5 queer things you must do in Paris during the Gay Games

Paris is not going to know what hits it when a tsunami of more than 10,000 LGBTQ athletes clad in spandex descend upon it beginning August 4 for Gay Games 10, a week of competition and cultural events (and we hear a party or two). In reality, it’s an ideal time to get your gay on as many locals flee the hot and sticky city for the coast. But in between going for the gold and cruising queer athletes from around the world , don’t leave the City of Light until you’ve checked these very gay adventures of your Parisian bucket list.

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Carbo load on gay pasta

The night before your triathlon or 10K or whatever sport will be working your queer booty into a sweat, you’re gonna have a legit excuse to eat carbs. The menu at 4 Pat includes gay-named dishes and pastas like L’Anal-gésique and L’Elyseé en Trans’sexual. We’ve no idea what these translate to in English, but we know we want them. This very gay eatery also features drag performances and flirty servers—naturally.

…and chase it with gay dessert

A fourth generation baker, Victor Legay (is that name for real?) operates a bakery in the Marais where size matters. He bakes all sorts of tasty croissants, cakes and breads and he’ll make them in phallic shapes if you like. Boulangerie Patisserie Legay Choc partners with more than 40 restaurants around town, but we suspect it’s only the gay ones requesting a baguette shaped like lé coq.

paris plage

Work on your man lines, um tan lines

Just because you’re not a competitive swimmer or water polo player doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pack your swimsuit. Every summer, parts of the Seine become Riviera-like with the addition of parasols, deckchairs, palm trees and even sand. It’s called the Paris Plages and there are locations on both banks of the Seine. Wondering where the gays hang? Just look for men in Speedos. Oh, wait this is Europe.

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Flickr CC: Yusuke Kawasaki

Have a monumental queer moment

At the corners of Rue Montorgueil and Rue Bachaumont is a reminder that Paree wasn’t always so gay. In 1750, two men were burned alive at the stake for the crime of being gay and the Gay Memorial Stone is embedded into the very spot where they were captured by police. Afterward, take a stroll to the famous Latin Quarter and have an espresso at Brasserie Lipp or Le Deux Magots where queer author James Baldwin scribbled his genius works.

Pay your respects to Oscar, Edith and Susan

“I can resist anything but temptation.” So said the great writer and playwright Oscar Wilde who is buried at Perè Lechaise Cemetery, perhaps the gayest resting place on earth. You can also visit the graves of Gertrude Stein and partner Alice B. Toklas, Marcel Proust, Colette and queer icon Edith Piaf (not to mention Doors frontman Jim Morrison). Bring flowers (everybody does), then chase your grief with a rooftop drink at nearby Mama Shelter. Out writer and cultural icon Susan Sontag is buried at Montparnasse.

Tagged: Europe, Paris