Lust, tranquillity and sensuality in French spa towns in the heyday of balneotherapy (the belle époque and the roaring twenties)

French spa resorts had their heyday from 1875 to 1915. During this era, the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie would flock to the spa towns. On the pretext of maintaining their health, this clientele was in fact mainly in search of hedonism, idleness and frivolity. There were two reasons for this. One...

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Main Author: Marie-Eve Férérol
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Association Via@ 2018-05-01
Series:Via@
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/viatourism/1763
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author Marie-Eve Férérol
author_facet Marie-Eve Férérol
author_sort Marie-Eve Férérol
collection DOAJ
description French spa resorts had their heyday from 1875 to 1915. During this era, the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie would flock to the spa towns. On the pretext of maintaining their health, this clientele was in fact mainly in search of hedonism, idleness and frivolity. There were two reasons for this. One was the expansion in bourgeois morality, and the other was the uncertain future at the turn of the 20th century (the advancing tide of modernity, presages of the 1st World War, etc.). Spa towns thus became ‘safety valves’ (Authier, 1997), another world, an escape from everyday life, where all sorts of transgressions were possible. In this article, we ask how these resorts became ‘destinations of desire’ and what was their level of eroticisation. The eroticisation of spa towns was due as much to their décor as to the uses made of them.
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spelling doaj-art-eacaafd0fad54a8890432a2642ae49ea2025-01-30T14:05:59ZdeuAssociation Via@Via@2259-924X2018-05-011110.4000/viatourism.1763Lust, tranquillity and sensuality in French spa towns in the heyday of balneotherapy (the belle époque and the roaring twenties)Marie-Eve FérérolFrench spa resorts had their heyday from 1875 to 1915. During this era, the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie would flock to the spa towns. On the pretext of maintaining their health, this clientele was in fact mainly in search of hedonism, idleness and frivolity. There were two reasons for this. One was the expansion in bourgeois morality, and the other was the uncertain future at the turn of the 20th century (the advancing tide of modernity, presages of the 1st World War, etc.). Spa towns thus became ‘safety valves’ (Authier, 1997), another world, an escape from everyday life, where all sorts of transgressions were possible. In this article, we ask how these resorts became ‘destinations of desire’ and what was their level of eroticisation. The eroticisation of spa towns was due as much to their décor as to the uses made of them.https://journals.openedition.org/viatourism/1763tourism developmenteroticisationfrench spa resortstouristic spa conception
spellingShingle Marie-Eve Férérol
Lust, tranquillity and sensuality in French spa towns in the heyday of balneotherapy (the belle époque and the roaring twenties)
Via@
tourism development
eroticisation
french spa resorts
touristic spa conception
title Lust, tranquillity and sensuality in French spa towns in the heyday of balneotherapy (the belle époque and the roaring twenties)
title_full Lust, tranquillity and sensuality in French spa towns in the heyday of balneotherapy (the belle époque and the roaring twenties)
title_fullStr Lust, tranquillity and sensuality in French spa towns in the heyday of balneotherapy (the belle époque and the roaring twenties)
title_full_unstemmed Lust, tranquillity and sensuality in French spa towns in the heyday of balneotherapy (the belle époque and the roaring twenties)
title_short Lust, tranquillity and sensuality in French spa towns in the heyday of balneotherapy (the belle époque and the roaring twenties)
title_sort lust tranquillity and sensuality in french spa towns in the heyday of balneotherapy the belle epoque and the roaring twenties
topic tourism development
eroticisation
french spa resorts
touristic spa conception
url https://journals.openedition.org/viatourism/1763
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