Rue Saint-Denis

     RueSaintDenis             

This is the rue Saint-Denis in the center of Paris, near theForum des Halles. It owes most of itsnotoriety today to the fact that in recent decades the street has been frequented by large numbersofprostitutes; in fact, in French media and literature (especially around Paris),this street is often used as a metaphor for prostitution and related topics.

Despite this rather unflattering reputation, the street has some other history behind it, andsome other modern-day purposes as well. Built in the eighth century, the street was one of the most important thoroughfares in Paris for centuries. It waslined with fancy shopsand served as the sovereign’s preferred path inand out of Paris, leading to many royal processions. At one time it evenhad free fountains that served milk and wine. When kings died, theirbodies were often transported by this same road out to their final resting placesat Saint-Denis.

Today, the glory of the past is gone, and only a few large monuments remain, such as thePorte Saint-Denis. The lower part of the street,near the Forum, is lined with trendy cafés, bars, andclothing stores appealing to relatively young customers. As you move up thestreet, the stores and bars yield to sex shops ofvarious kinds; this photographwas taken roughly in the middle of that portion of the street, just abovethe rue Turbigo. Still further north, the sex shops yield to wholesaleclothing outlets asthe rue Saint-Denis enters the heart of the Paris garmentdistrict. The prostitutes are concentratedbetween the sex shops andthe Porte Saint-Denis; beyond that, the street is pure garment district. During theday, even the portion frequented by ladies of the evening is mostly rag trade. Even furtherup the street, it becomes lined with ethnic stores, restaurants, and groceries,and still furtherbeyond that, extending up to the end of the street at the northerncity limit of Paris, it is lined by Indian shops of various kinds.

The rue Saint-Denis is primarily pedestrian for most of its length south of the Porte Saint-Denis. It has recently been refurbished, along with manyother pedestrian zones in this area, and now boasts granitesidewalks and marble cobblestones. It might be pretty if the storefronts weren't so bland.

The prostitutes in this area, many of whom are at the bottom of theirown profession, don’t like to have their pictures taken, so you won’t seeany portraits of them on my site (indeed, one of them yelled at me just for walkingdown the street with a camera, even though I had the lens cap on and wasobviously not taking anyone’s picture). Apart from that, they are notaggressive—just provocatively dressed, and rather worn and tired-lookingin appearance. Manyof them are foreigners; most work to support drug habitsand are not managed by procurers (pimps) these days; and up to 75%of them are infected with the HIV virus.

Recently, the act of soliciting was made a felony in France, and this has had theeffect of driving many prostitutes off the street. They are still present in therue Saint Denis, but more discreet; time will tell if the new legislation will havea permanent effect on their behavior.

The residents of the street have formed an association to promote improvements of thearea; you can visit it at http://www.ruesaintdenis.net .

Photographed on June 20, 2000.