Bienvenue chez les apaches

Bienvenue chez les apaches. Leo Faust as a guide through the Parisian underworld

During the interwar years, Leo Faust worked in Paris as a correspondent for several Dutch newspapers, author of multiple tourist-guides, and owner of a Dutch restaurant. He cleverly combined these roles in order to convince potential tourists that they could rely on him to safely guide them through the Parisian night life. This article analyses Faust’s books on Paris and his advertisements in the press with the aim of reconstructing the kind of touristic experience he offered to Dutch visitors in Paris, and to establish how his representation of the City of Light taps into the wider cultural imaginary.