Anakin, 24

What do you do for a living?
I'm unemployed at the moment. I get money from the government.

And does that give you lots of time to go on dates?
Lots of time for dates and parties and people.

What's your ideal date?
I don't have one, but I do remember a party I went to in Toulouse some years ago. It was a film festival, and I was the emcee — since I have so much time and do tons of things. I was wearing diapers and suspenders. It was a bit fetish. So we were all dancing and having fun and being drunk, and then I saw a girl that I already knew a little bit. She was topless and quite hot. And so I made out with her. And at the moment when I squeezed her breasts, it was milk that came out. Then she just told me to go ahead and drink, and I did. That excited me so much, especially since I was in diapers.

Are you chivalrous?
Yeah, I think masculinity plays a role. But even if I'm direct, with people I'm really interested in, it's harder. I'm a little shy sometimes.

What do you look for in a lover?
I love women who are strong and funny.

Women with a little fire inside?
A little fire? What?

Scratch that. Do you think there's one person for everyone?
No, I think there's lots of people for lots of people.

Are you monogamous?
Yeah, I am. I've never really had the opportunity to try otherwise. And for the moment that works for me. I think I'd be anxious in a non-monogamous thing. But that's up to me and my partner — others can do whatever works for them. But if the opportunity presented itself someday with an open person, why not? With my partner at the moment, it doesn't.

So are you a serial monogamist?
Yeah. But being young I've had a bunch of relationships and all of them have lasted between a year and four years.

Is there something someone could do to freak you out?
No, I don't think so. If someone does something that bothers me, it's my responsibility to share my feelings and desires. I don't have any strict rules. I just believe in communication.

Where are you from?
Paris.

So what are you looking for Toulouse?
Frissons. [laughs]

 

Lora, 26

What do you do for a living?
I'm a film technician.

Do you find lots of dates in your line of work?
Potential lovers who I'm not interested in.

You're not attracted to other film technicians?
Usually it's super-macho guys.

How did you meet your current lover?
At a concert. I brought my little dog and everyone there made fun of her. My lover came over because she felt bad for the dog. And then two days later we bumped into each other at another concert, and I was nervous to ask for her number but I got it anyway. And I called her. I didn't have the feeling that it would be anything serious. She was super drunk, and I actually found her sort of shitty. She talked all the time, and about bizarre things like crocodiles. I had no idea what she was saying to me. But it's calmer now. She lives in Paris so we go back and forth.

What are your dates like?
We don't go to restaurants or whatever. Mostly we just stay in bed and watch films or walk around the city where we are. But Paris and Toulouse are different. Before, she lived alone, but now she lives in a big squat and she shares a room with other people, so it's not so private.

Are you into public sex?
Sure, it's exciting to fuck against a wall at a sex party or something, but I'm not really into exhibitionism. With some lovers I know less well, I find it really funny to have sex outside, but with my current partner we have already a certain level of quality to our sex, so I prefer to take our time.

Is there anything someone could do to freak you out?
Yeah, when people do really cinematic, dramatic things. I was with a girl who wanted to take me to the sea, and I found that kind of strange. Too cliché. She left for two hours on a Sunday to find flowers. It was just too much for me, too serious.

How do you hit on someone?
Depends on the context. If they're someone I'll see in my everyday life, it's not as easy as if I'm at a party in some other country. I was performing at a concert in Berlin and I just said into the microphone, "I really feel like fucking, so if anyone's interested..." And a girl came up to me after and said it was cool how I said that. But nothing came of it in the end. She was too drunk that night to actually do anything, so we met up another time in a club, one of these electro clubs, and in the middle of the club she told me she had to go do something and so she left alone in the club. It was really weird.

Do you believe in love at first sight?
Someone can capture your attention, but love is something else.

 

Drea, 29

What do you do for a living?
I'm a musician.

And what brings you to Toulouse?
My band is on tour right now, and we're playing a show here in a couple of days.

Where are you from?
We all live in Portland.

How long have you been on tour?
Five weeks so far. We toured the U.S. and this is our first week touring Europe for the first time.

Does your job get you a lot of dates?
Not as many as you would think, but definitely it helps, being on stage and performing. And rock and roll's all about sex really, so it definitely makes the ladies interested, I would say.

And do you actively bring sex into your performance?
Yes, very much so. I can't help it.

Do people see a different Drea on stage than on the street?
Probably. A little more concentrated, intense version of the normal Drea.

What was the last date you went on?
The last date I went on was in San Francisco, on our tour. A two-day date. I'm in a very non-monogamous relationship, and my primary partner and I were on a date there — so it wasn't a date with a new person but a date nonetheless cause we're in a long-distance relationship so anytime we see each other is kind of like a date.

Do you tend to approach other people or do you let them approach you?
I think it's pretty split down the middle. When I'm feeling confident I could easily approach somebody that I'm interested in but a lot of times I can be kind of shy so I like someone who's really forward.

How do you go about approaching people?
I like to use humor. I'm not what you'd consider a very suave person, so I try to make up for that by being charming in other ways. Like charmingly awkward. Saying nice things and making somebody laugh.

Are the women different in France? Europe?
Hard to say, since we just a few days into our European tour, but even though there's a language barrier I feel like there's a level of comfort here that's different than the States. People are way more into conversation, and I don't feel a lot of the judgment that I feel sometimes in a hip place like New York or San Francisco. So, I don't know if that's true or not of Europe in general, but for me personally, the past few days I've been just feeling really good.

Do you believe in love at first sight?
Yeah, for sure. I've experienced it. I used to be really cynical about it but now I feel like a very romantic person and now I feel like it's totally possible. Or at least intense feelings like, "This person and I can really connect" — that immediate feeling. I think that's real.

If you could have sex anywhere in France, where would you do it?
Maybe in a castle somewhere, in some old bear furs. With some glasses of wine around a fireplace, roasting something. In the winter.

Interviews and photography by Jane Roman.