As it had every morning for decades on the Right Bank, the aroma of yeast produced by bread baking inside Plaisir et Pain wafted through the cold, humid autumn air. That the boulangerie renowned for its five-pound loaves was located near the hotel where she worked motivated Therese to skip the green bus after exiting the Metro's Madeleine station so that she could take in the pleasure a pied. Sauntering, as a full hour remained before reporting time, she enjoyed her ritual of gazing at the extraordinary addresses and ordinary faces in the tony huitieme arrondissement.
Tranquil rue St-Etienne emerged before her. With the sensual smell of bread lingering in her nostrils and fallen leaves of red and gold crunching underfoot, she caught her breath and patted her heaving buxom chest through her navy blue wool coat. Mental absorption of nature's delightful textures nearly caused her to bypass the hotel -- not the first time that happened. Unlike other establishments on the quiet block, L'Hotel Claire was housed in an inconspicuous building that possessed neither an ornate facade nor a liveried doorman. In underground circles, L'Hotel Claire was considered the perfect site for a randy rendezvous.
Although Therese was flirting with the 50 mark, but had the confident strut of a 30-year-old. Having slaved in the service industry for nearly three decades, she was a newcomer at L'Hotel Claire. During her long career at various hotels in her native country, from Brittany on the northern coast to the Cote d'Azur on the Mediterranean, she struggled to raise seven sons with the guilt money of their married fathers -- after whom they were named. Her lovers numbered in the hundreds. The morning after a lust-filled night, one of those lovers faxed her resume to L'Hotel Claire.
Entering the hotel, Therese was unaware of the glazed-eyed look on her face until a dapper Parisian gentleman who was departing the hotel returned a lascivious glance. She took her time entering the toasty Art Nouveau lobby, where guests were either checking in at the front desk or making haste to the spiral wrought-iron staircase that led to Le Restaurant Pierre. After enjoying a traditional le petit dejeuner of her own in the cafeteria, which was reserved for service personnel, she would ready for the next order of business: cleaning and preparing assigned rooms for existing and incoming guests. But every now and then, breakfast was followed by joining the other femmes de chambre for an orgy of gossip about the guests' goings-on. Thus, on this November morning Therese summoned her friends, who were assigned to various etages, to meet at a fire exit on the top floor.
Within minutes the maids converged in the corner like a flock of fallen nuns anxious to compare each other's naughty habits. Whispers and gasps accompanied Therese's description of the latest trysts on her floor, the participants of which did not fit the profile of any of L'Hotel Claire's seamy assortment of visitors. They would have settled for a linen closet, as long as there was sufficient privacy to air their dirty laundry. Gathered in the well-appointed suite, the chambermaids plunked themselves down onto various kinds of furniture: a queen-sized bed, velvety sofas, desks and ottomans. When all of the ladies were accounted for, they began serving each other coffee and tea in preparation for their weekly dialogue du matin.