madame marie-france dreslin owned an antiquarian bookshop in a small , cobbled alleyway leading off munstergasse , halfway between the fashionable boutiques and classy hotels of bellevue and the open air restaurants and sleazy hostels lining niederdorf , where backpackers mingled freely with prostitutes , and explicit photographs on the walls advertised the nature of the films shown in the cinemas , and where a succession of dark-expressioned north african men in slick suits , attempting to divert the passing human traffic from their straight and moral path into the myriad neon attractions , converted the street into a slalom course of negative responses and downturned glances .