I loved Paris from the first moment and enjoyed great times in the museums and patisseries. What a great combination for a fulfilling and stimulating life. But Paris was also known for its other stimulating life; there were very sexy people in Paris.
The women all dressed so stylishly and had fantastic figures. They also had good opinions of themselves and exuded a personal satisfaction that was most attractive. The French men had those deep and sexy accents that told you it will be a wonderful time in bed with them.
During this visit to the City of Lights, I decided to explore the darker side of Paris in one of its gay bars. I had read about this location online and knew that there wouldn't be much English spoken there, so I had to practice my French phrases for ordering a drink.
Located not far from the gay district, my choice was a small bar that had a basement area for play. The online pictures were not very clear, so I didn't have much to go on other than the knowledge that once you ordered a drink, you could gain access to the downstairs without any additional fee. Seemed like a good deal to me.
I arrived at the location in the late afternoon anticipating that men getting off from work would stop by for a beer and perhaps something more. Like many other small gay bars, it had an unassuming storefront with a door that could only be opened by pressing the buzzer and being viewed by the bartender from inside. It was probably not necessary in these days of acceptance, but these are also still days of violence, so better safe than sorry.
I pulled on the heavy door and was immediately met with a huge change in lighting from the bright sunny day outside. The dark red walls didn't bounce back much light but absorbed and softened what was generated by the dim lights.
Ahead of me was a small L shaped bar that could seat about eight people and around the walls were small tables and chairs that could seat another fifteen or so.
The most entertaining element about this bar was the very graphic gay porn that was playing openly on the two large screen televisions. The volume was low but the grunts and moans were still audible. I internally laughed thinking about the sports that would be playing in a regular bar. This was a major improvement.
I took a seat at the short end of the bar where no one was sitting. The thirtyish dark and handsome bartender with a good build and short black hair approached and asked about my beverage interest. I ordered a popular draught beer.
There was nothing "gay" in his attire or approach and he could just as easily have been working in a straight bar. He poured the beer properly into a glass and placed it on the bar in front of me while stating the price. I provided a ten euro bill knowing that this would pay for the beer and provide some change that I could leave as a tip.
The bartender placed my change on the bar and returned to the group at the other end of the bar. All of them continued their boisterous conversation in French. It didn't seem that they were talking about sex or the porn.
My eyes slowly adjusted to the limited light and I saw a couple of men sitting singly at tables texting on their phones. I sat at the bar nursing my beer for the next fifteen minutes to get the lay of the land.
During that time four more patrons entered, ordered their drinks and took peripheral seats to use their phones. No one sat in the seat next to me. A couple of them paid a coin or two to coat check a jacket and then I noted two of the patrons make use of the staircase behind me that I hadn't seen when I entered. They gave me the courage to do the same, taking my half finished beer with me.
It was a steep iron spiral staircase and the walls were black so even less light was available. This led me to hold the railing firmly and take my steps carefully making sure that my head had clearance. When I arrived at the bottom level, I noted an open wash area with mirrors and a toilet. I had read that no shower facility was available and they were correct.
An area about ten meters long had a row of booths along one side and an open wall with ledge on the other side. No seating was available, even inside the booths. It looked like a couple had glory holes. No porn was playing down here, so men had to make their own.
