The Parisian cabaret Moulin Rouge, which saw its wings fall off at the end of April, inaugurated the most legendary blades in the Pigalle district on Friday evening, almost a week before the Olympic flame passes by, in front of a crowd of delighted tourists.
“The mill without its wings is a void for Paris, it was just sad,” rejoiced the general manager Jean-Victor Clerico, at the head of the family business which attracts 600,000 visitors each year.
“The idea was to be ready for the Olympic Games. We did everything we could to put these wings back in place,” he added.
The blades fixed on the round building were illuminated but they did not turn, as the mechanical operations could not be completed in time.
The Moulin Rouge wanted new wings for the passage of the Olympic flame in front of the famous establishment on July 15.
A performance of the French Cancan, the wild traditional dance from Offenbach’s operettas from the early 19th century, was performed on the boulevard by 22 artists and dancers in traditional skirts and frills.
The red wings were illuminated, restoring the nighttime landscape at the foot of the Butte Montmartre to the vision adored by tourists.
On April 25, the cabaret, which will celebrate its 135th anniversary in October, woke up without its wings, which had fallen off during the night, around 1:45 a.m., for an unknown reason, without causing any injuries. The letters M, O and U, located on the façade, had also fallen off.
At the end of April, management had stated that it could rule out any “malicious act”.
“The Moulin Rouge was very moved by all the messages of support and kindness received from around the world following the event that night,” its management wrote in a statement.
This legendary place, a temple of cancan, known throughout the world and immortalised in particular by the film by Baz Luhrmann, had remained open to spectators since the accident.