“The place reeked of vice and corruption and the dregs of Parisian society in all its rottenness gathered there: cheats, common and cheap hacks rubbed shoulders with under-age dandies, old roués and rogues, sleazy underworld types once notorious for things best forgotten mingled with other small-time crooks and speculators, dabblers in dubious ventures, frauds, pimps and racketeers. Cheap sex, both male and female was on offer in this tawdry meat market of a place where petty rivalries were exploited, and quarrels picked over nothing in an atmosphere of fake gallantry where swords and pistols at dawn settled matters of questionable honour in the first place.”
Guy de Maupassant, “Femme Fatale”, b 1850 d 1893.
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 