Les Mots à la Bouche, LGBTIQA+ bookshop in the Marais, Paris, France
Les Mots à la bouche is an LGBTIQA+ bookshop in the Marais neighborhood of Paris, with a blue storefront at 6 rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie. The shop is small but packed with books from floor to ceiling, including novels, comics, essays, and titles in both French and English.
The bookshop was founded in 1980 in the 18th arrondissement of Paris by Jean-Pierre Meyer-Genton, then moved to the Marais in 1983, where it has stayed since. In late 2019, a sharp rent increase threatened to force its closure, but the then-owner Walter Paluch kept it running and eventually handed it over to his team.
Les Mots à la bouche is one of the few bookshops in Paris entirely dedicated to LGBTIQA+ literature. The shelves hold novels, comics, essays, and magazines covering love, identity, and everyday life from the perspective of the community.
The bookshop sits in the heart of the Marais and is easy to reach on foot from the Saint-Paul or Hôtel de Ville metro stations. It opens every day, including Sundays and in August, and stays open into the evening, making a visit after work or on weekends straightforward.
Although the bookshop is known for its LGBTIQA+ collection, it also carries works on gender studies, philosophy, and social history that appeal to a wide audience. If a book is not available in store, it can be ordered directly, and the website allows visitors to browse stock by theme before making the trip.
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