The Allies in Paris… in 1815

1815 in Paris, after Waterloo… Until the second Treaty of Paris, ratified by the coalition ambassadors, foreign troops in France lived off the country through requisitions. Parisians had their first experience of occupation by foreign armies. Some soldiers discovered the pleasures of French wines. Czar Alexander’s Russian cavalrymen have been known to shout “быстро, быстро” (Bistro ! i.e. Hurry!) in Parisian bars to be quickly served a drink. Hence the origin – uncertified – of the word Bistrot, so common today in French.