African girls in the 18th Arrondissement
Some fellow punters remarked a couple of years ago on this thread that the street action in Rue Myrha, which used to feature a number of young African providers, had fallen victim to a government clean-up. Well, recently it has bounced back - albeit a few streets further to the north than where it used to be. I've scouted the neighbourhood and these are my preliminary conclusions.
First, the centre in the new action is the corner between Boulevard Barbes and the Rue Labat. End-afternoon and early evening you'll see a couple of handsfuls of providers hang out around the corner itself, and throughout the day individuals and couples walk the streets within 1-2 blocks from this corner. All you have to do is to seek eye contact with the African girls you meet on the pavement; if they stare back, you're in.
Second, this is a hustler's neighbourhood. The girls will offer to take you to a hotel that, according to them, will charge 30-35E for a room, but which in practice may be 15-20E more expensive. Moreover, the bait and switch "I want more money" is in this neighbourhood not an exception but the rule. If you expect a girl to do what you promises to do, then the more fool you!! (This is usually the case with African women in Europe. I don't know why. It's normally not so bad in Africa...)
Let me give you an example. Last week I teamed up with a petite black woman who was loitering on a bench in the Boulevard Barbes late in the afternoon. She spoke a halting French and told me she prefers English. I changed languages only to discover she didn't speak English very well either. (Nigeria? Ghana?) She wanted 30E for the hotel and 35E for herself. I agreed, but we had little luck with the hotel(s): the first two we visited were full. (I'll never get used to this... in every other city in the world receptionist would make an apologetic face and say "I'm ever so sorry, Sir, but...". In Paris they put on an arrogant stone face and bark "C'est complet!") The third hotel demanded 45E for a room without bath and toilet, which I reluctantly paid. When we got to the room, my provider suddenly got mealy-mouthed and mumbled "should we undress?" Well, yeah, of course we should undress, that's why we are here. "Well, in that case it's 100E. I don't take my clothes off for less. If you want a BJ in addition to sex then it's 150E".
I marched out. I mean... OK, I was not born yesterday: The 35E she quoted were too cheap by Paris standards and I could have bargained her 150 down to about 60E. And, the girl clearly figured that having already wasted 20 minutes of my time, and 45E of my money, she had me over a barrel. But... it puts me off 100% to be treated like an idiot. Renegotiations are not my idea of perfect foreplay. If some of my fellow mongerers are tougher than I, or if they like bargaining, then the expat African street scene is open for business! :)
