. Sure, there are still lots of sex shops but these are now frequented by curious tourists, clean looking couples rather than the hard core people who frequented old Pigalle. The prostitutes that used to be an integral part of Pigalle are less visible because of newer and stricter laws concerning prostitution (what is France coming to? No sex, no cigarette?). The transvestites that used to line the small street from Place Pigalle to the hills above are as rare as UFOs. Where have they all gone?

But sex is still in the air if less than before but at least more so than in other quartiers of Paris. As a gay man walking the sidewalk (or the island in the middle of the boulevard) the possibilities of meeting men are always there. Not men that you find in the gay ghetto like le Marais, but men who say they are heterosexual, men who are just feeling randy, and of course gay men who don’t feel (or don’t want to be part of) the gay ghetto all cruise in Pigalle. Not to mention, of course, those who do it for money. Some do it for money because they need it, some do it just as a symbol to convince themselves that they are not gay. Of course, you have to know who to look at among the hordes of tourists who come to Pigalle by the busloads.

Aside from the sex shops, the tourists come to Pigalle also to see the show at Moulin Rouge (Metro Blanche, which is just next to Pigalle), the Sacre Cœur (Metro Anvers, also next to Pigalle on the other side). The cabaret featuring transvestites (actually called transformists) Chez Michou and Madame Arthur are also in Pigalle (there are still other traditional cabarets as one goes up towards the hill from Pigalle…remember Pigalle was THE place for cabarets in Paris. But many are also just for tourists). Restaurants abound, of course, though you have to be choosy to avoid the tourist traps. Among those that cater to the locals, near Moulin Rouge, there is a fun restaurant with good food to boot, called le Zebre (rue Lepic). And to partake aperitifs or before dinner drinks in Pigalle there is Chao Ba which has a clubbish atmosphere with a twist of Vietnam (you can get spring rolls to nibble on when drinking). The well known café Chat Noir (it’s on all the tea towels, dirnk mats etc.) which has just recently undergone renovation is of course here. Another café that’s fun is café Fourmi just down the street from Michou and Madame Arthur (rue des martyrs). Finally, don’t forget the gay bar MZ where you are more likelty to meet men off the street that are not clones, and if you’re into sordid gay sex, the cinema at Place Pigalle!

Hints for tourists:
Avoid touts !!

Note (2013) : Chao Bas has since been closed and replaced by Indiana restaurant (:-()