More than a hundred years ago, the Boulevard de Clichy and the surrounding area was known for its cafés-concerts, nightclubs, and dancehalls. On the Boulevard de Clichy itself were (and still are) a number of cafés and dance places, including the world-renowned Moulin Rouge, onetime bastion of fin de siècle fun that has kept its illuminated red windmill. On the other hand, right in the center of all this decadence, in the middle of the Place Clichy, is a sculpture called the Monument to Moncey. This statue, a monument to a defender of Paris during the 1814 Siege, was sculpted and designed in the Bourgeois-sanctioned Academic style, and became the standard model for statues commemorating heroes who died for their country. If it's strange to think of such a proper, reverent sculpture in a place like turn-of-the-century Clichy-Pigalle, which was frequented by the most bohemian of bohemian artists (many of whom are buried in the nearby Cimetière de Montmartre), it's just as strange today.

A lot has changed on the Boulevard de Clichy in the century or so that's passed, and while many of the cabarets, brothels, and dancehalls that once lined the sidewalks are gone, a number of straight-up sex shops have taken their place. But that's not all. Ordinary bars, fast food restaurants, and movie theaters, as well as all-purpose food and clothing stores, exist side by side.

You can learn about the history of such venues, as well as of sex and erotica in general, in the nearby Musée de l'Erotisme (Museum of Eroticism). Though its name may sound like a joke, the museum is a more or less serious place, with permanent and temporary exhibits that explore human sexual and social culture. But a tourist may find that, more memorable than what one can see in the museum, is the common sight of a happy French family strolling innocently down the Boulevard on their way to the Métro, passing by peep show houses where glossy photos of well-endowed, leather-clad women leave nothing to the imagination. That's a bit of local color you're not likely to find in many places. And in a sense, this surprising image perfectly sums up the feel of Clichy-Pigalle, a tolerant place up for anything that draws everyone in for an all-inclusive embrace (...and maybe more).