Tag Archives: IVe

“The Paris brat ain’t made of straw”

Gavroche’s sleep inside the Elephant is interrupted by a whistle from the thug Montparnasse. He needs the gaman to help rescue one of his gang who has escaped from prison and is stranded precariously on the edge of a high … Continue reading






Posted in IVe, Les Misérables, Paris | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on “The Paris brat ain’t made of straw”

“Mice which ate cats”

In Notre-Dame de Paris, Victor Hugo’s characters do not exchange  dialog. They declaim at one another, often histrionically.  The novel was written immediately after the tempestuous debut in 1829 of Hugo’s play, Hernani. Dramaturgy in one guise or another was … Continue reading






Posted in IVe, Les Misérables, Paris | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

From Gavroche to Huckleberry Finn

I continue to marvel at the rogue Gavroche and see in him the prototype for Huck Finn. After explaining how he “borrowed” his bedroom furnishings from the beasts at the Jardin des Plantes, Gavroche adds insouciantly, “You crawl over the … Continue reading






Posted in IVe, Les Misérables, Paris, Ve | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on From Gavroche to Huckleberry Finn

“The beasts had all these things”

Gavroche climbed nimbly up the leg of the Elephant in Place de la Bastille, entering its cavernous belly through a breach so narrow “only cats and homeless children” could pass through it. He dropped a rope so the little boys … Continue reading






Posted in IVe, Les Misérables, Paris | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Surfacing at Place de la Bastille

Prise de la Bastille by Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Houel [Source: Wikimedia Commons] The first time I came up from underground at the Bastille Metro stop, I imagined hearing the prisoners’ chorus from Fidelio as they sang “Luft und Leit.” On some rational … Continue reading






Posted in Flaneur's Gallery, French history, IVe, Paris | Tagged | 1 Comment