Paris by night. Rue Pigalle.

Source:
Paris en Images, copyright Pierre Jahan / Roger-Viollet (JAH-NOC-2-126):
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Gaito Gazdanov's Paris / 34

The mistress

I never stopped in Montmartre; down there each bistro had its own taxi drivers who formed little clans and didn’t tolerate competition. Besides, I had an a particular aversion and distaste for this kind of work.

I preferred the places in the outlying districts where you didn’t have to wait on the stands for long. Ideally, the rich and quiet neighbourhoods: cars were less numerous here than downtown.

On Saturdays you met with a special clientele; it was composed of aged and respectable men who accompanied pretty young women as far as the car.

“Driver, you will take mademoiselle to number 34, boulevard Arrago. Goodbye, my dear. Until Wednesday, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, I’ll call you at the office.”

“Perfect. Be good and sleep well.”

“Good night!”

But as soon as the car pulled away, the young lady would say, in a different tone:

“Pigalle.”

It could just as easily be Blanche or Montparnasse. [193]