WHY IS PARIS THE CITY OF ALL LOVE AND THE CAPITAL OF ROMANCE?

Photos by @ettocl

Paris with Pigalle and the Bois de Boulogne has never competed with the lowlands of Al Capone's Chicago! Our beautiful capital has on the contrary a very beautiful story to tell: its tiny green island of Lutèce la Gauloise with its fishermen, its sailors and its boatmen, the Paris full of romanticism, the Paris of the Belle Epoque and its Roaring Twenties. For two centuries, Paris has established itself as the heart of a world in search of a love unlike any other, a French-style love.

The courtesans of the Second Empire are obviously no longer there to lay down the law during the day on the Champs and in the evening at the Opéra Garnier; no longer there either the shady nights of the cabarets of the time of the Occupation without memories. It is more prettily in the free loves of Saint-Germain-des-Prés of the post-war period and on their base of loves in all directions that Paris has made a very nice reputation on the heart side.

Paris was not built in a day: since César, who made Lutèce his headquarters, the Seine has bubbled quite a bit on each side of its banks according to the floods and territorial disputes, but Paris has stoically remained Paris with its mysteries. which made so much run, its dramas which made it suffer and grow, its “Parisian nights” which traveled so much around the world! Sex in Paris has obviously changed its face: the hot streets of medieval Paris have disappeared, anonymous loves and brothels have lost their aura of yesteryear. There are no more major scandals in the boxes of theaters and café-concerts, but Paris still feels as much love and is still as much desired.

The Pont des Arts has not lost its padlocks and the Place des Abbesses keeps a tender and jealous eye on its world-famous “I love you wall”.

Let's not hide behind sex, our desires and our fantasies: Paris capital of love?
Why not? But very confused, deformed and rather sulphurous this reputation which forever forged the image of Romantic and erotic Paris of a bygone era: no one can ignore that the artistic movement of romanticism is intimately linked to our capital and that the latter is naturally became the heart of a "French romanticism" never extinguished.

With time and this extraordinary charm that Paris has on tourists and walkers from all over the world, wouldn't Paris the romantic have become Paris of love? In a completely different register, and a little darker than that, no one can ignore that our capital has always been one of the hubs of prostitution in Europe, customs in France being reputed to be freer than those of its neighbors. .

The 70s will mark a first important turning point in the life of Pigalle: more and more closely watched by the “Mondaine”, the thugs, the “mackerels” and the “maquerelles” of Pigalle who still weighed heavily resisted somehow but ended up reluctantly leaving their favorite neighborhood. A world made up of sex and shenanigans disappeared from the Parisian landscape to the great displeasure of a whole human fauna who earned a very good living...

Pigalle and its jungle retained a monumental power over our imagination for a very long time and many films are there to testify to it. So what are we left with from the hot nights of Pigalle during the Belle Epoque and Paris by night ? Undoubtedly, smells of sex, cigarettes, champagnes, perfumes...

Formidable, demi-mondaine or not, courageous, mischievous, strong and creative, in love were however all these classy women who were in the past the muses of love of Paris during the Belle Epoque. Paris can say thank you for life to Hortense Schneider the singer, to Cléo de Mérode the dancer with legendary beauty, to Kiki de Montparnasse , to Colette the famous woman of letters who now has her alley in the heart of the Palais-Royal garden, to Sarah Bernhardt, to Georges Sand, to Joséphine Baker, to Coco Chanel and her n°5… Among many other equally legitimate female figures, they were the locomotives and muses of an All of Paris which was built with fervor over the years... Respect for all these great ladies who single-handedly made “All Paris”! And to which will be associated without excess Hélène Martin, the Empress of Parisian nights of a bygone past. Life is not completely white or completely black but perfectly white and black for everyone!

Photos by @davynben

What a long way to go with the start of Parisian life, this very small green island of Lutèce which will become the Ile de la Cité in the 16th century! The first Parisians quickly fell in love with it. It's high time to go back and stroll there for a long time! What do you think ?

Nearby, the Marais (particularly popular with the LGBT community) and Victor Hugo's house are waiting for you: it's not the Bermuda Triangle and all its mysteries, but we're not far from it! It's historic Paris which has a crazy charm and which will make you skid with happiness... The Templars have a few big surprises in store for you...

Before going for a walk along the Canal Saint-Martin , you will have to take a long walk on the side of the Buttes de Chaumont with its 173 steps to climb and the same thing on the side of Montmartre ... without the steps!.

A stone's throw from the Moulin Rouge , you'll find a tiny museum, hidden behind the pastel blue and pink shutters of an 1800s house! Go and meet all these portraits of women in love! To catch your breath and hand in hand, from kiss to kiss, a magnificent circular garden full of flowers and greenery awaits you just a stone's throw away...

Romantic district of Paris par excellence, Montmartre is without equal with its small sloping streets which lead you straight to Square Jehan Rictus on Place des Abbesses and "to the wall of I love you" , a great find by Frédéric Baron and Claire Kitto! On this unusual wall, an incredible array of calligraphic declarations of love in all languages ​​please! En route lovers of all stripes and backgrounds!

Last ballads, last detours: the cemeteries of Père Lachaise and Montparnasse! So go visit all those lovers who are resting in peace now. Above all, don't forget to go say hello to Oscar Wilde and his unusual sphinx: thrown in prison and sentenced to two years of hard labor for a “homosexual” kiss, Oscar can now sleep peacefully. His admirers have avenged him for a long time by delivering on the imposing winged sphinx which protects him in his eternal rest “their multiple lipstick kisses”. A glass wall is now the order service. Many other famous tombs await you…and one of the most legendary tombs of Parisian couples, that ofHéloïse and Abelard . They are the oldest lovers in Paris.

And for the bravest, those who still have legs, don't miss the "Shakespeare and Company" bookstore located in the 5th arrondissement. It's the perfect place to train your significant other. This atypical boutique, full of charm and souvenirs, is actually one of the most romantic places in Paris. You can read all sorts of books as you please, play the piano or type in a few fiery love letters.

The day is finally almost coming to an end... What could be more romantic than ending this magnificent day by sipping a cocktail alone while admiring the night falling on the Eiffel Tower. Hurry before it's too late, you have an appointment at the bar "The 7th" which offers a panoramic view of the rooftops of Paris.

Paris does not let go of its culture, its loves and its know-how. "Made in France" and "French Cosmetics" enjoy a phenomenal international reputation which does not weaken in the face of increasingly fierce competition outside the borders. Paris remains for a long time, forever an essential city which sends everywhere in the world its brightest rays.Love of course and with it in its luggage "YESforLOV" the first brand of intimate cosmetics at the service of the act of love.