Proust Vacationed in Normandy

Proust spent summers in Normandy in a town he called "Balbec" but he really stayed in Trouville or Cabourg.  Like many writers, Proust kept the names of big cities like Paris or Venice in his novel, but he changed the names of smaller towns like Cabourg to imagined names.  The same with Combray.  The imagined places become as real to us as Proust's Paris.  Here is a lovely picture of Cabourg, and you can almost see Proust strolling on the boardwalk before luncheon is served in the dining room. I don't see the young ladies on their bicycles, do you?  Proust loved them all.  Such a lovely image.


The Beach at Cabourg

Proust's Old Stomping Ground

It must be so thrilling to be in Proust's old "home town," and see the church and the little shops and maybe even take one of the walks that Proust took along the river. Here's a blogger who visited Illiers.

http://www.jeffreyround.com/Blog/

Incredibly cool.