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Thursday, Feb 22, 2001 8:30 PM UTC

Paris when it sizzles

A candidate for mayor calls for more love and pleasure.

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Topics: Sex, Love and Sex,

The present state of politics in Paris is, according to some, flat-out dull and boring. Many see outgoing Mayor Jean Tiberi as a tedious human sedative. His predecessor, President Jacques Chirac, can be a big snooze. According to local stripper Cindy Lee, these guys are “not sexy enough.” So she has added some life to upcoming municipal elections by launching her own mayoral campaign dedicated to free love, wife swapping and public nudity.

Lee’s efforts are designed to hit Mayor Tiberi right where he lives — she’s running in the city’s Fifth Arrondissement. And because she’s surrounded by traditional withering campaign promises, she’s spiced up the race with some outrageous promises of her own. If elected, she says, she intends to suit up city workers in sexier uniforms. She is also calling for an extra day off each week, which would be dedicated to “love and pleasure.”

Lee believes that lonely Parisians are entitled to a special emergency service so they won’t feel so bad. She says the city should open municipally run wife-swapping clubs, with discounted rates for parents of large families. And a section of the Jardins du Luxembourg, a public park, should be dedicated to nudism so that strolling tourists will have something to look at besides fountains and statues.

According to London’s Independent, the enterprising Lee has encountered a minor obstacle to completing her fantasy city. Her “Paris Plaisir” (Paris Pleasure) list of candidates was to have been made up entirely of fellow female strippers. But a new law dictates that all parties must present lists of candidates equally divided between men and women. She has therefore graciously relaxed her requirements, and her list now includes male go-go dancers as well.

Jack Boulware is a writer in San Francisco and author of "San Francisco Bizarro" and "Sex American Style." More Jack Boulware.

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