'The Sinner's Grand Tour': 10 Sexy Places The Guidebooks Won't Tell You About (PHOTOS)

I've never been much interested in going to the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the Colosseum, or any of the standard tourist draws in Europe. When I travel, I like to track down some of the more specialized attractions - the ones that have always lured history's outsiders, the debauched aristocrats, wild monks and free-spirited noblewomen who populate the continent's secret past. Luckily, while researching "The Sinner's Grand Tour" (Broadway, May 2011), I discovered that Europe is still littered with underground historical sites. Seeking out these forgotten boudoirs, relics and dungeons provides travelers with an entirely fresh view of the most over-trodden destinations. Let your imagination run riot!

1 of 11

Paris: The Royal 'Sex Chair'

1 of 12

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

In the belle époque, the "beautiful era" of the late 19th century, the City of Eternal Love was renowned for its luxury brothels. The most opulent was Le Chabanais, discreetly hidden on a quiet street just around the corner from the Louvre, with its infamous "fantasy rooms" popular with European royalty, politicians and stars of the stage. (The once-elegant edifice at No. 12 Rue Chabanais is now an office building). In the 1880s, the brothel was frequented by the extravagant Prince of Wales - the future King Edward VII of Britain -who was notorious for his enormous appetites. As the prince grew more obese, he ordered the construction of a fauteuil d'amour - "love throne" or "sex chair" - so that he could lower himself onto the working girls without crushing them with his enormous bulk. The bizarre item was last seen at auction in 1951, after the French government closed down all the brothels in Paris. But for "The Sinner's Grand Tour," I tracked down this legendary relic to a private warehouse on the Right Bank, where it had been repurchased by the original manufacturer's great-great-grandson. It's still intact - although, thankfully perhaps, it has been re-upholstered.

The Origins Of 7 Popular Slang Words

The 10 Most Common Phobias (PHOTOS)

On the Resurgence of Occupy Wall Street: Five Must-Read Books

Leadership Advice: 9 Things Obama Could Learn From Caesar

gadgets/slideshows/225673/slide_225673_962522_small.jpg

The 9 Craziest 'Bachelor' Contestants (WATCH)

11 People You Don't Want To Be Friends With

In the belle époque, the "beautiful era" of the late 19th century, the City of Eternal Love was renowned for its luxury brothels. The most opulent was Le Chabanais, discreetly hidden on a quiet street just around the corner from the Louvre, with its infamous "fantasy rooms" popular with European royalty, politicians and stars of the stage. (The once-elegant edifice at No. 12 Rue Chabanais is now an office building). In the 1880s, the brothel was frequented by the extravagant Prince of Wales - the future King Edward VII of Britain -who was notorious for his enormous appetites. As the prince grew more obese, he ordered the construction of a fauteuil d'amour - "love throne" or "sex chair" - so that he could lower himself onto the working girls without crushing them with his enormous bulk. The bizarre item was last seen at auction in 1951, after the French government closed down all the brothels in Paris. But for "The Sinner's Grand Tour," I tracked down this legendary relic to a private warehouse on the Right Bank, where it had been repurchased by the original manufacturer's great-great-grandson. It's still intact - although, thankfully perhaps, it has been re-upholstered.

comments(23)

Total comments: 23 | Post a Comment

1 of 12

This Sinful Destination

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

I will NOT be visiting this place I want to go here!

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Top 5 Sinful Destinations

loading...

Top 5 Sinful Destinations

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

 

Comments

[MAragon]

08:29 PM on 05/28/2011

Hubba hubba. Cover you eyes! Oops. Too late. ;)

[kathye]

03:19 PM on 05/27/2011

Posters here think this is all for the men. Well it seems like it. But in the 1700', 1800's, and 1900's married women had few out lets. Their marriages were mainly loveless, and for childbearing. A good woman couldn't have a sexual appetite. The men had to find sex outside of marriage. We read about creative married women in literature esp. Lady Chatterley's Lover and Women in Love (by D.H. Lawerence), in the US and Tom Jones (by Fielding) in Britain. Very scandalous because of the perceived a sexual role of good women.

[kathye]

04:37 PM on 05/27/2011

I wrote H.D. Lawrence as US because he is because he is married in New Mexico.Actually American Lit mostly depicted women with sexual desires as fallen hence Hester Prynn. Theodore Dreisser and Frank Norris developed interesting female characters.

[DessLoch]

10:20 PM on 05/31/2011

Women of the English speaking world may have been all uptight but that certainly was not true of all women of that time.

[Paul Houston]

02:50 PM on 05/27/2011

I wonder what the prices were for the "services" offered in Pompeii?

[Bruce Forbes]

02:46 PM on 05/27/2011

He left out the State of Maine, where every citizen is being magically f**ked by the governor at the same time.

[Paul Houston]

02:51 PM on 05/27/2011

And Florida.

[NonConforming]

04:31 PM on 05/27/2011

Move to Cuba - there is no Fox noise there and they are blessed with Single Payer Universal health care. And no pesky Republicans either. It is utopia, according to the NYT.

[Murdale]

01:53 PM on 05/27/2011

Hellfire Caves and the Hellfire Club remind me of the Classic X-men villains. Sebastian Shaw, Selene, Emma Frost,...

[MarcEdward]

01:56 PM on 05/27/2011

Other than in the old x-men universe nobody ever got around to having sex.

[Sandmanj]

01:49 PM on 05/27/2011

There's only one sexy place on the planet I know no one will ever find in a book - the bedroom my wife and I share.

[vigwig]

01:41 PM on 05/27/2011

As a bona fide history nerd I find this stuff fascinating. Too much of ordinary life is hidden away by time. LOVE the decorative pink ribbon on the condom. The 18th C loved their decorations!

[Arthur L]

12:55 PM on 05/27/2011

i missed all the fun.

[Holly Smoke]

12:24 PM on 05/27/2011

I wonder what is the sex scene in America in during the 1800s ??

[RDAM]

01:22 PM on 05/27/2011

Not too bad...but then I've always been lucky with the ladies.

[MarcEdward]

12:22 PM on 05/27/2011

Most of these things seem like they were made for men who were sexually dysfunctional. It's hardly erotic. Sex is more than the man shooting his junk, but you don't see anything here for women. FAIL

[Arthur L]

12:56 PM on 05/27/2011

hardly, sensitive new-age guy.

[MarcEdward]

01:13 PM on 05/27/2011

I think women should have orgasms too. This stuff is for men who don't know how to make love.

[CR46]

01:13 PM on 05/27/2011

I think the sex chair is interesting :)

[MarcEdward]

01:57 PM on 05/27/2011

I liked the sex chair too, until I read about it. It did give me ideas.

[livesimply]

12:20 PM on 05/27/2011

Men and their fantasies! Always have and always will support the oldest profession in the world. Sounds like a fun tour.