Late summer 1895: Marcel Proust and Reynaldo Hahn, just a stone’s throw from the hotel in Beg-Meil?!

Late summer 1895: Marcel Proust and Reynaldo Hahn, just a stone’s throw from the hotel in Beg-Meil?! 🧐

Whilst continuing to read “Jean Santeuil”, I began looking for pictures of Beg-Meil from around 1900 – first in my own photos, then on the internet. ⛱️🕰️

I have walked this path in the picture many times, back when I knew nothing about Proust. 👨🏻 I had no idea that a great writer had, in these very same places – which have remained almost unchanged since then – felt the same emotions before me and tried to capture on the page all the thrills and torments of a first true love. 🖋️❤️‍🩹

“(…) all that past life which only we remember, so much so that it strikes us rather like one of our dreams that we can recall, but which took place only for us alone.”
— Quarto, p. 116

Let’s imagine: on the left-hand side of the picture, I can see Marcel leaning his head towards Reynaldo’s shoulder, just as he does in a class photo I’ve already shown here. If that were true, if it really were them, it would be a major discovery for the Proustosphere! 🤓

Who here wants to believe in it with me? Let me know what you think in a story! 🫣

#MarcelProust #ReynaldoHahn #BegMeil #JeanSanteuil #proustagram
@quarto_livres @editions_gallimard