Locality-analysis
The purpose of these pages is to progressively review a number of Simenon's Maigret stories or novels set in France outside of Paris.
In some cases determination of the locality will not bring on many problems because the leads and indications in the work are clear and self-evident. In these cases the issue will be to take a closer look at the setting, meaning to clarify its situation.

Sometimes statements of the author himself, in other works or in interviews or discussions, guide us to the actual setting. In the works where Simenon, for some reason, omits to report the locality or chooses to rename it, these clues are to be valued. In these cases some detective work will be necessary and occasionally even careful analysis will only produce a theory.
The extensive biographical data about the writer, his life and his whereabouts will be of much help in this task. Simenon always wrote about places he knew and that made an impression, good or poor. Given this fact delving into this subject will be much facilitated by the certainty: the locality is real and Simenon has been there. There is no danger of rummaging around to find a fabrication. It is just not Simenon's approach. He wrote about people he met and knew, they've been given the names of real persons and they lived in existent places.
Home Page
A view of Meung-sur-Loire, the village where Maigret lived after his retirement
Please click on the button next to the French titles on the left to go to the comprehensive analysis of the novels and stories.
There has been some discussion about the importance of thorough searching into the subject of locality in Simenon's work. Nobody has to be convinced of the relativity of significance of this research for understanding, appreciating and enjoying the oeuvre.

In the Bulletin-section of Steve Trussel's Simenon's Maigret Website a participant (Dave Drake) states that there are two perspectives from which one can approach the work of an author like Simenon and his Maigret-novels: micro- or macro-oriented.
La nuit du
carrefour
La Guinguette
à deux sous
L'inspecteur
Cadavre		 Source de la Grande Grille in Vichy where Maigret had to - drink the waters -
Les larmes
de bougie
Vente à la
bougie 		The first orientation moves toward an approach in which each story is important and each detail is significant in understanding and appreciating the work.
With the second orientation the reader attaches more importance on the work as a whole. The reader tilts toward an interest in Maigret's live and career rather than deepening out each and every aspect of a separate book.

It is obvious that one orientation doesn't rule out the other. Interest in the broader context doesn't exclude curiosity for the precise elements that compose the intrigue and surroundings of a specific story, or the other way around.
La maison
du juge
Mon ami
Maigret
Maigret à
Vichy
l'Affaire
Saint-Fiacre		 It is true that the writer himself reacted often irritatedly when attention was directed to ingredients of similarity between his own experiences and the circumstances in his work. It is likely that he had his reasons for taking this position. Analyzing his mind set in this issue would lead too far.

It seems logical and reasonable for the readers who devoured the Maigret-novels and the thousands of Maigret-devotees to take a genuine interest in all aspects and characteristics of the novels.
France is a beautiful and exciting country. Simenon's bright and dramatic description of the surroundings in which his stories develop generate curiosity for these settings and make the inquisitive reader wonder: what they would really have looked like.
Guido de Croock
January, 2003
Hulst - The Netherlands
l'Auberge aux
Noyés
Postcards on this WebPage depict general sites and situations mentioned in Maigret-novels and therefore will be familiar to devoted readers.
All Postcard from Mediasys - France.
Le notaire de
Châteauneuf
M.Gallet, décédé
Le charretier de
"La Providence"
Chez les
Flamands
For more information on localities go to the Travel Log
A view of the small town of Luçon where Maigret had to stay - in exile - for a while.
Thanks!
Writing the text on this website in English, so that a larger number of Maigret-devotees could be reached, was not self-evident. My own language is Dutch.
I could not have done this without the much appreciated help of my friends Nicole Van Wayenbergh and Peter Cremers.
All remaining mistakes and errors are only the result of my own limited knowledge of the English language and my headiness.
Go to a novel or story analysis - Click on the title

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La nuit du carrefour - 1, - 2
La guinguette à deux sous - 1, - 2
L' inspecteur Cadavre - 1, - 2, - 3
Les larmes de bougie - 1, - 2
Vente à la bougie - 1, - 2
La maison du juge - 1, - 2, - 3
Mon ami Maigret - 1, - 2, - 3
Maigret à Vichy - 1, - 2
l'Affaire Saint-Fiacre - 1, - 2
l'Auberge aux Noyés - 1, - 2
Le notaire de Chéteauneuf - 1, - 2
M.Gallet, décédé - 1, - 2, - 3
Le charretier de "La Providence" - 1, - 2
Chez les Flamands - 1, - 2