I stayed in the Hotel André Gill, in the middle of Montmartre, a quarter known worldwide for its "entertainment". I had my eyes opened by prostitutes -- male, female and transvestite -- sex shops and nightclubs.For balance there was always the Cité des Sciences, a much vaunted but somewhat disappointing scientific exhibition. I saw the Geode -- a huge in-the-round cinema -- and taught a recalcitrant French computer to respond to voice commands in English -- a minor cultural victory.
André Gill (1840-1885) was a humourist and caricaturist. I understand he lived at 55 rue du Mont Cenis. This caricature of himself, by himself, is superimposed on the housefront in the larger shot.
Established in 1860 as the "Cabaret des Assassins" for hashish users, it was acquired by André Gill in [1880/1900]. He renamed it "Au Lapin ŕ Gill", or Gill's Rabbit", having painted a sign on the outside of a rabbit jumping out of a saucepan (lapin sauté ŕ la casserole] in honour of its previous owner's speciality dish. The title mutated into "Au Lapin Agile", a further play on words and testimony to the Rabbit's alacrity. The building was a rendevous for famous artists and among those who made their cabaret debut there was George Brassaens.
Across the road is what is claimed to be the only vineyard in Paris itself. It contains 2,000 vine plants and produces in the region of 700 bottles of "Clos Montmartre", which are auctioned for high prices, the profit going towards the support of the elderly of the district. The adjacent museum recapitulates the life of the old village of Montmartre.
Me and my first computer, a Sinclair Spectrum ZX 128, acquired the year before this caricature was done. It was not, unfortunately, done by André Gill himself. I'm not that old. Fris in the Place du Tertre did the needful.. You can see Fris doing another caricature in the section on the Place du Tertre.