Megha

08/16/2023

If you're looking for someone to tell you about the history and evolution of some famous drag show venues and LGBTQ+ bars - this tour is not for you. The tour guide, while perfectly well intended I'm sure is not very nuanced when he presents the transgender community and some of his jokes made me uncomfortable. A lovely guide overall though, and I really appreciate how much he wanted to share and the chosen topic - I just wish he had more knowledge and was more aware of the stories and the struggles of many places and people he presents in the tour.

Response from Kristen
In fact, my intention was never to make LGBTQ+ venue guide of Pigalle. The gay community contributed importantly to the development of the Pigalle entertainment industry. Especially with its Drag shows which are still popular despite 70 plus years of activity. I try as much as possible to stick to the facts, and avoid opinions and jokes. Sometimes I need to use oversimplified terms to describe a drag show to people who are not fluent in English as some foreigners don’t know what ‘drag show’, ‘trans gender’ or ‘trans person’ means. So for conservatives I risk offending them if I talk about anything even indirectly related to sex, which has always been characteristic of Pigalle. Liberals and gays will be offended if I seem to be too. flippant or dismissive of the LGBTQ+ community. It only takes one misplaced word for that to happen. Sometimes it feels I’m walking on a tight rope. For the record, I support LGBTQ+ rights 100%, including the right to get married and adopt children.

08/06/2023

I highly highly recommend this tour with Patrick. It helped me reframe the city and Gaudi's work so much better, it was the best possible introduction I could have asked for. The route he designed is fabulous and I really loved how it covers the birth and story of the modernisme movement in Barcelona. Patrick was also very animated and an extremely good storyteller which helped the whole tale come alive as well. Its obvious to go for the best rated and most walked tours - but trust me, if you're looking for an intimate tour to really understand and discover the eixample - you must take this tour.

Published reviews (2)