PARIS – With no fancy restaurants and forced to stay home at night to stop the spread of the coronavirus, French lovers are turning to sex toys to brighten their Valentine’s Day.
“Perhaps at a time when everything seems forbidden, sexuality has become one of our last bastions of freedom,” said Patrick Pruvot, founder of the Passage du Desir chain of sex toy stores.
In the three months leading up to this year’s Valentine’s Day, sales at Passage du Desir’s seven outlets are up 68 percent from previous months. A year earlier, sales increased by only 12 percent in the same period before February 14.
Candy cuffs and other sex toys line the shelves of Pruvot’s shop, surrounded by shutters for restaurants and cafés in central Paris. Large heart-shaped red boxes filled with 14 bedroom toys add a Valentine’s Day twist to an Advent calendar.
“We would normally go to a restaurant, but that is going to be a bit difficult. So I thought maybe it would please him to give him some attention, ”said Maryne Fraudin, 21, scouring the merchandise for a kinky game for her and her boyfriend.
France prides itself on being a nation of seducers. Seduction affects not only how the French relate to each other, but how they do business, define style, choose politicians and enjoy food and drink, wrote Elaine Sciolino in her book La Seduction.
For a long time, the French were slow to accept sex toys, a taboo that was slowly diminishing before the pandemic left many couples with more time at home, Pruvot said.
“The COVID crisis accelerated the trend,” he said.
Other countries have seen a similar phenomenon during COVID-19 lockdowns. From Denmark to mostly conservative Colombia, sex toy sales rose early in the pandemic, while British lingerie chain Ann Summer reported higher sales during the initial lockdown.
“What else can we do if we can’t get out,” said Anthony Jeka before walking out with his partner and a tote full of goodies.