Pretty Parks and Prostitutes
Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you to Paris, the city of love and lights. The city is abounding with plenty effervescence of romance accompanied with beautiful shades of lights. The ultimate destination for this kind of magic is the Bois De Boulogne, or if you like, the Boulogne Forest in Paris. This is the one place that holds the true meaning as to why Paris is famed to be so airy, so open, and so green! Paris could easily claim the lucrative title of the greenest city in the Europe. This is thanks to the numerous sightseeing parks and forests, the former covers almost one full quarter of the city’s land (Czerniak 25).
A mention of these parks and gardens that make Paris the city that stand out from the rest. The Paris jardins and parcs are found across the city. Jardin Du Luxembourg, the most popular park in Paris, is a 55 acre park in the heart of the city. I term it the most popular for a good reason – it is the precise place of choice for anyone looking to spend an afternoon reading a favorite novel or just watching the beautiful people of Paris! Kids can enjoy sailing boats in the fountain, playing in the huge playground, or riding the ponies. The park is also home to the famous Palais du Luxembourg as well as the charming small museum, Musee du Luxembourg – my two favorite spots in the city.
Another elegant Paris garden is the Place Dauphine – an oasis of calm in the middle of the buzz of activity of the city – situated at the western edge of Isle de la Cite. Then, there is the oldest yet prettiest square, the Place Des Vosges. Furthermore there is a park endowed with real nature – a lake, a waterfall, and a suspension bridge – Parc Des Buttes Chaumont. Parc De La Villette, the largest park in Paris, also cannot escape mention. Also in the arrondissement there is the Parc de Belleville”. It is also worth mentioning the Parc Montsouris, a park with paths that wonder through beautiful foliage. However, the mother of them all is the all woody Bois de Boulogne!
Bois de Boulogne is strategically located along the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, adjacent to the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. It is 863 hectare forest park, some 2.5 times larger the size of Central Park in New York and equivalent to the Richmond Park in London (Czerniak 12). Indeed the Bois de Boulogne is second to none because of its vast variety of trees and vegetation!
The park is a remnant of the ancient oak forest of Rouvray that once surrounds the city of Paris and its neighbors. Its management was shifted to the city of Paris in 1852 from the state. Apart from the park itself, there are many points of interests in Bois de Boulogne. Particularly, I like the Hippodrome de Longchamp (the Longchamp Racecourse) at the banks of the Seine River. I find real pleasure watching the horse races on the various interlaced tracks and hills. Similarly, I cherish the Jardin d’Acclamation children’s amusement park for its varied attraction sites. Today the forest of Boulogne is most popular in Europe thanks to its sustained cultivation of cherry and oak.
I must say, however, that the real interest in the Forest of Boulogne comes at night. By this I am referring to the infamous night dating business that the park is notorious for. In case you have not followed what I’m alluding to, I mean prostitution! This beloved forest ranks amongst the most popular destinations for beautiful night and transsexuals, men, and women (Konijnendijk 45).
This is not to say that the prostitution vice in France is only a recent occurrence in the Forest of Boulogne. In fact, the trade goes way back to the days of the Napoleon, when maisons or brothels where prostitution took place first appeared in France (Mroue 36). During those days, prostitutes were not marginalized but instead integrated into society with open arms. I reckon prostitutes had varied roles to play including being complicit with other women in avenging men. Prostitutes roamed streets of Paris city with ease and did not have to wear any distinctive clothing like those we see today, just an expensive license.
Away from the salacious past of prostitution in France, I would like to bring you back to the present situation of prostitution in the Forest of Boulogne. Earlier, I termed Paris as the city of love and lights. Well, even in Bois de Boulogne, I mean every word of it…especially the latter (Mroue 63).
There is no doubt that the Forest of Boulogne is one of the most prominent red-light districts of Paris when darkness checks in. For those that don’t know, a red-light district is an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-associated businesses. At nightfall, the Forest of Boulogne represents Paris well in this capacity (Ditmore 26). The place is abounding with sex joints where each of the transsexuals, men, or women has her or his spot.
However, don’t get me wrong; these spots aren’t exactly secretive. The sex workers are not ashamed one bit about their business. One of the prostitutes confided to me: “I am a prostitute, whore, hooker or whatever anyone would want to call it. All of the transvestites in Paris are prostitutes. It is for this reason that I was drawn to come here. Basically, business is very good here!”
Lights in the Forest of Boulogne Prostitute waiting for client in Boulogne Forest
What I found most interesting is the reason why these prostitutes favor the Forest of Boulogne as opposed to all other places. First, there is a guaranteed privacy in the dense woods of the forest. Also, every sex worker has the privilege on having their own sex points, territories that are hardly encroached by others (Ditmore 32). Furthermore, it seems that the forest is widely known as a red-light district of Paris, so plenty of clients for the prostitutes is a guarantee!
The prostitution in the forest is not without its problems and has been a headache to successive governments in France. Unfortunately, many sex workers are often found killed in the forest by clients and criminals (Rodder 44). The prostitution trade in the forest is also a sort of cartel. Many of the prostitutes are under some known mafias though others have their own pimps. Due to these problems, President Sarkozy has tried to end the business on a couple of occasions, but without success. Finally, therefore, Paris is rightfully a city of love and lights, something well underscored by the Forest of Boulogne.
Work Cited
Czerniak, Julia, Hargreaves, George, & Beardsley, John. Large parks. New York, Princeton Architectural Press, 2007.
Ditmore, Hope, Melissa. Encyclopedia of prostitution and sex work, Volume 1. Connecticut, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006.
Konijnendijk, C. Cecil. The forest and the city: the cultural landscape of urban woodland. New Mexico, Springer, 2008.
Mroue, Haas. Frommer’s Paris from $95 a Day. New York, John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
Rodder, Rite. The Forest Of Boulogne In Western Paris. Retrieved on March 24, 2012 from: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Forest-Of-Boulogne-In-Western-Paris&id=6330348
