Yesterday, I went to the Le Marais district to search for the boulangerie (bakery) selling p*nis-shaped bread. It is situated in the famous rue Ste Croix de la Bretonnerie, one of the oldest streets of Paris (13th century) and a top spot for the city’s gay life.
I arrived at the boulangerie just in time to buy their last stock and the handsome gay bakery attendant told me to come Saturdays when more bread of various shapes and sizes are baked and sold.
It was past 9 in the morning and I badly needed a cup of coffee and something to go with it so I bought one pain au chocolat to eat, keeping aside the p*nis bread to photograph. I found a nice café next to the colourful plumbing pipework of Centre Pompidou and took a seat comfortable enough to start my “photo shoot”.
Every now and then, I had to use the other bread to shield my photographic “subject” from passers-by to avoid staring eyes.
As I sat there with my camera, enjoying my coffee, I was beginning to realize that I was indeed in the center of Gay Paris: same-sex couples holding hands, well, I wanted to think that they are sisters but something in the way they clasp their hands tell me otherwise.
After a moment of people-watching, I got up and came across a framed banner showing another p*nis form, this time knitted out of wool. It’s a film entitled “Male Domination - Did you say Equality?”.
Turning into another street, I saw this large poster of a body-builder. I was not sure if the rubbish bin was intentionally put on that exact spot to cover something.
This is IEM Paris, a sex shop catering to gays. It’s been operating for 27 years now and it’s the largest online shop in Europe.
Nearby is the Boyz Bazaar, the younger version of IEM. It’s been operating for the last ten years.
Just on the corner is L’Etoile Manquante (The Missing Star), a bar-restaurant catering to homophiles but also frequented by heterophiles. It is famed for its charming decor and ambiance.
Les Mots a la Bouche (Words in his Mouth) is a gay bookstore selling books, novels, biographies, essays, photo albums, gay news, video, etc.
Their products…. at close range
I went home happy and satisfied. I had a full-morning immersion of what Gay Paris is like. H and I ate the p-bread: it’s crispy hard, with raisins, and we like it!
I had to take another shot before attacking it as I wanted to show you just how big it is. Note that the banana is the normal size you see in supermarkets, I mean, they are not the dwarf variety.
And here is the address of that boulangerie, a must-visit when you are in Paris…
