In the dead of night, the Moulin Rouge windmill loses its sails

For over a century, a windmill has welcomed Parisians and visitors from around the world to the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret.

The windmill — which was destroyed in a fire in 1915 and then rebuilt — became a universally recognizable symbol of decadence, fun and the French cancan, rising above the otherwise gloomy neighborhood of Pigalle in northern Paris.