Thursday, May 19, 2011

to high heaven

As in, stinks.

A new TV series called Filthy Cities, tries to recreate the drek of past great metropolis.

Paris in the 18th century. 600,000 people inside a walled city of 8,000 acres, along with 20,000 horses. Unwashed people (washing was infrequent), rotting food, garbage, excrement. No toilets, no garbage collection. The Seine as sewer. Summer heat.

The palace of Versailles, out in the country, except for the Queen's quarters, had no bathrooms.

Fetid.

Unimaginable.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I saw, or rather heard, that program--quite amazing.

As for palaces, one I saw in Germany had a unique room at one end, about the size of most modern apartments, with blue and white tile all over the floor and two walls. Somebody's job was to keep cleaning it frequently.

--Nathan

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