. Bohemian Paris of to-day . he Moulin de la Galette at the foot of thepassage. The spectres against the sky were onlyvery, very old windmills, relics of the time, threecenturies gone, when windmills crowded the summitof Montmartre to catch all the winds that they stand, stark, dead, silent, and decaying ;their stately revolutions are no more ; and the skele-ton frames of their fans look down on a marvellouscontrast, the intensely real life of the Galette. We fell in line with many others at the ticket office,and paid the fifty centimes admission fee (ladiestwenty-five centimes). We w
. Bohemian Paris of to-day . he Moulin de la Galette at the foot of thepassage. The spectres against the sky were onlyvery, very old windmills, relics of the time, threecenturies gone, when windmills crowded the summitof Montmartre to catch all the winds that they stand, stark, dead, silent, and decaying ;their stately revolutions are no more ; and the skele-ton frames of their fans look down on a marvellouscontrast, the intensely real life of the Galette. We fell in line with many others at the ticket office,and paid the fifty centimes admission fee (ladiestwenty-five centimes). We were relieved of our hatsand canes by a stout old woman in the vestiaire, whoclaimed two sous from each. Following the up-hillpassage of the entrance, the walls of which arepainted with flowers and garden scenes, we enteredthe ereat ball-room. What a brilliant scene of lifeand light!—at first a blur of sound, light and move-ment, then gradually resolving into the simple ele-ments composing it. The floor was covered with 226. LE MOULIN DE LA GALETTE LE MOULIN DE LA GALETTE dancers, and the girls were making a generous dis-play of graceful anatomy, A large band at the far-ther end of the room, on an inclined stand, was thevortex of the din. The promenade encircling thehall was crowded with hatless laughing girls andsmooth-faced boys wearing caps or flat-brimmed low-crowned hats ; their trousers fitted tight at the knees,and their heads were closely cropped. These werestrolling in groups, or watching the dancers, or sit-ting- at the rows of wooden tables drinking-. Allwithin the vast hall had gone to enjoy their Sundaynight as much as possible. To most of the girls thiswas the one night in the week when, not tired outfrom the drudgery of hard work, they could throwaside all cares and live in the way for which theircramped and meagre souls yearned. This is a ren-dezvous for the humble workers of the city, wherethey may dress as best they can, exchange theirpetites histoires, and a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidbohemianpari, bookyear1900
