On 25 February 1890, the Irish writer, George Moore took readers of The Hawk magazine on a journey down the backstreets of Paris, near to the location of the old Bastille:
‘we traversed curious streets, inhabited apparently by people who in dressing never got further than camisoles and shirt sleeves; we penetrated musty-smelling and clamorous court yards, in which lingered Balzacian concièrges; we climbed slippery staircases upon which doors stood wide open, emitting odours and permitting occasional views of domestic life – a man in his shirt hammering a boot, a woman, presumably a mother, wi…