The Queer Paris They Never Taught You: Queer Tours France Unleashed
Paris has always been romantic.
But according to Queer Tours France, it has also always been a lot more queer than your history books admitted.
In this episode of Pride Nomad Unleashed, Ken sits down with the fabulous trio behind Queer Tours France: Charlotte, Alex, and Doina—three licensed guides who decided they were done letting queer people be treated like footnotes in French history.
Together, they created a series of LGBTQ+ history tours across Paris and Versailles that reveal the stories hiding in plain sight: royal gardens used as cruising spots, sapphic rumors around Marie Antoinette, queer traces inside the Louvre, the hidden LGBTQ+ history of Le Marais, and the uncomfortable truth that many of the “classic” Paris stories were straight-washed for centuries.
This is not your boring museum tour.
Charlotte brings activism, music, deep research, and filthy jokes. Alex brings storytelling, history, Instagram brilliance, and the kind of guide energy that could apparently start a new religion. Doina brings wit, website wizardry, queer historical arguments, and the ability to turn a classic Paris tour into something far more alive.
The conversation covers how Queer Tours France came together, why LGBTQ+ travelers need spaces where they can relax into their own community, and how queer tours change the emotional experience of travel. As Doina explains, a queer tour feels different because the guide and guests are not just sharing facts—they are sharing community.
Ken and the trio also talk about the business of queer tourism, why platforms like GetYourGuide and Viator can be useful but problematic, and why booking directly with local guides is often better for both travelers and the people creating the experience.
And yes, things get deliciously naughty.
You’ll learn why the Tuileries Garden has been associated with cruising since the 1600s, why some parts of Paris still shift energy dramatically after dark, and why Charlotte’s “bushes open 24/7” line may deserve its own plaque.
But underneath the laughter is something serious: queer history matters.
It matters because it reminds us we were always there. In the museums. In the gardens. In the palaces. In the cafés. In the art. In the scandals. In the revolutions. In the love stories they tried to erase.
Whether you’re planning your first trip to Paris, returning for the tenth time, or dreaming of a more meaningful LGBTQ+ travel experience, this episode will make you see the city differently.
Paris was never just the City of Light.
It was also the city of hidden rainbows.
Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, & share! https://pridenomad.com/
Watch the Episode here
Listen to the Podcast here
The Queer Paris They Never Taught You: Queer Tours France Unleashed
The Parisian Revolution
Meet the fabulous trio of queer tourists from France. Three guides who said au revoir to the straight-washed history and started their own Parisian revolution. Charlotte brings decades of expertise and fierce activism. Alex began touring before he could vote in France. Doyna got tired of our community being footnotes in history books. What started as rainbow facts in main tours evolved into eight different queer-focused adventures across Paris and Versailles. From Marie Antoinette's potential sapphic affairs to hidden gay bars of Le Marais, they serve up the juicy history that the textbooks missed. This is a show with Queer Tours France, where three passionate guides prove Paris has always been more rainbow-colored than we thought. How is that?
That is great. I want to meet those guys.
I know, right? Where physically are you guys? Are you guys in Paris right now?
Yes.
Not me.
Not you? Where are you?
I am close to Nantes.
Cool. I am not there, but it's on the list. Many things are on the list because it has been a while since I have been back in France. You guys can all jump in. This is very casual. Tell me about how you guys met? How did you guys get things together? What is the origin story for you all?
You met Alex first and then me, and then I met both of you.
Doina and I were friends, and then we became colleagues. Alex and I were colleagues, and then we became friends.
Now this is a trouble.
I love it. I have always loved ménage à trois, so it's okay with me. How did you decide to create the company?
In fact, we started. When did we start? In 2023, typically, we are all three guides. Alex is also working in the office of a tour company. Charlotte and I are full-time guides. We were doing these classical tours with all the typical things you say in a classical tour. We cannot really put in all the queer input we wanted to. At that moment, we said we should start doing LGBTQ tours. Alex started creating some, Charlotte started creating some, and I started creating some. We were on our own a little bit. We said, "We are all doing the same thing. Let us do something together."
That is awesome. That is great. Typically, how many people are on your tours?
Why Private Tours Matter
It depends because we provide tours to French people, but also to all sorts of people coming from abroad, so we can provide private tours to couples, families, groups of 4, 5, 6 people. When it comes to Parisians, they're not so keen on booking private tours. We prefer to do group tours, and you can go up to 15 people, 20 people. We really do those two sorts of tours, and we love both because there are two ways of sharing knowledge with people, and it is good to do both.
Interestingly, you have got so many Parisians wanting to do these tours. In my mind, they're already there. They do not need to take a tour. How would you attract those people?
Rethinking Classic Sites
The thing is, what was really blowing our mind when you start to learn about queer history is the fact that as a tour guide, we tend to spend a lot of time exploring those very iconic areas of Paris, the Seine banks, going by the Louvre, etc., and just rediscovering them with a queer perspective, with a queer angle. It is just going to the same places, but telling different stories is so refreshing, even for Parisians.
I guess that makes a lot of sense. For me, having been to Paris is not enough, but to know some of the history behind things is really interesting. I would rather know that because it's insider stuff, even as part of the family, as opposed to just the normal tourist stuff. It makes a real difference for real. How are you promoting your business?
Charlotte brings all her friends. That is our best asset. Charlotte knows all the lesbians in Paris and half of the gays.
We are not saying how she knows them. I appreciate you being very G-rated here.
I do not know. How come you know all these people, Charlotte?
I do not know. It’s because I was part of several activist associations. That is it. That is how you meet queer people. I stay friends with them.
It is a good thing. It makes a lot of sense.
Alex is doing a great job with Instagram. I am taking care of the website and being on different platforms so people can find us by looking us up on Google. We are also on GetYourGuide and Viator. These platforms are at the Paris Tourist Office. They have websites. We are in these different places, and Alex is very good with Instagram. We start having more and more followers there.
The Reality of Tourism Platforms
Are GetYourGuide and Viator, are they worth being part of? Are they good for you guys?
No, but we are good. People can find us there, but GetYourGuide and Viator are the worst you can buy because you pay way more expensive for the same thing. It is not good for us, and it is not good for people who buy because it's more expensive for us. We get paid less, and then you, as a customer, pay more. You can cut this part if you want in the final cut.
I do not know. Part of what this whole thing is about really is to get people to make prudent choices. I would rather tell the truth as it is. I am not beholden to either of those companies. I am not beholden to anybody. No one is paying me. If you pay my rent, then maybe I owe you something, but no one is sleeping with me here.
We decided we were done letting queer people be treated like footnotes in French history.
You do not have a rent score.
The thing is, those platforms are also good for growing businesses because they bring visibility, and it is important for a business like ours to be present on those platforms because lots of people will look up on those platforms, find out about us, and then maybe contact us directly to get a better deal. It is important for visibility, but it is also clever and prudent not to be relying too much on them.
All day long. It is not your soapbox. Surely you have got to give too much away. You're right. You are listed there as an element of credibility. It's like selling on Amazon. The fact that you're on Amazon means that you're not a nut. It does make some sense. It's smart. Of course, being on a podcast like this exposes you in a different way. It makes you more human, and people will start to like you more, see you for the first time perhaps, and then bring you some business. For me, I want to work with people and be on tours with people who have a good time. The experience is just fun. If it is boring, not interesting, thank you very much.
The two of us are, first and foremost, tour guides. This job is very much about being human and making sure that people in front of you are enjoying their time spent with you. You're not there just to give a history lecture, or we're not there just to make business. We are just informed humans with values that we want to share by doing tours.
It has got to come from love. I do not think I have really ever been on a tour on any tourist-type tour where the person has been passionate. I do not think I experienced that because if I did, I would remember that. My mom and I did a tour of Ireland, and it was a beautiful bus tour in Ireland. We had never been. It was the most boring tour ever. It was not because of Ireland, because Ireland was gorgeous, but the people were boring. They were all straight people. The tour guide was a lesbian. She was awesome. Everyone else was like a yawn, and there was us. It was like, "No." We have got to have a queer tour. We have got to have a gay tour. It's just like bringing on the gay boys and their moms.
That is what I think is a little bit different when we do. I feel it's very different when I give a queer tour than when I do a classic tour because I still give classic tours. When I do a queer tour, I know that I'm with people that I am part of the same community with. We are all from the same community. We often have more fun than straight people. We have fun. We have the same subjects to make fun of. Generally, I feel very different when I do a queer tour, and I'm always happier when I finish a gay tour or queer tour than when I finish a classic tour. It brings something more to the deal.
Certainly in this marketplace. So many of us are feeling threatened right now. I am getting emails daily from a variety of gay organizations saying, "We stand with you." Today was out in tech, for example. There are so many threats, certainly in this country, which is such a mess. It is so shameful. When we're able to be together and celebrate ourselves, I think it means a lot. I would not travel any other way. It's not just because I want to be exclusive. It's because I do not want to be with somebody that is not an ally, that has not voted the right way, if you will. It's hard.
I was at a conference in Florida a few weeks ago, 400 people in the room, three of us identified as gay, LGBTQ. One lesbian, two gay guys, out of 400 people. In that room, there were people, and by the way, everyone loved each other. It was a beautiful room, great vibe. Cool people that we all liked, except that there were some people there who did not exactly know how to dress. They were wearing MAGA shirts. Now I am like, “What is wrong with you people? It makes you feel uncomfortable.”
At least it makes me feel uncomfortable because how could you be that person who was so stupid to have voted against my rights? Regardless of what you did for taxes or whatever else, I could give a **** you are voting against my rights, the rights of my friends, and fairness. When we're together, and we're on a tour that is filled with people that are either LGBTQ or allies, that's family. We can be as wild and crazy and irreverent as we want because it's our tribe. On behalf of everybody out there, I want to thank you, guys, for what you are doing because it's really important.
It's true. One of our goals with Queer Tours France is not only to put the spotlight on all the queer history that has been put under the carpet for centuries and that nobody wanted to look at, but also to do more classical Louvre tours, Versailles, Eiffel Tower, but more directed to queer allies and family. They feel safe. We all feel safe, that we can share things in common without being shy.
What is the most surprising thing that you show people from queer France that people have no idea about?
We could give three different answers.
I’ll do one.
I’ll take it.
I will make nasty jokes.
I love nasty jokes. You bring them. I am going to have to make any requirements for the show. At least one nasty joke.
Charlotte can put the standards of nasty jokes very high up.
Now I am expecting it, Charlotte. Before we get to the nasty jokes, now you're on the hook for that. You're totally on the hook for that. What do you experience is the thing that people are like, "Holy s***, I had no idea"?
I guess that's the reaction I get from tourists and also from the French is that in France, the crime of sodomy was abolished during the French Revolution, which is actually, there you go. That's the story.
I had no idea. You guys know how to have fun, let us face it. That's awesome.
I had no idea. That's a good point. Alex?
Cruising Through History
Something that works really well with our guests is when you go through the Tuileries garden, this big garden that is in central Paris, also in the Louvre Museum. This garden, historically speaking, is very well known for being a cruising place since the 1600s.
Paris has always been a lot more queer than your history books admitted.
You do not know that, Ken.
I honestly did not. Now I know. Is it still a cruising place? I need to know that.
It is still a cruising place nowadays. If you go there at night and open up Grindr, you will see all sorts of people connected in the Tuileries garden. It's just so funny to visit during the day, and it's filled with people. When you come there at night, the vibe and the atmosphere are completely different.
That’s Wild. Given its location, which is right in the center of the city, it is very urban. There are no negative safety repercussions, no police issues or that stuff?
Historically speaking, since this was a royal garden, the French police, the Parisian police, did not have the right to go in because it was royal possession. This is why the people could go in and do whatever they wanted to do without the police knowing it. Nowadays, parts of the Tuileries garden are still open 24/7, not all of it. Those bushes open 24/7 are all sorts of stories.
This will be one of our best-watched episodes. It gets late every night. It's awesome. I used to live in Boston. I went to university in Boston, and there is a park in Boston called the Fenway. We would be out in the Fenway back in the day. It was known, and I do not know if it still is, years and years since I have been back there, but oh yeah. Anyway, let us go to Doina. I have got to get out of this conversation. I have to go back to Paris.
You have to come back to Paris.
I do not need much incentive for that at all. I miss it. I really do. We will dial in on that in a sec, but I want to hear your thoughts.
I have a lot of things that come to my mind. The thing that I personally love is to shock people by telling the story of queer people they did not know were queer. We already did this with Alex the other day with Whitney Houston.
You did not know?
I have no idea.
Did you assume she was a lesbian? No, she was bisexual, right?
It was fine.
She's not an art director.
I'll take it. I am blind. She's not.
What we do in general is to really give the arguments on why a certain person might be queer, even if she did not really openly say it when this person was alive. Sometimes people are really shocked about the "Really? I had no idea."
Aside from Whitney, what famous Parisians, French people, are the top ones that people will go, "Really?"
You just want to tease us. Big tease. You do not want to tell us.
The most shocking one, but also there is a lot of debate on that, is Chopin. Did you know?
I have never slept with him, so I do not know. It was maybe.
It's a long time ago, so it's better if you did not sleep with him.
As right now, probably just shoots the best of us right then.
There is a lot of debate on that, but the idea is that we bring in the arguments and the possible proof, and then we let people think of the possibility.
I think it's neat.
That's also really cool with trying to put some historical figures. It's an idea that you need to take all the different arguments into balance. Sometimes just adding new perspectives and asking new questions is actually more interesting than getting to know the exact answer because this is the past. This happened 500 years ago, 600 years ago, and we have absolutely no way to know. Just the simple fact of asking the question means sometimes more than knowing the answer.
It does that. It is a conversation starter because now it's the was she or wasn't she type of situation as opposed to, we knew that about Rock Hudson, but what about this one? That's really interesting. What buildings have the most gay significance in blue?
No, the blue is really the Père Lachaise Cemetery as well. The thing is, when you start digging, you find them everywhere. It's really in any neighborhood that we can do queer history tours. What's really mind-blowing and flabbergasting about the Louvre is that it has the ambition to be a universal museum. You have the whole history of humankind, 5,000 years of artistry in one place, and you can go from one department to another, from Egypt to Greece, from Rome to Mesopotamia, and find traces of queerness everywhere. It is really amazing.
I remember when I was in Greece, and I would get the little coasters, and it was everyone f***ing each other. I was like, "This is fun." I'm like, back then they were doing all sorts of stuff I could get arrested for, but they're just doing it all the time. How did we regress so much? It's really important to know what history is. It's really cool. What are your plans for the future with the company?
Queering The World
The plans for the future are to queerize the whole world.
That's why everyone else is afraid.
It's not Queer Tours France, but Queer Tours the World. Think big.
We have to have some heterosexuals to make babies, so we have to be mindful of that. Instead of context, that's going to be just what we need. In terms of whether you're looking to expand to other cities, other countries? I just want to grow more to a bigger size. What do you do? I am talking from a business standpoint.
The idea for now is to really build Paris as much as we can, to really develop it well, and to have more business. The idea is to either create tours in other cities or make collaborations with people who create tours in other cities. We know, for example, there's a guy in Marseille having a particular tour. We might collaborate with him. We will see how we can because we cannot be everywhere. The idea is to try to either create ourselves or work with people who create other tours in other cities so as to cover the whole of France.
It makes sense because what I'm seeing more and more is that I'm going blank, forgetting Michael Venturiella. Is his last name. I met him the other day, and he runs Christopher's Tours in New York, and he does tours of New York and Boston, queer tours of New York and Boston, queer history tours in Boston, which is fascinating.
I found, quite by accident, a year ago, a guy that does drag tours of Sydney. He's so adorable. He is booked up, and I forget what his drag name is. It is adorable, the whole thing. There you guys should all be collaborating with the whole world. I will say this as a digital nomad and with our community of digital nomads. Certainly, with what you are doing, you can fit everybody at any time, meaning that doing a tour. How long typically are your tours?
Between two hours and eight hours. We will leave more or less around two and a half hours, let's say, most of them.
The Insider Advantage
Here is the thing that is beautiful about this. Anyone coming to Paris needs to see you, period, end of conversation. I am not being dramatic about it. I am being 100% real. The reason is this. If I am going to spend three weeks in Paris, or even four days in Paris, and I want people, when they travel as digital nomads, to have more than just a few hours in a city, I want them really to get to know a city so when you are walking down to the next cafe, they know who you are already.
They are like, "I know what you're getting," that type of thing. It lets you know the areas, certainly. To get a feel for where you are going to live, get a feel for where you should be shopping, what you should be doing aside from just even the LGBT gay history part, you have got to know your city. If I am going to be coming to Paris, you damn well show me. I am going to be asking you guys, “Where do I go?” Not just where do I get laid. I know that already. I knew that before the call. Not Tuileries, but I will not take it. It has been a long time.
You need Alex to explain that to you.
That is fine. The women can go to you guys. Alex and I will hang out. I do not need to do that. I have got to be classy here. We will go with a capital K, but it is important that when people go to a city that they are not used to, certainly a tour book is not going to cover it because by the time it is published, it is outdated. Even with what we do, we have a Pride Nomad Concierge, which is an online resource, not a tour guide, because we have scraped the web and all sorts of resources globally.
If you are looking for a massage place, whether it is Paris or Venice or whatever, hopefully we have the right people who are LGBTQ friendly. Even that is not as good as you guys knowing what place on the street is the place to eat, to meet other people, whether it be with clothing on or not, where to go for entertainment, where to go to get another pair of jeans and not get ripped off. That is important stuff, as well as the culture of the city and the queer culture of the city.
Actually, most of our tours end in the Marais neighborhood, which is the traditional LGBTQ neighborhood. It is also a good way for us to make a transition between more serious historical stuff and then fun. It is true that actually one of our tours is a pub crawl in the Marais because you can definitely combine history tours and fun and do wine tastings, go for beers. The point for us is to show and to share the passion for our city as locals, just as tour guides, the place where we love to hang out, where we meet friends, etc.
I could not agree more. I want to dispel this since we're talking about Paris and about France. Back in the day, I was always told, "The French are so rude." I love the language. I mean, je t'aime, le français. I just love the language, love the country, love the city, love the whole thing. Even when I was in high school, I did not want to learn Spanish. I wanted to learn French. When I am back in France and back in Paris, I want to speak as much French as I can. I may tune up a little bit before I go, but typically I do not have time.
I will be in a boulangerie, and I will be trying to work it through and trying to understand. They are so delighted because they know I want to do better. They know I want to embrace the language as opposed to people who are dickheads about it. I find the French to be incredibly loving. I have never had an experience with that attitude, never. Everyone has been tremendous. I want to publicly say that because I think it's important. Not from you. No, it's true.
I was out with some friends. A friend of mine had a friend of the heart in Paris, so we hung out together. That is another good thing to do. If you know somebody, pass that along. I hung out with this woman, and she took me out, and my French was terrible. I was still getting my legs back with it, and everyone was just laughing with me. They were all correcting me. Everyone was just like my French was so bad. They were hysterical.
A queer tour feels different because the guide and guests are not just sharing facts, they are sharing community.
That was fun. It just made it fun. It was really interesting. I was back in the States, and a friend of mine, his boyfriend, was French, and the boyfriend's mother had come from Paris and spoke no English. They said, "Can you talk to her?" I had just come back. I could not speak a word of nothing because I was in Los Angeles. I was not in that space. Being immersive in that space is a really important piece. You guys do serve a whole important element of that. What should people know?
Thank you so much for saving France's reputation. It’s very sweet of you. I totally appreciate that.
Bring me a cute Parisian, and I will be happy to accept the thank you.
Second, I am sure they were very nice to you because I am sure you have a very adorable French accent when you try to speak French. They melted trying to make them melt. It's funny. Maybe it's because I began French when I was a kid. I started to get the roll of the Rs and stuff like that. I want to do it right. I do not want to just go, "Merci," and like Emily in Paris.
Notre Dame.
All that freaking time, can you not, can you not say merci? Come on, you're brave, honestly. Here is the question. Is Emily coming back to Paris? That's what I want to know. What do you guys know? What's the dirt?
I do not know. You should know. She's from your country.
I think she's in Rome.
She's doing the Rome thing, but I think she's. Isn't she a Brit, the actual actress?
Yes, she's the daughter of Phil Collins.
The production, is it from the US?
The production is HBO, but it is shot in Paris, of course, and now they're playing Rome. I believe that the prime minister was lobbying HBO, but maybe it was the mayor of Paris. I do not know. It was a big to-do.
It wasn't in the president's way.
She was in it, which was awesome. It may have been her husband that was like, "Get back here. We want you." It is hysterical. Which leads me to think, are you doing any Emily in Paris tours?
I know.
Not as a part of a tour.
What's wrong with you? Can you have no queer as fing Emily in Paris?
It is colorful.
Yes, it is. The gays love her.
We are trashing Emily's aspirations, but it's true that she's actually bringing a lot of business for us in the tourism industry. We do have lots of tours. I know guys who do those tours, those Emily shooting locations, tourists in Paris. We have to admit we're a little too snob, the three of us.
Talk about you, okay? When people like the early afternoon, I always take them to the places, but not as specific as Emily's Paris was. If we pass by on the other tours, I say, "Do you like Emily in Paris? If you do, I can show you where she was working. I can show you where she was living."
It's not a special tour with this subject, but I always ask because I know people love it.
I would love to see the square that she lived on.
I can show you that. Alex will not show you that because he's too snob, but I can.
When we are together, and we are on a tour filled with people who are LGBTQ or allies, that is family.
It's cool. Actually, for you, because of the gays, I would do a market test if I were you. Honestly, I would. Put the snob on the shelf for a minute, or Alex, you get out of here for a minute. I would also do a market test. Do it for a limited time. You put it on your website and see what happens.
You can do that.
An Emily in Paris tour?
Yes.
No.
Actually, we're passing by.
We're working on two tours.
We're choosing, but not that much. What I can do is remember that episode, and that happened in that episode. You would never see that in Paris. This is fake news. That's what I would do. I will trust the show.
You could, and that would be cool. The Emily in Paris you never knew. I see. I come at this from a different way. Pride Nomad is all about being a digital nomad, and being a digital nomad has two different pieces to it. Piece number one is travel, certainly, okay? Piece number two is how do you pay for the damn travel? It is about having a location-independent lifestyle, which means either being able to work remotely or, in my view, better yet, having your own company that you own and control, whether it is freelancing or whatever it may be, so that you can say, "F*** you," if someone bothers you.
That's my word of the day. It's a technical term. Do what you want when you want to do it, wherever it may be. I am so business-oriented, and having been a business coach and trainer for 40-plus years and a business strategist, I look at how we can build a business. How can we serve a marketplace that has a demand?
My sense, just my gut, is that if you offered an Emily in Paris tour, as much as it may make Alex nauseous, doing it to where you turn it into something that you actually enjoy, because no one wants to do shit that they do not like to do. Turning it into, Charlotte, your mindset of, "You know what this was?” “No, that wasn't it. Here's what it really is." That to me would be a cool and fun tour. It becomes an insider thing. It is still queer to the extent that the queers love that.
The insider tours where you are learning something that no one else knows are really cool. It becomes a cocktail party conversation, and it builds business for you because I learned it on the tour. "I'm going to be in Paris. You've got to go see these guys." That's the way I look at it as a marketer. Anyway, just test it. Just put something up. See who bites. I actually, seriously, I would like to know what happens because I think it would be very interesting. Alex cannot be one of you, but it's got to be you guys.
The Not Emily in Paris Tour. The real Paris, not Emily's like this.
Emily was really in Paris. That would be cool. Do a spin on it. It's like the Anti-Emily in Paris Tour.
With your cute neighbor.
Very ugly Gabriel. Very silly food.
When Gabriel is not in costume, what a transformation he is. Like, “What happened to you?” What else should people know about you, about Paris and so on? We're running a bit out of time, and I'm having such a good time playing with you guys. What do people need to know if they are thinking about either a trip to Paris or joining you guys on a tour? What should we tell them?
That we do tours whenever they want. It can be private or in a group. We are licensed guides, so we have the right to speak in the museums. We have backgrounds in history and art history, but we are first and foremost local, queer people who love their city, and we cannot wait to share it with them.
It’s very well said.
We can do classic tours or LGBTQ history tours. If they do not want to hear anything about their own history, we can take them to the most classical and boring. Not boring because they’re with us, so they're not going to be bored.
We cannot promise that we will not bring up history, even if you pick the classic tours.
I just realized, though, Charlotte, you still owe me a dirty joke.
I'm sorry. I have got to cut you off for a second because we are at an impasse right now. Charlotte took a pause. She's got to give me the dirty joke.
I do not know which one to do.
Pick one.
I already did a joke with the bushes. I said my bushes are open 24/7, but no one heard it.
That's awesome. That's why you're the most popular lesbian in Paris.
We call her the true blue garden.
That is a wrap.
That's awesome. Okay, Doina.
I was about to say that the tour sometimes ends with having drinks.
Yes, and bushes, depending on the situation.
Good to know.
Alex went, "No."
It's the intimate Paris tour. We're going right down the rabbit hole. This will be the most popular episode we have had in a long time. When you guys do a tour, obviously you do not need seventeen tour guides running a tour, but do you typically do them single, meaning just one of you, or will you do tours together?
Just one of us. If you want to, you should tell us. Charlotte is very busy.
Of course, because she's open 24/7.
No, but what we do sometimes when we do tours with Parisians, and it's a group, if one of the other guides wants to tag along, usually we do that.
I usually do it because one of us is coming along on the tour just to take pictures, videos, etc. It's very often that we end up in this situation where we actually have conversations between guides, and then the guests happen to be there and change the conversation. We have so many things to share about Marie Antoinette, and those two girls cannot find the grounds for the lesbianism of Marie Antoinette. Everything we talk about her, it ends up in an argument.
That would be fun. When I get to Paris, and I do not know when I am able to make it work, but I would want to do a tour with the three of you. Freaking hoot.
Sometimes we go to each other's tours to learn more because each of us does extra research. Charlotte is absolutely fantastic. She does tons of research. Every time she does a tour, if you take her tour various times, then every time she's going to tell you even more than last time. I can go to her tours every week. I know that I'm going to learn something more. We often go to each other's Alex also. Every time I go to his tour, I say, "I did not know that. I'm going to write that down."
What's your favorite part of his tour?
Of who?
Alex.
Alex does a lot of different tours. He's a very good storyteller. As I said, when he is old and he wants to do volunteer work, he could just become a storyteller because he has a very cool style of storytelling. Like Jesus, he could invent a new religion. He's very convincing. She is so funny. Everybody is laughing all the time on her tour.
I have a lot of nasty jokes on tours.
She has a lot of nasty jokes, as you might imagine.
I can only do them during queer tours. The good thing with mainstream tours is I can do nasty jokes.
No, it's true. We have the ability to communicate in ways that are incredibly cheeky and irreverent and get away with it. Even just as a gay guy in a straight world, I can fool around with everybody's wife. None of the husbands give a shit because they know I'm the only person I can go out with this person's wife is like, "It's Ken."
It is just going to the same places, but telling different stories is so refreshing.
I wish I could do that. I would have a guy's wife.
That's all. I find that to be 100% true. It's really funny about how that goes. I do not hide who I am in the end, whatever. The guy is like, "Go take her." You get away with everything.
We can play with it.
We do. It's because if our energy is real, and we're not trying to be who we're not, and we're just being sincere in the joy of life, and I'm getting metaphysical here, whatever, people get it on a sensory level, and they want to be part of that fun. We're not trying to be anything other than loving what we do and having fun. We're gay. That means happy. To me, that's what gay means. That's really important, and as long as we're living that life, everyone else wants to be part of it.
The idiots that are trying to curtail us are the most miserable freaking people on the planet. For me, when I come to Paris, I want to do a tour. When I go to a new city, I want to do tours anyway. It's really important because you get the lay of the land. It's the first thing you should do when you get to a new city. Have a tour, in my view. It just makes sense, because at least that way you're not unfamiliar with it.
I remember doing a tour in Lisbon, and the tour guide took us to all sorts of cool places and was like, "Good, now we know the insider stuff." That's what I want. I do not want the vanilla tour. I want to go to the real place. I want to go to the place that's actually better than Angelina's. If you have got lines out front, many people know about it. There's a place that's better somewhere else that no one knows about. Am I right?
Yes, definitely.
We can offer you hot chocolate somewhere else than Angelina's.
I figured that too. It was in Singapore, and I found bags of Angelina's cocoa. I'm like, "Are you shitting me?" Yes. If they're doing that, guaranteed they're not as good as they used to be, just a sense. Anyway, you guys, it has been a hoot. Any final parting words you want to share? I have got to tell everybody, hold on. For people to reach you and get in touch with you and book tours with you, go to the show notes for this episode, and you will find a surprise because this trio is going to give you a deal. I'm not telling you what it is, but they're going to give you something special, and you'll get some of the details on that page.
Go there to book yourself a tour, tell them it came from Pride Nomad Unleashed, because these people, you can see, are very unleashed. You'll have a great time. I can guarantee you'll have a great time. Listen, just to be clear, I just met these guys like an hour ago, and already I am in love with them. You'll have that same experience, only you get to do it in person. It makes a big difference. I am going to have to fly my ass over there just to hug you, kids.
Merci, Ken.
Any final words?
Let's make the world queer again.
Yes.
I love it. I'm going to sign off, and I'm going to come back. Do not go away.
Thank you, guys, for playing.
Thank you so much, Ken.
Thank you.
Merci beaucoup.
Merci.
