In “In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower” 🌸, the narrator recalls the time when, upon entering…
Translated from French.
In “In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower” 🌸, the narrator recalls the time when, as he entered his teenage years, his appreciation for the arts became more defined just as his sensuality began to awaken. This double blossoming naturally takes place by the sea ⛱️, in Balbec, which is a blend of Brittany and Normandy.
Brittany 🍎, because, following the same railway line taken from Paris, the narrator tells us that he could travel further than Balbec, all the way to Quimperlé. Brittany, too, because the sound of ‘Beg-Meil’ can be heard in the final syllable of ‘Balbec’. In Breton, “Beg” means a headland jutting out into the sea. ☝🏻
Normandy 🍏, because, of course, Proust recreates the Grand Hôtel de Balbec 🏨 by drawing on his memories of the Grand Hôtel de Cabourg and the Hôtel des Roches Noires in Trouville, and mentions many other places in Normandy.
🖋️ “Ever since I’d seen them in Elstir’s watercolours (…) I’d been trying to find beauty ✨ where I’d never imagined it might be: in the most ordinary things, in the profound life of ‘still lifes’.”
(…) Pleasures are like photographs. What we capture in the presence of our beloved is merely a negative 🎞️; we develop it later, once we’re back home, when we’ve regained access to that inner darkroom whose entrance remains ‘sealed off’ whilst we’re out and about.” 🚪
#MarcelProust #RTP #proustagram #Balbec #BegMeil #Cabourg #cameraoscura #Àlombredesjeunesfillesenfleurs #GrandHôtel
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