Boulevard Clichy in Paris - Okay with kids?
 

Hi there! We had to make a last minute apartment switch and realized that the Montmartre apartment is right by Boulevard Clichy, close to the Pigalle metro station. We are traveling with a 9 year old boy, and I looked around and it seems there's a lot of ... interesting shops around the boulevard, but other than that, the location is good. Just wanted to ask your opinion about it!

Sex shops can no longer display any dubious items in their windows -- in fact they are no longer allowed to display anything at all, so if they pique your son's curiosity, you will just have to answer as best you can. The area is very safe due to a high police presence, mostly in plainclothes.

a nine year old kid will have had the birds and the bees explained to him surely and equally how are you going to explain the ladies of negotiable affection on the roadside?

It's fine, but if it does bother you for whatever reasons, there are loads of other neighborhoods in Paris.

What is it, exactly, you want to protect him from? If he does see something oopsy, it'll probably stick in his mind until later in life as one of his best young travel experiences ever.

I don't think knowing the birds and bees means it's okay to hang around sex shops, hookers, and really seedy behavior. And frankly, knowing the birds and bees is a LONG way from the deviant side of sex for sale, etc.

I didn't think there was that much right on bd Clichy, though, but don't hang around there a lot, mostly around place de Clichy, the theatre Europeen, etc., or the cafe at place de Clichy. I don't recall that being a hotbed of sex stuff at all, I thought that was on side streets to the east and north of bd Clichy. Pigalle isn't my favorite area, as I said, i'm more west of there but I probably wouldn't worry about it.

Christina, I suspect we are coming from the same side on this. But this is Paris he is going to see lots of stuff on the streets that might be considered odd at home and probably hidden rather than traded on the street. My own view is the OP needs to be on his toes and ready with a few sensible answers that he feels comfortable with. I prefer staying 5,6 or 7 where things are a little simpler but each to his own.

Just turning on the television will probably expose a child to things that would never be seen at home, and that's only the commercials. Isn't the whole point of travel to discover that things are different in other countries?

agreed

You are not going to let your kid play in the street in any city, Joana, so why worry about one in Paris being safe? At least you won't be in San Francisco or Los Angeles where he might have to deal with human feces and used needles on the sidewalks, and I hardly think a nine year old will be hustled by the ladies of the night.

Hi all,

Thank you for your input. I was just concerned when I initially checked out Google maps and saw a bunch of sex shop signs. The apartment had a lot of good reviews and it's a 15 minute walk to Sacre Coeur and 15 minutes to Printemps/Galeries Lafayette (where we were planning on checking out the Christmas windows) It's not on the boulevard itself, but on a little impasse. Obviously, we won't be hanging out around the area for a long period of time, but just passing through it to get to the apartment and to other landmarks. I wanted to get a better idea of how safe it is to walk around at night (not too late obviously, but maybe 8 at the latest) and kerouac pretty much gave me the answer I needed. I did a little bit of digging and it seems like the apartment was actually inhabited by a few artists/painters back in the day. Villa de Guelma. (Impasse). - Montmartre secret

I'm glad Kerouac set your mind at ease. It's funny how different the impression is for an American parent taking their kids abroad vs the child's reaction (or usually non-reaction) to things that might concern the adult. I remember the first time we took our son (who was maybe 5 at the time) through the red light district in Amsterdam. My husband's eyes were all bugged out, while our son was checking out the canals and the ducks, or checking out the french fry stands. Same reaction (to dad and lad) on the beaches in the South of France. Son making sand castles and hunting for sea glass while husband . . . !

My cousin & his 9 year old daughter from Copenhagen visited us a couple of years ago. We live just outside of San Francisco. I loaded them on BART early in the morning, and they headed out to Westfield Center in Downtown SF to do some shopping. When they returned, my cousin indicated that his daughter was very scared by the "scene" on Market street (see above). We are going into SF in about 1 hr to meet some friends for dinner near the Civic Center. I expect to see lots of vagrants & scary people along the way, from BART to the restaurant. We have lived in/near SF since 1975 and we visit France twice a year for 4 weeks at a time. I feel much safer in Paris/London than I do in the San Francisco downtown area. We therefore spend most of our time in SF, outside of the downtown area.

Stu Dudley

Sex shops are the last thing to worry about. I would be more concerned with the Roma men who will try to scam you at Sacre Coeur.

I am very bougie, so I don't like the area you are staying in.

Thin,aristocrat 🎩

Your biggest danger will be pick pockets. But you will find that in lots of other areas in Paris as well.

Kerouac, I guess Eiffel Tower vibrators are not considered dubious items? They are in every window.

Do you think they would shock a child?

What shocks me is using the slang term "bougie" I know that many Americans pronounce the word "bourgeois" or "bourgeoisie" as though there were no R in the word, hence the appearance of "bougie." But using the term indicates to me that the person has no idea what a bouRgeois is. Perhaps Thin is just an uncultured nouveau riche. A yet he has up to now given me the impression that he is better than that. Then again, casting aspersions on lower Montmartre is suspect, since the bourgeoisie has always loved to go slumming there.

I had no idea what that word "bougie" was, kind of like kids & the Eiffel Towers in the shop windows, no interest.

In ancient times I walked back & forth across Blvd Clichy on my way to work & home. Early & late evening, no problem. The only hassle I can remember was when 2 cops blocked my way on rue Lepic, late, just for a laugh. The neighborhood has gentrified since then, but I think not improved as I loved its working class incarnation, but I cannot imagine it being any kind of difficult.

Your post indicates that you are not familiar with the American slang word nor its pronunciation.

I'm not going to provide a link, but look up the video for Mijos' Bed and Boujee
(warning - offensive words in video)

Yes, the slang word is derived from the French word, but current usage is as you hear it pronounced. It's a slang word not a vocabulary quiz.

https://genius.com/a/from-bourgeois-...gos-bad-boujee

I guess that's another way of saying we're old, k.

Or just unfamiliar with the slang word.

But it's not a lazy nor ignorant mispronunciation of a French word as implied.

"Mommy, why's the man dressed up as a lady?"

Kids know a lot more than you think they know. I was sitting with my 9 year old on Chicago's famous Broadway bus, when a lovely "lady" walked by. My son piped up, "Nice t-ts for a guy" as "she" passed us. That Clichy area in the 9th was very famous in today's sense of "bougy." Zola, Berlioz, Bizet, Turgenev, Geroge Sand and more lived there. The lovely Musee de la Vie Romantique is close by.

And then there's this right at Pigalle
https://www.pariszigzag.fr/secret/hi...-privee-hantee

I've never heard bougie from an American, either. I thought Thin was saying he was a candle.

Envierges, that's hilarious:)

More about "bougie" -- https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bougie

Glad you found that. No R.

Starrs is spot on with the slang word. I hear it among the 20 somethings and it is no big deal here.

So that would just make the gross mispronunciation of bourgeois by many Americans lazy and ignorant if bougie is correct.

Let's keep beating a dead horse, though: https://genius.com/a/from-bourgeois-...gos-bad-boujee

Bougie!

BOO GEE!

Learn it, Queen!

Thin,aristocrat 💖

Now that you have identified your cultural standing, you probably won't even be allowed in the Marais any more, Pepper.

Bougie is a slang word. The origin was provided for you. It is "correct" when used as a slang word. The R is not "missing".

BTW, that link is the same one I posted.

Dissecting the correctness of "bougie" as a current slang word makes as much sense as "experts" dissecting the use of "Far out!" in the 70s.

It's slang. Popularized by John Denver or Migos, it's just slang. Like it. Don't like it. But the approval of non-users won't impact the use of the word or phrase, until it is no longer trendy and the use dies out.

Far out!

Just curious. What is the "cultural standing" he's identified?

>Marais<

Oh, I am shook, Queen!

I gets lots of lewks in The Kooples in the Rue Achives. 👀 Those twinks love me. ❤

Thin,aristocrat 🤣

Pepper wrote this earlier on the thread: That says it all. Far better to stay on unpretentious Boulevard de Clichy than in the land of poseurs.

"That says it all"
Glad it's clear for you. I still don't "get" your Marais comment.

I do agree with Pepper about the proposed location. I'd prefer to stay elsewhere, especially with kids. But it has nothing to do with with the sex shops. I'd prefer the 6th or the Marais. Personal preference.

If you dig it out, I would love to read it!

I remember my father being bothered by "far out". I remember just looking at him and wondering what he could POSSIBLY be bothered about. I'm sure his generation had similar nonsensical trendy words/ phrases. It's not unique to any generation. The words change but the use of trendy slang is universal.

I remember the first time I read "bougie" on a FB post - a comment on one of my niece's post. My guess is that it was three years ago. I just checked to see when the Migos song was released. 2016. It's anyone's guess how long it will stay in use.

I was more offended by the tern "Roma", but I know it wasn't being thrown around as a hate term.

Still, in following Kerouac's definition of bougie I discovered a whole new level of argot below the argot.

I never said that the pronunciation of "bougie" was wrong. I just said that the term was stupid, considering its origin. That is just my opinion. You can love the term all you want and use it in every sentence.

<< I still don't "get" your Marais comment. >> Starrs, that is simply where Pepper stayed on his last trip to Paris. So if he is really a totally uncouth bougie, it does not seem appropriate. There are lots of trashy places to stay in Paris for people who think they are bougies.

<< I was more offended by the tern "Roma", but I know it wasn't being thrown around as a hate term. >> Lots of people think that Roma is a PC term to avoid saying gypsy, without realizing that the vast majority of gypsies in France are not Roma and are extremely insulted if you call them that.

Re paragraph 1 - This is what I read in your post that launched the discussion of the slang word. What you said there is in odds with what you just said -

"What shocks me is using the slang term "bougie" I know that many Americans pronounce the word "bourgeois" or "bourgeoisie" as though there were no R in the word, hence the appearance of "bougie." But using the term indicates to me that the person has no idea what a bouRgeois is. Perhaps Thin is just an uncultured nouveau riche. A yet he has up to now given me the impression that he is better than that."

I don't "love" the word, but I do understand it is current slang.

Re paragraph 2 - I don't think you understand the meaning of the slang word "bougie".

I'll leave this topic now because it seems as any time/ energy spent on it has already been wasted time and energy. It's a slang word and no R is missing.

Thank god for small favors.