Im just back from the most perfect weekend in my life!! The one thing that got to me was the prostitution, im not a preacher or anything but i couldnt believe how blatent it was We stayed in Hotel de le fontaine, and it was all going on quite close to us i thought the red light district was close to the train station but i must have got it wrong!!! I sorry that they've been banned because they truly unobtrusive lovely people. As the OP says, each to their own.
I know the trade operates in my area, and I assume, also in Dublin I doubt much will have changed by your next visit nor will anything have much changed elsewhere in the world. Most of the year round the "red light district" of Nice is along the main drag close to the airport - not that you need to know this From a distance, its a comfort to know most of them don't look like heroin addicts like in London.
I recall the Amsterdam shop window notice "Its been a business doing pleasure with you". The deaf and dumb are still in Nice we ate in Poco Loco and our table was constanlty hassled although it was my boyfriends fault for picking up the stuff and looking at it with no intention to buy!! I have both worked and trained, cycling , in and around Nice. The girls have always been about, though it is more an emphasis on females than transexuals; which used to be the majority!! I suppose it is the oldest trade that is attracted to this area When I worked in Market Research a few years back I recall a reply to "sexual orientation" question from an elderly English lady.
Asked if she was a hetero-sexual or b homo-sexual she replied " Good Heavens, Neither! I used to live on what some would call the best street in Paris Ave Foch and on Saturday morning our regular 4 would turn up. Then there was the one just down the street who caught the early morning trade. Hey that's life. I wondered about all the great looking girls with the Stilleto high heels. I think that this is just the general fashion, but it is also part of an "escort's" outfit. The world has become quite prudish over the years due to the rise in conservative religious movements of all flavors.
That said, there were an awful lot of men walking around Monaco with some racey "trophy girls". These are very romantic places, and it is a shame not to enjoy intimate time here with the love of your life. But if you cannot be with the one you love - what the hell, why not have a few great hours for your euros? I was in Nice a few weeks ago and this is my 7th time I love the place!!
