Naughty Paris

Saturday night I went to check out the Zinella fetish soirée at Le Continuum (48 rue Duhesme, 18th) with Pleasure Coach Victoria Vesta of DFT. It was billed as a "hotter" night that the Nuit Elastique, and being a journalist it's important for me to confirm these things. ;)

With Victoria, our mystery MIK, et moi, at Le Continuum.


So the club itself is on the quiet north side of Montmartre, with no signs at all indicating there's anything going on inside (we weren't sure we were at the right place until someone opened the door). It was free for women, always a bonus. We checked our coats and headed to the bar. Le Continuum is set up nicely for socializing. The main room on the ground floor is huge, with high ceilings like you're in a church (or a barn), with a bar on one end, and rows of sofas and tables in the center where everyone chats. It's a pretty small community, so a lot of people recognize each other.

At fetish parties you're expected to dress up: leather, latex, vinyl, etc. "Bizarre" is a category, and there were a few "things" out there so well-disguised that we couldn't figure out the gender (imagine the alien costume from the Schwarzenegger film "Predator", but in chains). Uniforms are also allowed; who doesn't love a good soldier or fireman outfit? Just like Halloween! Our Scottish Man in the Kilt (aka MIK) fit right in and didn't have to worry about what would happen if a draft came along and lifted his kilt (do they ever really worry about that?!).

Peeking under the kilt...want to see what I saw? Let's hear it! If at least 25 of you respond to this blog, I'll post the full monty!

There are also a lot of men dressed as women, some more successfully than others. "My purse is cuter than his," said Victoria, nodding to the man at the table next to us.

Next door is the dance floor, but aside from a few good songs at the start, the DJ seemed stuck on undanceable (IMHO) techno. MIK even managed to do a little Riverdance for us, trying to get the "thing" to join in. A couple then decided to co-opt the floor for a public show of affection.

Downstairs is the dungeon-like spaces where the traditional S/M activities take place (whipping, spanking, getting tied up). It's more like the other s/m/fetish clubs -- crowded, low ceilings, dark, not much socializing. You're not supposed to laugh down here, so we headed back upstairs to the bar area. I got my shoes shined. Twice. Then I got picky and started turning people down. There is certainly no shortage of men willing to crawl around on the ground for you ladies! In general, the submissive males seem to outnumber the dominant ones. Perfect if you're looking to practice your flogging technique. But where's the testosterone?! Even the doms are so well-behaved in these clubs that it makes it hard to go back to "regular" night clubs (where the aggressive come-on's seem to get out of hand by 1am).

We met a nice Australian man visiting Paris (he overheard us telling dirty jokes in English), and chatted a bit with the soirée organizer, Michael. By then it was 4am, and this reporter needs her beauty sleep, so it was back to the coat check room, slip into my winter clothes and flat ballerina shoes (ahhhhhh....), and out into the real world with a handfulof flyers for the upcoming parties around town. Until next time!