<p>The Moulin Rouge opened its doors in 1889, at the height of the Belle Epoch - 'the Beautiful Age'.</p><br><p>Its famous windmill structure stood on the fringes of Paris, where intellectuals and artists mixed with thugs and criminals in a hedonistic neighbourhood.</p><br><p>What really went on inside the Moulin Rouge? Why was there a giant elephant in the garden? And did sex workers really solicit business while riding donkeys?!</p><br><p>Joining Kate today is the wonderful Mike Rapport, author of <em>‘City of Light, City of Shadows: Paris in the Belle Epoque’.</em></p><br><p>This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.</p><br><p>Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at <a href="https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe</u></a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br><p><u>You can take part in our listener survey</u><a href="https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/6FFT7MK" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u> here</u></a><u>.</u></p><br><p>All music from Epidemic Sounds.</p><br><p>Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>