When I think of France I think of Paris and a perfect place to have a romantic gay marriage but there are other things about this part of the World even for us single people. I searched around the web to bring you some information on Gay France, the French gay Scenes and places for the younger traveler to go in France. The first site I came across, which looks like it would be the best was gayfrance.fr well it would be wouldn’t it! But it’s all in French and, although I read some, I don’t understand enough to translate everything. There was no English option either but if you do read French then check it out. It has chat and dating as well as links and lists of places to go and things to do.
But how about some sites in English? Well, check out gaytravelfrance.com which is a comprehensive travel site through which you can book gay friendly hotels and tours. If you are really serious about traveling in the country then this was the best site I found for general travel info.
But for the background and the information that I know you want I had to do a bit more trawling and investigation. But I did come up with some little gems of information for you.
The age of consent in France is 15 across the board, for guys and gals and any combination of the two so you shouldn’t have any worries when you go out on the pull, but do watch out as France, like many countries, still harbors some homophobes and there is a strong pull to the political right in many places. This goes for cities as well as the countryside so wherever you are always be discrete. Unless you are inside one of the Paris gay clubs of course, than anything goes! I mean, looking at a list of places to go in Paris I counted 18 sex clubs, 25 dance clubs, 16 saunas and 59 bars. All gay or gay friendly.
Club 18 in the Rue de Beaujolais is the oldest gay club in Paris. It has its own funky website at club18.fr again in French but with loads of old photos. You can also see flyer’s on the site and these have dates so even if you don’t read French you can work out what’s going on and when from the images. Entry to the club is €10.00 (about $13.50 at the moment) which is quite reasonable for Paris. I do have to say that you should be careful about bar prices. I was in a Paris club awhile back and a small bottle of beer then cost me around $10.00 – which I thought was a lot.
But it’s not all about night life in France. If you want to sample culture then Paris is stocked full with museums and art galleries, cinemas and theatres. There is the Paris Pride festival in the summer with balls and events preceding it and the Paris Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. In 2007 this will be in November uk.franceguide.com has a good gay section with news about the festival and other events.
But there is more to France than Paris of course. For a relaxing break in the countryside you could check out the southern area of Provence where I found four gay/gay friendly hotels including one that was a castle. There are more on the French Riviera (the Mediterranean coast) including Hi Tech Chic a very new and trendy hotel in Nice, a city which is kind of like the gay capital of the South of France.
Those are just some ideas to get you thinking about a visit to France and what to do while you are there. France uses the Euro and if you are driving it has tolls on the major motorways. Many French people speak English and generally it is an open and welcoming society. Paris can be a little expensive and, in August everyone goes on holiday to the coast or to less stuffy climes, so you may want to avoid that month if you are hoping to meet the monsieur of your dreams as he will probably be in Nice or the Greek islands. But whenever you go and whatever you do… bon voyage!
Also see: Gay Days in Paris .
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