One of those "a-ha"moments...

     Today I had one of those "a-ha" moments when I saw this painting, Chez Tortoni by Edouard Manet. 

Chez Tortoni by Edouard Manet (1878-80). Cafe Tortoni earned an international reputation by its famous clientele as well as its frozen desserts.

     While I was writing Race to Tibet, I set the first scene of the novel, which features an altercation between Gabriel Bonvalot and General Prejevalsky, in Café Tortoni, a well-known café on the Rue des Italiens in Paris. But until today I never knew about the existence of this painting by Edouard Manet, even though I had been to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston numerous times, although not prior to March 18, 1990, the day it was stolen. To me, Café Tortoni, with its sophisticated ambiance and suave reputation, known for being the meeting place of politicians, intellectuals, scholars, dandies, and ladies of the demi-monde, seemed to be the perfect setting to place two opposing characters, and how much more so now that I can see it through Manet's eyes. All I can say is, "Wow!" and pray that some day Chez Tortoni is restored to its rightful place in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, one of Boston's great cultural treasures.

Cafe Tortoni on the Boulevard des Italiens, Paris.

Incidentally, the FBI is offering a $5 million reward for the return of Chez Tortoni.