Narrow Streets (by N D)

The area between Beauborg and Les Halles is a maze of narrow streets only accessible to walkers and the occasional scooter. The cobblestone streets transpose time, giving a taste of old Paris. Yet, the environment is one that harbors the lonely. There are two main feelings I get wandering through the tight arrangement of shops and restaurants, one a feeling of imprisonment, the other a more in-your-face, sensory overload.

When entering the Rue St. Denis area, the first thought on my mind is about where am I going to exit. It is hard to feel comfortable and at home. The buildings rise on all sides, and entrap the diverse patrons. You walk by sex shops, peep shows, prostitutes, and lingerie stores that you know your mother would never want you to see. The question is why do you enter, when all you want to do is evade these “bad” and “perverse” things. To me, it is simply an example of the human condition, to do anything to destroy loneliness. The narrow streets add to the feeling of despair, exacerbating the knowledge that the idea of sex, possible love, requires two or more people. Patrons can go to Rue St. Denis and attempt to, even for a short time, overcome their solitude.

The other notion I get is the impeding sensory overload. Everywhere you turn to look, there are lights, people, and especially the availability of things that can not be bought anywhere else. One can see sex toys they have never imagined, woman who are willing to sell sex as a mere commodity, and clothing they might have only seen on cartoon characters. The curtains of the sex shops intrigue the mind to ponder about what could be behind, what is such a big secret, build on the already overwhelmed sights and sounds of the area. The constant pestering by doorman trying to solicit you into their establishment forces you to decide either to go in or leave.

Both ideas together help form the frame of the area. Both force you to think, ”Why did I come here? I don’t belong here.” You do not voluntarily choose to leave Rue St. Denis; you are forced out by these feelings of loneliness and overload.