Moulin Rouge

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This is the Moulin Rouge (pronounced /mulɛ̃ ʁuʒ/), one of several world-famous showclubs in Paris, and the club where the then-wicked French can-can dance was first performed. Moulin Rouge means “red mill," and, as you can see, there is indeed a red mill at the Moulin Rouge. This isn’t just a gimmick: at one time, windmills were not unknown in this windy part of Paris, which is very near the Butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city. Windmills were thus useful at one time, and several survive, although this one is actually a replica of the original that stood on the same spot. The vanes of the windmill at the Moulin Rouge actually turn, although you obviously cannot see that here (it was turning when I took the picture, rest assured).

The Moulin Rouge is in Pigalle (pronounced /pigal/ and not /pɪgæli/, no matter what your great-grandfather claims to remember from the Great War), a neighborhood that has built a reputation for itself as a center of naughty nightlife—which might well displease Pigalle himself, the sculptor after whom the district is named. Today, the nightlife isn’t any naughtier than you’ll find in any other large city in the industrialized world, but the reputation lives on. The Moulin Rouge itself is a respectable establishment, well-known for its spectacular stage shows, but it is rather surrounded by sex shops up and down the neighboring streets, and even on the Place Blanche where the Moulin Rouge itself is located. None of these shops is visible in this photograph, though (they are mostly to the right and left behind the camera).

This picture was taken in the evening, at around 7 PM; since this was wintertime, the sun had already set. Everything in Pigalle—including the Moulin Rouge—looks a lot better at night; the area is very dull and tacky-looking during the day. The Moulin Rouge is beneath the windmill and just to the right of it; the main entrance is where you see the word Féerie (“a fairy tale”) in yellow. To the left of the Moulin Rouge is La Loco(motive), one of the trendier discothèques in Paris; it is so called because the interior decor looks very much like a train station.

I was lucky this evening in that there are usually dozens of tour coaches parked in front of the Moulin Rouge, blocking the view. This area is packed with people on Friday and Saturday nights. Despite its rather unsavory reputation and appearance, Pigalle is quite safe, even in the evening—although it might be a good idea to start heading home after midnight.

To the left (not visible in the photo) is the Place Clichy. To the right and a short distance away is the Butte Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur basilica. You are looking north in the photograph; to the south (behind the camera) is the Opéra Garnier. The doorway marked “Change” next to the entrance to the Moulin Rouge is a place that changes currency, which is a common sight in Paris, particularly near popular tourist attractions.

Incidentally, the movie Moulin Rouge with Nicole Kidman, released in 2001, was filmed entirely on sound stages in Sydney, Australia, as far as I know, and never came within 10,000 kilometres of the real thing, which is what you are looking at here. The real thing probably does not seem as magical as the movie version in this picture; but rest assured, when you are standing in front of a famous monument like this in real life, in three dimensions, it is way cooler than just seeing any depiction of it in a movie! To put it another way, and as I like to tell visitors, it’s one thing to see a nice picture of the Eiffel Tower, but quite another to walk up and put your hand against it!

Photographed on January 4, 2003.