Week 2: Hamam

The Turkish Bath

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

1862

            The activity that I chose to do (and that I briefly mentioned the other day) was a trip to a Turkish bath, or “hamam,” at la Mosquée de Paris near the Jardin des Plantes. I got the idea from something I found online and thought it would be an interesting experience, and appropriate to our study of Orientalism and the 19^th century fascination with the harem. I have experienced a similar steam bath situation once before in Chicago, so I had a vague idea of what to expect, but it was still somewhat confusing.

            I arrived to the building, walked through the little garden tea salon, and into the very ornamental hamam quarter. It was Saturday; the steam baths are open to men and women on different days. There was a list of possible combinations of bathing you could choose at a set price, and I chose the one that included a “gommage” (scrub), a 20 minute massage, and a mint tea, on top of entry into the steam rooms. The woman at the counter did not speak any English, she just gave me my tickets and a little pouch of soap and motioned to the rooms beyond the massage area, so I blindly found the locker area and changed.

There were all different kinds of women, all shapes and sizes, young and old. I found a girl who looked about my age and told her it was my first time there, and asked her what to do. She tried explaining to me and then took me to her sister, who spoke better English, and they explained some more though it didn’t entirely ease my confusion.

I sat in a hot steam room for who knows how long, sweating, until I felt like it was time to cool off. I then used the greenish black soap in the pouch that was given to me, in a very open bathing room. A Turkish woman even helped by throwing a bucket of water on me – she didn’t work there, but seemed to know what she was doing. Next I waited in line to get my gommage. When it was my turn, I gave the North African woman my ticket, laid on a plastic table, and let her exfoliate my entire body with a rough mitt. I had read someone else’s account online before going and they likened this part to how a kitten must feel being licked by its mother’s rough tongue, and that is exactly how it felt! Afterwards I showered and was ready for my massage. I sat in a large circular room with many other lounging women, waiting my turn, and finally one of the women at the tables motioned to me. She started talking to me, trying to give me directions, but realizing we couldn’t understand each other we both got a little frustrated but eventually the point came across and I found my way to a massage table. The woman massaged my upper body, including my face and head, with oils that smelled like lavender and other herbs. While she was doing so she was talking in another language, not French, to the other women working there. When it was over, I gave my ticket to redeem my sweet mint tea and relaxed before rinsing, drying, changing etc.

It was very sensual yet very no-nonsense. Both communal in the sense of being in such close proximity to other women in various degrees of swimwear, yet very independent as well, you are not provided with anything, and must be sure to bring your own supplies and towels. It was an uncommon experience for me, especially when you figure in the double language barrier, but overall I enjoyed it and felt great afterward.