Click on the picture to see a larger version.
Paris Moderne no. 918 – Les Femmes Cochers

Source:
paris1900.lartnouveau.com/. Click here to view source.

Les Femmes Cocher / 59

Melle. Vilain / 7

Picture (left): Rabelais' quarter hour.

The playwright François Rabelais wrote of a "bad quarter hour" which he endured on finding that he didn't have enough money to pay a hotel bill. The phrase "quart d'heure de Rabelais" became proverbial in France as the moment when the piper must be paid.