It’s the 1890’s. You are in Paris, and you are in the mood for some entertainment. Nothing too heavy on the intellectual side—although that, too, can be provided—nor do you want to explore the seedy part of the city. You are simply looking for a clean fun with an edge.



If you don’t mind noisy entertainment, you can stop at the Hippodrome to see The Live Projectile, Miss Zazel de Farini, blasted out of a cannon:



Amateurs of the bizarre, go to the Folies Bergère, where Captain Constentenus, tattooed at the order of Yakoob Beg, the Chief of the Tartars, will show you his body decorated with 2 million needle jabs and 325 animal figures:



Equally strange, but more graceful are Rosa-Josepha, the phenomenal Siamese twins at the Théâtre de la Gaîté:



For even more grace, with the added bonus of fantasy, and an eyeful of exposed female legs head for the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin to see the Snow Ballet in the show The Voyage to the Moon:

Should you find the ballet too tame, there is an additional excitement when the dance is performed in a lion cage like here at the Olympia Théâtre:

The sight of the most ferocious beasts sharing a single cage will titillate you at the Paris Zoo:

For a taste of faraway cultures, see the exotic Tuareg tribe from the sands of Sahara at the Vélodrome d’Hiver:

The Théâtre des Variétés, on the other hand, will take you back in history in a sumptuous play with a cast of druids and pretty heroines riding live horses:

Related posts:

The Guide to Gay Paree 1869: Entertainment

Mark Twain and the Cancan