I finally had time to sit and read on my vacation, and thus finished Christopher Moore's "Sacre Bleu." I highly recommend it to anyone who 1) loves Paris, 2) loves art, especially the Impressionist period, and 3) loves occasionally laugh-out-loud humor, disguised as a serious mystery about the circumstances of Vincent Van Gogh's murder.
The best part is the dialogue, between artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pissarro, Manet, Monet, Whistler, Seurat, and the other giants who changed the face of art while leading entertainingly dissolute lives at the turn of the 19th century. The next best part, at least for me, is the way Chris "fleshed out" (so to speak) what the Paris of that time would have been like for someone living there. Naturally, being the sensitive, highly evolved soul I am, I enjoyed Henri's exploits in the maisons closes of Paris quite a bit, and did not find them at all superfluous or out of place. After all, if you're hot on the heels of a serial killer who is tens of thousands years old, you *need* a break every so often, and the girls of the original Moulin Rouge provided such a break. They also served "double duty" and became his models and muses, and thus will be remembered and revered FAR longer than anyone reading this, especially those who get uptight at even the mention of "houses of pleasure." For them, to help "make their day" and set them off on another round of self-righteous righteous indignation, here's one of my favorite classic Messy Nessy Chic articles. http://www.messynessychic.com/2012/12/11/inside-the-paris-brothels-of-th\ e-belle-epoque/ <http://www.messynessychic.com/2012/12/11/inside-the-paris-brothels-of-t\ he-belle-epoque/>
