The Path of Sergius and Bacchus

It was a swamp, it was a slum, it was the Jewish quarter and now it’s the center of Gay Paris. Join us on a tour named in honor of two male saints ridiculed and then executed for being lovers. The Marais is Paris’s trendiest and liveliest area, known for its narrow, winding streets and wonderfully preserved architecture. This 1 hour tour explores part of a neighborhood intimately linked to Paris’s rich history, but also always in some way set apart. Plus it's the place where I've seen the most dudes in dresses, the significance of which I'll explain along the way.






The Synagogue Agoudos Hakehilos
(10 rue Pavée)
Head directly across the street from Metro St. Paul (and the carousel) to the rue Paveé, which takes its name from being one of the first paved roads in Paris. Imagine what it was like before the roads were all paved. Walking in flip-flops must have been a truly disgusting experience. On your right you’ll see the Agoudas Hakehilos, or Union of the communities,” synagogue. It was erected 1914 by a nascent community of Orthodox Jews, primarily from Russia and Poland. In the beginning of the 20th century, a lot of Jews from Eastern Europe came to France at this time to escape persecution farther east. it was around this time that the Marais became known as the Jewish neighborhood.
The architect of this undulating concrete structure was none other than Hector Guimard, who is famous for the bizarre, seemingly organic metro stations. This is an identical reconstruction of the original which was dynamited by the Nazis on Yom Kippur in 1941, along with 6 other Synagogues in Paris. The building is set slightly back from the street and bordered by broken stonework in honor of the original, destroyed façade. This is one of many tributes around the city to those who suffered during World War II at the hands of French as well as German Nazis.


Hammam Saint Paul
(rue de Rosiers)

Keep going up the rue Pavée a little ways and take your first left onto Rue Rosiers. This charming Pedestrian road was once the center of the Jewish quarter and known as the Pretzl or “little place” in Yiddish. Jews have a long history in France (full of prosperity as well as expulsions and persecution), but the Marais in particular became the center of Jewish life in Paris in the 19th and early 20th centuries as Sephardic Jews came over from Eastern Europe. By that time, the neighborhood had long since fallen from grace as a fashionable and wealthy, so it was very affordable. At your right you’ll see a beautiful pinkish building “Hammam Saint Paul” written on it, but look more closely: it’s a fashionable boutique, not a Turkish bath.
The Marais was one of the first areas in Paris to instate very strict preservation laws. Beginning in the 1960’s, efforts have been made to restore and preserve the façades of historically important (in the case of The Hotel Albert for instance) and typically Parisian (in the case of charming early 20th century boulangeries for instance). That’s why in this neighborhood, you’ll see bars with Boulangerie signs and a Nike store that looks like a bookstore from the outside.
It was at this Hammam, or Turkish sauna and bath, that the men of the fairly insular Jewish community socialized and sweat together.
Along the rue de Rosiers, you’ll find the best Falafel in town and a few remaining orthodox eateries. The best falafel is apparently at L'as du Falafel. That said, I assure you, they’re all good.


Hotel Amelot de Bisseuil
(47 rue Vieille du Temple)
Walk to the end of rue de Rosiers and hang a right for a quick detour to a very interesting and absolutely filthy house.
This hotel (meaning “big house”) was home for a short while to Pierre Beaumarchais (1732-1799). It’s where he wrote the Marriage of Figaro, which was quite a controversial piece of work at the time. It mercilessly mocked the aristocracy - Many of whom loved it; one of whom did not. Louis XVI banned the work in 1784. It’s easy to see why. Check out this little morsel from one of Figaro’s speeches:
Just because you’re a great nobleman, you think you’re a great genius! Nobility, riches, a title, high positions, that all makes a man so proud! What have you done for such fortune? You went to the trouble of being born, and nothing else. Otherwise, a rather ordinary man; while I, good grief! lost in the obscure crowd, I had to use more skill and planning just to survive than has been put into governing all of Spain for the last hundred years.
At a time when the rights of the aristocracy and the very existence of a monarchy were in question, this what not what fat little Louis XVI wanted to hear. And as if Beachmarchais foresaw the ban, he included a great comeback to Louis in the play itself: “stupid things in print have no importance except where people hold them back.”
The building is for sale (make a bid!), so it hasn’t been cleaned in years. That’s how black all of Paris would be if the buildings were not regularly cleaned. If that’s what happens to stone, I don’t want to think about what’s happening to my lungs - even without smoking they’d turn black.


Le Mots à La Bouche, le Point-Virgule etc. (rue St. Croix de la Bretonnerie)

That's enough history for the moment, make an about face turn and head down rue Vieille du Temple the other way and take your first left on rue St. Croix-la-Bretonnerie.

You're now in the very heart of the gay Marais. Here you’ll find Paris’s premiere Gay-Lesbian Bookstore, Le mots à La Bouche. The store was opened in 1980 with the philosophy that it would be militantly and overtly dedicated to gay and lesbian literature but would be open to all. They have a fine collection of literature (erotic, political, personal, instructional, etc.) on the subject. They also sell on other subjects and have a good English-language section.
Across the street is Le Point-Virgule, an excellent comedy club (performances only in French) and just next store is a great vintage shop called Free’P’Star.

If your fashion tastes run more towards contemporary, chic, keep walking and take a look at the Bazaar de la Mode which is a great place to find bargains on Calvin Klein and Dolce&Gabbana, among others. It’s a great place for bargains on great basics such as blazers, jeans, black pants and t-shirts. The shoe collection is no good.


Raidd Bar and Voulez Vous
(rue du Temple)
Take a right onto Rue du Temple.

If you are a gay man, I’m happy to announce you are now in heaven. On the right is the super chic cafe-bar, Voulez-Vous, where only the handsomest get drinks before heading across the street to dance the night away at Raidd Bar. Their sign boasts a shower show.. I’ve seen it. The young men do excellent work. On Saturday nights, if you’re lucky, it culminates in a happy ending.




Space Hair
(10 Rue Rambuteau)

Follow Rue de Temple past Raidd Bar, glance to your left at St. Merri at the Gai Moulin. Should you lack for things to do after 2 am on a weekday, take a stroll past this place. I can’t make any promises, but you might find a fun crowd. Take a right on rue Rambuteau.
If you’re in the mood for a haircut, a coffee or just a chat, stop in at Space Hair. My friends and I always talk about how we want to be friends with the people who work at Space Hair. They just look like they party. They’re always dressed in the cutest outfits and have the most stylish hair. My personal favorite is an enormous Woman (clearly born a man) named Hadrianna (“Heeeey-Driana!”). Every day. she rocks a tight, short skirt and mile-high heels and looks great.

This brings me back totwo other men in dress: Saints Sergius and Bacchus. In 4th century Syria these two men were paraded through the street in dresses before being beaten and tortured to death for their faith. Some modern scholars maintain that they were lovers (as a kind of "Take that, Catholic Church!") and that might be true, but I have another way of thinking about what happened to them. Through a modern lens, this might seem like an act of homosexual violence. Sergius and Bacchus did live together and were close spiritual friends - which is a kind of same-sex relationship typical in many early ascetic saints and filled with obvious homoerotic undertones. But in Roman times, identity was understood differently than it is today. Sex acts between two men were common and accepted as part of many men’s lives and did not define a man as part of a particular group. So why dress up poor Sergius and Bacchus in women’s clothing if not to ridicule them for being lovers? Because Sergius and Bacchus were Roman soldiers: strong, violent, skilled, the epitome of masculinity in the Roman Empire. But when they accepted Christianity, they rejected the pagan gods of the Empire. They thereby rejected the Empire and its societal standards. In rejecting the gods of the Empire, they rejected their manhood. In the eyes of society they were something unmanly, something inferior: They were women. Hence the dresses.
The Marais reminds me that women and men of all sexualities are no longer slave to rigid definitions of manhood and womanhood. There are gorgeous men (Hey Drianna!) and woman who look they would have made great Roman soldiers.

At this point, keep walking to rue Vielle du Temple and take a right to go to La Perle, a great local dive-cafe where you’re sure to mix with friendly Parisians and Ex-Pats. Or take a left and get a Falafel. I hope you’ve enjoyed your walk and picked up a thing or two.