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BI, GAY & LESBIAN LIFESTYLES

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RECOMMENDED BOOKS


To the Friend:
Who Did Not Save My Life
(High Risk Books)

SAVE 20%


An AIDS victim's impassioned refusal to go gently into that good night is the theme of this moving and often searing novel by French writer and journalist Guibert. In a series of diary-like chapters, the narrator, a homosexual writer in his early 30s, records his own first response to AIDS, as well as the way the disease insidiously begins to affect a whole community. He notes how friendships, families, and affections are tested, and sometimes -- though rarely -- found wanting.

As much as it's a story of one man, this is a novel of historic record in which not just AIDS but death itself becomes the enemy to be fought, denied even, but never defeated -- no matter how strong the will or spirit. A relentlessly honest, extraordinarily truthful book.
-- Copyright
©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP.

To the Friend: Who Did Not Save My Life

by Hervé Guibert, Linda Coverdale (Translator)

Paperback - 245 pages Reprint edition
Published February 1994 by Serpents Tail
Usually ships within 2-3 days.
List Price: $11.99
Our Price:
$9.59
You Save: $2.40
ISBN: 1852423285

DiscoverFrance.net

Networks & Resources

The International Gay Travel Association, Box 4974, Key West, FL 33041 (800-448-8550, fax 305-296-6633), a consortium of more than 1,000 travel companies, can supply names of gay-friendly travel agents, tour operators, and accomodations. A number of such agencies are also listed in the Smart Travel Tips section of Fodor's 99 France Gold Guide.

"Gay Paree", with one of the world's largest homosexual populations, has many clubs, restaurants, organizations, and services. It takes a serious couche-tard (night owl) to keep up with the hip scene. One of the best information sources on gay and lesbian activities is the Centre Gay et Lesbien, 3, rue Keller, 11e (01-43-57-21-47; Métro: Bastille). 501 Great Things About Being GayWell equipped to dispense information and coordinate the activities and meetings of gay people from virtually everywhere, it's open daily from 2 to 8pm. On Sunday it adopts Le Café Positif and features music, cabaret, and information about AIDS and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Agora, 33, bd. Picpus, 12e (01-43-42-19-02), a federation of several gay organizations, provides information on events, meetings, and rallies.

Another helpful source is La Maison des Femmes, 8 Cité Prost, 11e (01-43-48-24-91; Métro: Charonne), offering information about Paris for lesbians and bisexual women. Informal dinners and get-togethers are sponsored at irregular intervals. Call Wednesday or Friday from 4 to 7pm for further information.

Gay magazines that focus mainly on cultural events include Illico (free in gay bars but around 12F/$2.40 at newsstands) and Double-Face (available free at bars and bookstores). Women might like to pick up a copy of Lesbia, to check the ads if for no other reason. These publications and others (Gai Guide, Gai Pied Hebdo, and Paris Exit ) are available at Paris' largest and best-stocked gay bookstore, Les Mots à la Bouche, 6 rue Ste-Croix-la-Bretonnerie, 4e (01-42-78-88-30; Métro: Hôtel-de-Ville). It's open Monday to Saturday from 11am to 11pm and Sunday from 3 to 8pm. French- and English-language publications are inventoried.

A gay hotline, theoretically designed as a way to creatively counsel those with gay-related problems, is SOS Ecoute Gay (01-44-93-01-02). Someone will respond to calls Monday to Friday from 6 to 10pm. A separate hotline specifically intended for victims of homophobia or gay-related discrimination is SOS Homophobie (01-48-06-42-41); it offers a panel of French-trained lawyers and legal experts who provide advice and counsel Monday to Friday from 8 to 10pm. The Centre du Christ Libérateur, 5, rue Crussol, 11e (01-48-05-24-48) provides gays and lesbians with medical care and counseling. FAACTS (Free Anglo-American Counseling Treatment Support) at the American Church (quai d'Orsay, 7e) has weekly meetings for people infected or affected by HIV. Call the Association des Médecins Gais (01-48-05-81-71) for advice and information over the phone.


Gay & Lesbian Clubs

In Paris, gay life is centered around Les Halles and Le Marais, with the greatest concentration of clubs, restaurants, bars and shops between the Hôtel-de-Ville and Ranbuteau Métro stops. However, since trendy clubs fall in and out of favor at lightning speed, and one-night discos and tea dances are always popping up, be sure to check the local papers to see what's hot.

Le Queen, 102 av. des Champs-Elysées, 8e (01-53-89-08-90), may be artfully blasé and disorganized, but it's certainly the queen of the night in gay Paris. Follow the flashing purple sign on the "main street of Paris", near the corner of avenue George-V, to the epicenter of gay nightlife. The place is often mobbed, mainly with gay men and, to a lesser degree, chic women (photomannequins and the like) who work in the fashion and film industries. Look for drag shows, muscle shows, striptease from danseurs who gyrate atop the bars, and everything from 1970s disco nights (Monday) to Tuesday-night foam parties in summer, when cascades of mousse descend onto the dance floor. The cover charge is 50F ($10) on Monday and 100F ($20) on Friday and Saturday; other nights are free.

Banana Café, 13 rue de la Ferronnerie, 1er (01-42-33-35-31); Métro: Châtelet-Les Halles), is one of the most popular gay bars in the Marais. On two floors of a 19th-century building, it has walls the color of an overripe banana, dim lighting, and a well-known happy hour where the price of drinks is reduced daily between 7 and 10pm. The street level features just a bar. The cellar level contains music alternating between a live pianist and recorded disco. Thursday to Saturday, go-go dancers of virtually any sexual persuasion perform from spotlit platforms in the cellar. The place is open daily from 4:15pm to 6am.

Le Bar Central, 33 rue Vielle-du-Temple, 4e (01-48-87-99-33; Métro: Hôtel-de-Ville), is one of the leading gay bars in the Hôtel-de-Ville area. In fact, it's the most famous gay men's bar in Paris today. The club has established a small hotel upstairs with a few facilities and only six rooms. Both the bar and its little hotel are in a 300-year-old building in the heart of the Marais; the hotel caters to gay men, less frequently to lesbians. Le Bar is open from 4pm to 1am Sunday to Thursday, to 2am Friday and Saturday.

L'Entr'acte, 25 bd. Poissonnière, 2e (01-40-26-01-93; Métro: Rue-Montmartre), has made a spectacular comeback and is now the hippest lesbian dance club in Paris. Its decor is like a 19th-century French music hall, and the venue, as the French say, is "cool", with all types of cutting-edge music. Don't show up until after midnight. The presence of men is discouraged. What to do if you're a gay male? Go to the side entrance with a "separate but equal facility", "Le Scorpion (same address and phone), where les mecs gais (gay guys) are welcomed. Both clubs are open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:45pm to 5am, with no cover charge.

Other listings: MEN & WOMEN (refer to Fodor's 99 Paris for complete descriptions)

Amnésia Café, 42, rue Vieille-du-Temple, 4e (01-42-72-16-94; Métro: Rambuteau).

Other listings: MOSTLY MEN (refer to Fodor's 99 Paris for complete descriptions)

Club 18, 18, rue de Beaujolais, 1er (01-42-97-52-13; Métro: Pyramides).

L'Echelle de Jacob, 10, rue Jacob, 6e (01-43-54-53-53; Métro: Mabillon).

L'Open Café, 17, rue des Archives, 4e (01-42-72-26-18; Métro: Hôtel-de-Ville).

Le Quetzal, 10, rue de la Verrerie, 4e (01-48-87-99-07; Métro: Hôtel-de-Ville).

Subway, 35, rue St-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie, 4e (01-42-77-41-10; Métro: Hôtel-de-Ville).

Other listings: MOSTLY WOMEN (refer to Fodor's 99 Paris for complete descriptions)

La Champmesle, 4, rue Chabanais, 2e (01-42-96-85-20; Métro: Bourse).

Le Memorie's, 2 pl. de la Porte-Maillot, 17e (01-40-68-22-22; Métro: Porte Maillot).

Le Privilège, 3 cité Bergère, 9e (01-42-46-50-98; Métro: Rue Montmartre).

Le Pulp! 25, bd. Poissonnière, 2e (01-40-26-01-93; Métro: Pyramides).

El Scandalo, 21, rue Keller, 11e (01-47-00-24-59; Métro: Ledru-Rollin)


A Gay Hotel

Hôtel Central, 33 rue Vieille-du-Temple, 7e (01-48-87-99-33 ; Métro: Hôtel-de-Ville), is the most famous gay hotel in France. The rooms are on the third, fourth and fifth floors of the 18th-century building that contains Le Bar Central, the Marais' most entrenched gay bar. If you arrive between 8am and 4pm, you'll find a registration staff one floor above street level; if you arrive at any other time, you'll have to register at the street-level bar. The rooms are simple, serviceable, and durable. Women are welcome but rare.
6 rooms, none with bath. 420F ($84) single, 510F ($102) double. Breakfast 35F ($7). MC, V.


Bibliography: Fodor's 99 France, Natasha Lesser, Editor, Fodor's Travel Publications Inc., New York. Fodor's 99 Paris, Natasha Lesser, Editor, Fodor's Travel Publications Inc., New York. Frommer's 99 Europe From $50 A Day, Ron Boudreau, Editor, Macmillan Travel, A Simon & Schuster Macmillan Company, New York. Are You Two...Together? A Gay and Lesbian Travel Guide to Europe, Lindsy van Gelder & Pamela Robin Brandt, Random House, New York.
Image sources: book covers courtesy of Amazon.com.

Alternate Lifestyles Links:

  • GaiPied: Agenda
    Calendar of lesbian and gay pride events and film festivals in Paris and throughout France.
  • GayGuide Inter@ctif
    This site gets down to the nitty-gritty of listings and addresses for gay and lesbian social activities.
  • GayMania
    Billing itself as the ultimate gay and lesbian guide for France, this site offers chat, ads, and over 300 addresses of gay businesses and organizations in Paris.
  • Gay Search Engines
    A unique service, featuring navigation to many dozens of exclusively gay web sites and search engines worldwide.
  • Health Issues Information Resource
    Articles (in French) on health concerns and disease prevention, with an emphasis on HIV and AIDS.
  • OOups!
    This online magazine for gays and lesbians (in French) offers a schedule of events, personal ads, articles and newsclips on pertinent issues, discussions on coming out, drag, etc.
  • Têtu
    Online version of the print magazine (in French) offers a photo gallery, film reviews, biographies of prominent gay citizens, social commentary, and international news on the gay front.

News Articles:

Gay Unions Legalized In France
Unmarried Couples Win Equal Rights
France today became the largest country in Europe, and the first nominally Roman Catholic one, to legalize same-sex unions when the Socialist-dominated National Assembly pushed through legislation creating "civil solidarity pacts."

Books:

Alcibiades at the Door: Gay Discourses in French Literature
by Lawrence R. Schehr; Hardcover; 1995, Stanford Univ Press.

Are You Two...Together? A Gay and Lesbian Travel Guide to Europe
by Lindsy van Gelder & Pamela Robin Brandt; Paperback; 1991, Random House, New York (out-of-stock).

Finding True Love in a Man-Eat-Man World: The Intelligent Guide to Gay Dating, Sex, Romance, and Eternal Love
by Craig Nelson; Paperback; 1996, Dell Books.

501 Great Things About Being Gay
by Edward Taussig; Paperback; 1998, Andrews McMeel Publishing.

The Gay Guys Guide to Life: 463 Maxims, Manners, and Mottoes for the Gay Nineties
by Kenneth Hanes; Paperback - 160 pages; 1994, Fireside.

Gay Sex: A Manual for Men Who Love Men
by Jack Hart; Paperback; 1998, Alyson Publications.

The Girls Next Door: Into the Heart of Lesbian America
by Lindsy Van Gelder, Pamela Robin Brandt (Contributor); Paperback; 1997, Fireside.

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