Maigret Forum Archives 2007

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 1/2/07 – A slightly belated Happy New Year to you, Steve, and to all contributors to the Forum. Now on our 4th year of "Maigret of the Month"! Maigret au Picratt's is one of my favourites, so I'm looking forward to re-reading it this month. Best wishes Roddy

Speaking of Maigret 1/2/07 – I just read the book The Green Train by Herbert Lieberman, and he mentions Maigret many times in the book. These extracts are from the French pocket edition, [translated back into English]: Chapter 1 : (page 13) "Stern washed; feeling shaky he reached for the little bag where he kept his travel tickets, medicine, and his papers, to which he'd added a good half-dozen Maigrets – accumulated at various airport kiosks to read on the trip." Chapter 4: (page 117) "Some, like Stern, attempted to read. But not even Chief Inspector Maigret could assuage his discomfort. Stern set himself to following the good Chief Inspector through the tortuous maze of little streets and alleys of the 18th arroundissement, on the trail of a psychopathic killer, but..." Chapter 4: (page 128) "At 10:00 pm, Stern , wedged into the seat of his compartment, feet in the air, was plunged into one of his Maigrets. He felt a great tenderness for the Chief Inspector from the Quai des Orfèvres. A sort of affinity drew them together. He imagined himself happily drinking a beer or a little Calvados with Maigret at the Brasserie Dauphine, around 11:00 at night, just before the Chief Inspector returned to his walk-up apartment on the Boulevard Richard Lenoir..." Chapter 8: (page 343) "He couldn't recover his good mood. Even his charm, Maigret, hadn't been enough to distract him..." I guess the book he refers to in the 18th arrondissement is pretty easy to identify. The Green Train was written in 1986. Lieberman was born in 1933 and is still alive from what I gather from the web. He must like Maigret to speak about him like this in his own book. Regards Jerome

Maigret on YouTube 1/3/07 – At least two Maigret clips here. Gambon and Cervi. David Derrick

Russian Maigret 1/5/07 – Where oh where did Mattias Siwemyr find his copy of Zalozhniki Strakha? [12/22/06] Michael Jeck Programming Manager, Films MhZ Networks [I'm the host of International Mysteries, which has by now shown 42 of the Bruno Cremer Maigrets.]

Russian Maigret 1/6/07 – I got my vhs copy from the website www.melofanas.lt, though it is now listed as not available. Mattias

Maigret of the Month: Maigret au Picratt's (Maigret in Montmartre / Inspector Maigret and the Strangled Stripper) 1/10/07 – In July 1950 Simenon, his second wife Denyse with their son John moved from Carmel-by-the-sea in California to Connecticut where he bought Shadow Rock Farm at Lakeville. He was to live there for nearly five years writing 26 novels, 13 of which involve Maigret, and three short stories. According to the terms of the divorce, Tigy, Simenon's first wife, set up residence with their son Marc and Boule at Salmon Creek in the village of Lime Rock just four miles from Lakeville. Maigret au Picratt's, completed on the 8th of December 1950, is one of the more familiar novels and has had adaptations made for both French and British Television. In June 1985 it was part of the Jean Richard series, while in June 1992 Bruno Cremer played the part of Maigret in the episode entitled Maigret et les Plaisirs de la Nuit. In March 1993, on British Television, Michael Gambon interpreted the role of Maigret in the production of Maigret and the Night Club Dancer. The main location of Maigret au Picratt's is centred in a small Montmartre nightclub in the Rue Pigalle, situated in the area of Paris just south of the Boulevard de Clichy. This is not the first time that Simenon has used the name of Picratt's for that of a bar or nightclub. There is mention of it in two of the novels written under pseudonyms, as well as in three early short stories and a novel under his own name. For these works, although having various locations mostly in Montmartre, Picratt's is only indicated as a brief reference. It is in Maigret au Picratt's that Simenon uses the establishment as the focal point of the novel. In this novel, Maigret is very much in his jurisdiction, in Paris, but before he becomes involved with an investigation, there is the scene of the small nightclub, Picratt's, closing about four o'clock in the morning with the various employees making their way home. But Arlette, one of the three young women who provide the cabaret entertainment in the nightclub, walks into the local police station to report a possible murder. This lays down certain vague details that will lead to a full investigation on the part of Maigret and some of his team from the Quai des Orfèvres. In various ways several of his closest colleagues such as Janvier, Lucas and Torrence are involved, as well as Inspector Lognon who is attached to the local police station. But it is the young Inspector Lapointe who is the centre of attention as he has become emotionally involved with Arlette. Maigret allows Lapointe to be part of the investigation, but keeps an almost paternal eye on him throughout. In spite of his feelings, Lapointe carries out his instructions in the correct manner, unearthing background information and unerringly following a suspect, but also playing a vital role at the climax of the investigation. The novel encompasses not only the activities and atmosphere of the small nightclub, but the sordid world of the drug addict, as well as delving into the past of certain individuals and the search for a mysterious character known only by his first name. At times Maigret makes Picratt's his base, soaking up the atmosphere when it is functioning and when it is not, gleaning as much information as possible from the patron, his wife and employees. What makes the novel such an interesting narration is the way that the investigation ebbs and flows, with various strands of information obtained by Maigret and his team arousing curiosity and intrigue throughout. There are two translations available of this novel. The British editions have the translation by Daphne Woodward, while the American have that by Cornelia Schaeffer. Both follow the author's French text closely, but with Cornelia Schaeffer having the edge when it comes to capturing the atmosphere of the novel. The map shows the area south of the Boulevard de Clichy indicating several of the streets mentioned in the novel. (Atlas Paris par arrondissements, Michelin 15, 1989). Peter Foord UK

Review of Simenon novel 1/15/07 – I came across this very positive review of Simenon novel... Fine French novel of familial estrangement... For 18 years - ever since his wife ran off with another man - Hector Loursat, the protagonist of Georges Simenon's The Strangers in the House, has begun his day by going to his wine cellar and bringing up three bottles of burgundy to his study, where he spends most of his time. His daughter, Nicole - raised by Phine, the ugly, dwarfish cook, who despises Loursat - lives in another wing of Loursat's spacious house... The full article will be available on the Web for a limited time: Philadelphia Inquirer Joseph Allegretti

Maigret Book Lists 1/15/07 – Just a brief note to draw your attention to a couple of minor points. In the Omnibus checklist "Maigret's Christmas" is described as "9 short stories..." whereas in fact it comprises 7 or 8 short stories (one of which does not include Maigret), depending on whether "Maigret's Christmas" itself is regarded as "short" -PLUS- a full- length novel, the excellent "Maigret in Retirement". I'm not sure "Maigret's Memoirs" really belongs in the novel check- list because it is not in any real sense a novel but rather a literary conceit in which Simenon pretends to be Maigret himself writing and reminiscing about his acquaintance with Simenon and merely referring in passing to a number of cases, some of which seem recognisable from the novels. No actual case is pursued or solved. It is also very short. With great appreciation of your excellent website, Regards, Rod Ball Thanks, Rod. "Maigret's Christmas: Nine Stories" was the title of the Harcourt collection published in 1992, so there's little we can do about that except maybe regret it. Apparently "Nine Stories" was dropped from the title of the later Harcourt edition. As for "Maigret's Memoirs" there's no doubt that it's a unique item in the Maigret corpus, and maybe in literature as a whole. (cf Murielle's Maigret of the Month article on Memoirs. Of course, what you say is true - it isn't a mystery story at all... but since the most convenient grouping of the Maigrets is the simple division into two - novels and stories - it winds up with the former by default... since it can hardly be omitted! ST

[translation] Maigret of the Month: Maigret au Picratt's (Maigret in Montmartre / Inspector Maigret and the Strangled Stripper) 1/15/07 – 1. Introduction of the characters Simenon utilizes a very elegant process to bring us into contact with the world of Picratt's – at the opening of the novel, the policeman Jussiaume, witness to Arlette's exit, provides our view. Through his eyes, we discover the characters of Picratt's... silhouettes descending into the night, details to be filled in later... "the boss, short and fat" - Fred Alfonsi "a silhouette that looked like a kid" - the Grasshopper "two men, one carrying a saxophone case" - the musicians "another man" - the waiter, Désiré "a woman in a light-colored fur coat" - Tania "the last two, always together" - Betty and Arlette 2. Arlette, the "little night-bird" The whole story is haunted by two characters – on the one hand the stripper, Arlette, and on the other, the mysterious Oscar. Arlette, the central character of the novel, is first presented to us in a quick sketch... physical (golden hair, lots of make-up, black satin dress) and personal (she had drunk too much, she seemed like a frightened child). Then, very quickly, we see her through the eyes of those she encounters, the contrasting relationships with each of them. The Sergent of the station house sees in her just "someone who takes her clothes off". With Lucas she presents herself more aggressively, and is someone he'd like to be rid of. Only Maigret sensed something else, and the first glance he gave her was already "a curious look". He even smiled at the retorts she tossed back at Lucas. After her death, it's still through the eyes of others that we will discover her – Lapointe, then Fred Alfonsi, then all the characters she came into contact with at Picratt's. This is a character filled with nuance, who will reveal herself to be both the personification of the stripper, with her powerfully erotic side (consider particularly the numerous mentions of her "woman's scent", the descriptions of her nudity, and the reports of those who had made love to her), and at the same time a young person, almost still a child, rebelling against her past and her family origins. Maigret sensed well the duality of her character... "Rarely had he met a woman giving so strong an impression of sexuality, in contrast to her look of a frightened little girl". Maigret's entire investigation will consist of tracing Arlette's past, questioning all those who'd known her, to try to understand to truth of this woman, and why she had become a stripper. At the same time, the discovery of Arlette's past will allow the Chief Inspector to work out the personality of her killer, the enigmatic Oscar... Complete article original French Murielle Wenger

Speaking of Maigret 2/1/07 – I've been reading some of James Melville's Inspector Otani mysteries, and noticed on the cover of "A Haiku for Hanae (1989)" the blurb "The Japanese answer to Maigret - a sheer delight." (The Observor). Jerome pointed out (in January, 2001) that Melville mentions Maigret in his "Wages of Zen" (1979). (He mentions Nero Wolfe and Hercule Poirot in "A Haiku for Hanae", but not Maigret.) Now I've spotted this Simenon reference in "The Reluctant Ronin (1988)": There beside a stack of old circulars from the National Police Agency, an ancient dictionary and a Japanese translation of Monsieur Monde Vanishes by Georges Simenon was a neat pile of newspapers with that day's Mainichi Shimbun on top. (Fawcett, p.98) (2/2) And this for Maigret, in "The Bogus Buddha" (1990) : "Even Professor Leclerc's started making sour remarks about Inspector Hara. Referring to him as Inspector Maigret and suggesting he might make better progress if he tried smoking a pipe." (Scribners, p.140) Inspector Otani himself is a mystery fan, and he does remind me of Maigret... ST

New Simenon Book 2/3/07 –I've been visiting your site for a couple of years now and want to say thank you for a fantastic Maigret/Simenon resource. This is the first time I've contributed; I hope it's of interest to the forum. I work in a bookshop and whilst trawling through the new books in print list I found details of a new Simenon (not Maigret) book in translation. 'Les Trois Crimes de mes Amis' written in 1938 is being published by Hesperus Press (publishing date of 26/01/07) with the title of 'Three Crimes'. ISBN 9781843914211, with a price £7.99. Here is a link to the website: www.hesperuspress.com. Here is the blurb from the site: 'Three Crimes marks the first translation into English of a thrilling and ultimately true story of murder and misdemeanour from the creator of Maigret. Based on his own experiences, Simenon tells of a period in his youth when he was befriended by three men. Unbeknownst to him, these three would go on to commit a series of wholly reprehensible crimes, leaving behind the innocence of their childhood. Yet it was only by chance that these travesties inspired Simenon to become a crime writer rather than tread the path of evil himself.' For all of those who enjoy French crime fiction, I've found a new publishing company which publishes new French fiction in translation. Gallic Books www.gallicbooks.com is publishing it's first two titles in May 2007. 'The Chatelet Apprentice' by Jean-Francois Parot and 'The Murder on the Eiffel Tower' by Claude Izner are both crime fiction titles and are the first books in two new series of period Parisian thrillers. The detective in 'The Chatelet Apprentice' is described thus; 'A new Maigret is born: Nicolas Le Floch' Madame Figaro I've read all of the Fred Vargas, Pierre Magnan, Sebastian Japrisot and Daniel Pennac backlist in translation and am always on the lookout for new French crime and detection titles. Hope these are good reads. Keep up the good work! Many thanks, Sarah Preston

"The Simenon Year" in Le Soir, Feb. 12, 2003 2/4/07 – Le Soir magazine February 12, 2003 N° 3686, pp 8-14, 32-33 The father of Maigret would be 100 today The Simenon Year Simenonville remembers... Simenon in Paris A star never honored An immense œuvre Simenon in the Pléiade The treasures of the Simenon Collection Intimate memoirs of a son His final residence A life of breaks and changes On the menu of the Simenon Festival Simenon's production They all played Maigret At the movies, 57 films original French A baker's dozen of short articles from Le Soir's issue marking the Simenon Year - Simenon's birth centenary, and the Expo commemorating him at Liege... on a much smaller scale than their 1989 All Simenon issue at his death. Le Soir maintained a Simenon website throughout 2003, with dozens of articles and reviews. I've managed to restore much of it via the Internet Archives, and it's available here (in French). ST

Maigret of the Month: Maigret en meublé (Maigret rents a room / Maigret takes a room) 2/6/07 – Here are some photos from the Rue Lhomond, and the butcher's in the Rue Mouffetard... Regards Jerome

Which was the first Maigret? 2/6/07 – I want to start to read the Maigret novels and am wondering which was the first one? best, Gill Scott Looks like an easy quesion, but a lot of ink has flowed already trying to answer it. I suppose Simenon's "official" response would be "Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett". Anyone want to try a more detailed response? Would that be your choice for the Maigret to start with? ST

Which Maigret to Read First? (Which was the first Maigret? 2/6/07) 2/7/07 – 1. Which was the first Maigret? [translation] Comme le dit Steve, on a beaucoup écrit à propos des débuts du commissaire Maigret. Si Simenon a donné une version officielle sur la naissance de son personnage, on sait que les choses ne sont pas aussi simples, et le mieux est de vous renvoyer à l'article de Menguy et Deligny. En résumé, le personnage de Maigret fait son apparition dans ce que les spécialistes ont appelé les proto-Maigret, à savoir "Train de nuit", "La jeune fille aux perles", "La femme rousse" et "La maison de l'inquiétude". Le premier roman de Maigret que Simenon a signé de son vrai nom est "Pietr-le-Letton", mais le premier qu'il a publié est "Monsieur Gallet, décédé" (dont le lancement fut fait à grand fracas à l'occasion du bal anthropométrique). Ceci nous amène à la seconde question, car on peut effectivement se demander si la meilleure façon de découvrir Maigret est de suivre l'ordre chronologique, ou alors de choisir une autre façon d'aborder le monde de notre commissaire. 2. Would that be your choice (i.e. LET) for the Maigret to start with? A mon avis, il n'y pas qu'une seule façon possible d'aborder Maigret, mais au contraire nous avons le choix entre plusieurs possibilités, que je vais vous proposer ici: a) 1ère façon: si on désire connaître l'évolution à la fois chronologique et psychologique du personnage de Maigret, sans doute faut-il choisir la voie "classique", c'est-à-dire lire le premier roman où apparaît le commissaire; et encore avons-nous le choix de le faire en ne prenant en compte que le cycle "officiel", et donc commencer par "Pietr-le-Letton", ou alors travailler de façon plus "érudite" et découvrir le personnage dans sa version "rudimentaire" des proto-Maigret. Mais personnellement, je ne choisirais probablement pas cette façon de faire, et je crois que pour bien entrer dans le monde de Maigret, je commencerais par un autre roman, où le commissaire est déjà plus "semblable à lui-même". D'où les possibilités suivantes: b) 2e façon: commencer par un roman de la "période Gallimard", lorsque Simenon, qui croyait pouvoir abandonner son personnage, revint à celui-ci presque "malgré lui". Les six romans de la période Gallimard (à savoir CEC, MAJ, JUG, SIG, CAD et FEL) sont parmi mes préférés, et ils évoquent à merveille le monde du commissaire. Nous avons donc le choix: soit commencer par "Les caves du Majestic", le premier en date de ce cycle, soit par "Cécile est morte", qui résume à lui seul l'"atmosphère" caractéristique de ces romans: importance du temps qu'il fait, évocation d'une foule de personnages, description de la PJ, etc. Ce n'est sans doute pas un hasard si le premier "Maigret" de la série avec Jean Richard à avoir été tourné est "Cécile est morte", qui est un peu comme un condensé de ce que l'on peut découvrir dans le cycle des Maigret. c) 3e façon: mais on peut aussi être d'avis que le "plus authentique" des Maigret est celui de la période "Presses de la Cité", le plus important des cycles en nombre de romans, et celui où Simenon va mettre de plus en plus de lui-même dans le personnage. Comme l'écrit Lacassin (in "Métamorphoses de Maigret", dossier établi pour "Maigret entre en scène", paru chez Omnibus): "Les amateurs de romans strictement policiers […] préfèrent les Maigret de la cuvée Fayard. Les amateurs de Simenon préfèrent la cuvée Presses de la Cité." As Steve said, much has been written about the debut of Chief Inspector Maigret. While Simenon has given an official version of the birth of his character, we know that things are not so simple, and best is to refer to the article by Menguy and Deligny. In brief, the character Maigret made his appearance in what the specialists call the "proto-Maigrets" – "Train de nuit" [Night Train], "La jeune fille aux perles" [The Girl with the Pearls], "La femme rousse" [The Red-head] and "La maison de l'inquiétude". [The House of Anxiety]. The first Maigret novel that Simenon signed with his true name was "Pietr-le-Letton" (Maigret and the Enigmatic Left), but the first which was published was "Monsieur Gallet, décédé" (The Death of Monsieur Gallet) (the launching of which caused such a sensation on the occasion of the Anthropometric Ball). This leads us to the second question, because we can effectively ask whether the best way to discover Maigret is to follow the chronological order, or to choose some other fashion of approaching the world of our Chief Commissioner. 2. Would that be your choice (i.e. LET) for the Maigret to start with? In my opinion, there is not just one possible manner of approaching Maigret, but rather we have a choice among a number of possibilities, which I will propose to you here: a) 1st way: If you'd like to trace the evolution, both chronological and psychological, of the character Maigret, no doubt you should choose the "classical" path, that is, to begin with the first novel in which Maigret appears , in which case we have the choice of beginning with the "official" cycle, and so starting with "Pietr-le-Letton", or to work in a manner more "erudite" and discovering the character in his "rudimentary" version in the proto-Maigrets. Personally, however, I would probably not choose this way of proceeding, and I believe that to best enter into the world of Maigret, I would begin with a different novel, where the Chief Inspector is already more "like himself". Which leads us to the following possibilities: b) 2nd way: To start with a novel from the "Gallimard period", when Simenon, who'd thought he'd be able to abandon his characrer, returned to him almost "in spite of himself". The six novels of the Gallimard period (CEC, MAJ, JUG, SIG, CAD and FEL) are among my favorites, and they evoke marvelously the world of the Chief Inspector. So we have a choice: to start with "Les caves du Majestic", the earliest in date of the cycle, or with "Cécile est morte", which typifies by itself the characteristic "atmosphere" of these novels: the importance of the weather, the presence of a crowd of characters, description of the PJ, etc. It's no doubt not an accident that the first "Maigret" of the Jean Richard series was "Cécile est morte", which is a little like a condensation of what can be found in the Maigret cycle. c) 3rd way: But we might also consider that the "most authentic" Maigret is that of the "Presses de la Cité period", the most important of the cycles in number of novels, and where Simenon puts more and more of himself into the character. As Lacassin put it (in ["The metamorphoses of Maigret", a survey developed for "Maigret steps on stage"], from Omnibus): "The lovers of strictly detective stories … prefer the Maigrets of the Fayard vintage. Those who are Simenon fans, prefer the Presses de la Cité vintage." continued   in English   en français Murielle Wenger

Which Maigret to Read First? (Which was the first Maigret? 2/6/07) 2/8/07 – In response to Gill Scott, I have a suggestion. I apologize not not giving a fully detailed response, but I didn't think to write the information down as I read the books. I would start with Maigret's First Case, which played out in 1913 and goes foward in time from there. The ending point would be Maigret and the Loner, which played out in 1965. This is a chronological order of a different sort. OK, I know that the dates the stories played out in are not directly mentioned in most of the stories. For that handicap, it is still possible to get a general time period for each story from things mentioned in them. I'm refering to the lack of police cars, policemen wearing capes and riding bicycles, long distance calls having to be placed through an operator ("Please don't cut me off, mademoiselle...") the existence of trams/streetcars in Paris, steam locomotives, references to Maigret's wardrobe and other little clues such as makes of cars that no longer existed in later years. I don't think the exact order is as important as getting the stories' settings into a general order that reflects a progression by at least decade. With some of the stories, it won't be possbile even to do that with any great certainty. All the same, I think this would make an interesting project for the members to work on. I see that Jerome is taking over some of my photographic duties in Paris. I guess I need to spend rather less time at Paris Jazz Corner and Jussieu Jazz (secondhand music shops, I prefer the first) and get some more locations done. Regards, Joe

Maigret and the Early Talking Pictures 2/8/07 – The fact that despite the initial success of Georges Simenon’s Maigret novels, only three films based on them were made, stems from the distaste he developed for the film industry. This is not unique; other authors have come away with the same feelings after their first contacts with it. To the end of his life Erle Stanley Gardner would fume about the seven films made by Warner Brothers in the 30s that he felt made a mockery of his books. Agatha Christie, though her reactions to the earliest adaptations never seem to have been recorded, would in the 60s say "Don’t talk to me about film rights! It makes my blood boil!"  Compared with the changes to the works of these authors, the alterations inflicted on Simenon in these early films seem very slight indeed, so it is very difficult today to understand what the fuss was all about. Unlike the above mentioned writers, whose creations were changed almost beyond recognition: Perry Mason into a wisecracking drunk and Miss Marple (in the guise of Margaret Rutherford) into a comical old woman, Maigret remained more or less the same as in the novels.  In his biography of Simenon, Pierre Assouline found that it was more Simenon’s lack of control over the projects that caused his animosity to the film industry than the films themselves. In fact, the film he disliked the most, "Le Chien Jaune", was the one in which he seemingly had no input whatsoever. In the case of "La tête d’un homme" he was originally supposed to write the script, a fact he made sure was widely publicised, but in the end another man finished the project. This is not very surprising if one takes into consideration that these films were made at the height of the depression. The producers understandably had little patience with enthusiastic amateurs who, if left to themselves, could cause enormous damage, especially an author who seems to have been so much in love with his work as Simenon. After this, Simenon’s pride was so wounded that he refused to have any of his books filmed for seven years, which is more our loss than his as he seemingly was well paid.  In fact, it would not be until the 1980s that changes similar to the ones earlier brought on Gardner and Christie would be made to Maigret in a perfectly awful TV-film starring Richard Harris. At this point, ironically, Simenon had lost all interest and did not care about any changes, however fundamental.  Two of these early efforts, "La Nuit de Carrefour" and "Le Chien Jaune" were briefly released on VHS in the 90s, shortly before the DVD takeover, and I was lucky enough to get hold of them.  Much has been written about "La Nuit de Carrefour", the first film made based on a Simenon novel – concerning an alleged missing reel which was supposedly lost or never filmed at all. After having seen the film, however, I very much doubt this. True, my French is not very good, but it seems to me that the film has a clear beginning, middle and end, and all the main characters are there. Could it be that the difficulty in understanding the film is due to the source novel? I know this might be a controversial view, but in some of the early novels it is rather difficult to understand just how Maigret actually arrives at the solution, and "La Nuit de Carrefour" is one of these. In a book the author can also describe and explain the actions and describe the thoughts of the characters, whereas in films (and especially in early talkies like this) there is not much more for the director to do than follow a script that is much more limited.  The strength of these early films is that they show us a France that is long gone; they give us a fascinating glimpse of small towns in the 30s. The crossroads with its garage is well used and the rainy and windswept landscape combined with the gloomy interiors do the rest to create an atmospheric piece of cinema.  The film starts with the discovery of the murdered diamond merchant in the garage and then we are taken to Maigret’s office like in the book. Our introduction to the very first cinematic Maigret (Pierre Renoir, brother of the director) comes when a young waiter comes to deliver sandwiches and beer during the interrogation of Karl Andersen. Through the door we see the back of Renoir who is fiddling with his stove – this is a Maigret who is quite true to Simenon. In order to show the passing of time the director uses a newspaper vendor’s kiosk where customers ask for first Le Matin, then Le Midi and finally Le Soir. We are never shown any faces.  It would take too long to describe the film in detail, but it follows the novel quite closely and as mentioned before, all the main incidents and characters are there, even the doctor in the dress coat. The motive of the killer is even expanded upon and made clearer than in the book. So much for the film being hopelessly confusing.  A word about the actors: Pierre Renoir is quite similar to Simenon’s creation: taciturn, calm and with a pipe clenched between his teeth. The mysterious Danish siblings are played by Georges Koudria (who seems to have disappeared into obscurity almost immediately) and Winna Winifried (or Winfried) – they actually have some dialogue in Danish. Winifried was Danish herself and just like her partner she seems to have vanished completely from the screen after 1940. The rest of the cast seems largely to have been made up of unknown actors.   Next Time: The previously promised review of "Le Chien Jaune". Mattias Siwemyr

Behind the scenes at the police 2/8/07 – [translation] Following the invaluable information provided by Jérôme (Forum, Nov. 19, 2006), I was able to get a copy of Simenon"s book, "[My apprenticeship: articles 1931-1946]" (Omnibus),where the author tells, among other things, of his visits to the Quai des Orfèvres. These texts are very interesting, and just to make your mouth water, I'd like to present you here with an extract from "Behind the scenes at the police", 12 articles published in January and February 1934 in Paris-Soir. This is taken from the beginning of the third article, "From the Detective Novel to Reality". We note here, once more, the finesse of the humor so characteristic of Simenon... "On January 24, at noon, three armed individuals burst into the premises of the Baruch Bank, threatening the employees, wounding one, and fleeing with the contents of the safe, some 135,000 francs. What would happen in a detective novel? Chief Inspector Maigret would arrive at the scene, ponderous and secretive, smoke a dozen pipes, send for beer and sandwiches, and finally leave, hands in the pockets of his overcoat. Over the course of three days and three nights, we'd follow him into bistros, lodgings, into the streets, always smoking, drinking more and more beer, waiting to place his heavy hand on the shoulder of his prey, sighing, "The jig is up, my boy!" Sherlock Holmes, accompanied by Doctor Watson, would take some measurements, scrape together 3 grains of dust, and shut himself up in his Baker Street apartment, then play the violin for a few hours, finally stopping to declare, "At least one of the robbers, 5'9" tall, with two gold teeth, lived in 1913 between the 22nd and 13th degree of latitude north. Another is divorced. The third has sensitive feet. I'm going to tell you how things happen - and I can add, how they always happen, in reality. Of course we begin by interviewing M. Baruch, who states, "I believe the robbers spoke with a Yugoslav accent." Another employee or two repeat, "They had Yugoslav accents." But the cashier was right there, and he affirms forcefully, "They were speaking Hungarian to each other! I'm sure! I know the language!" This doesn't look like much, but you'll see! Six thousand Hungarian suspects, more or less, living in Paris and the suburbs, are known to the Prefecture of Police. 6,000 files are thus carefully checked. Women, old men and children are set aside, and there remain, in the first sifting, 600 Hungarians capable of having hit the Baruch Bank. And the whereabouts of these individuals on the day of the robbery have to be verified! Do you have any idea what that represents? 600 men of all social levels, living all over the place! And our inspectors, who are not reimbursed if they go by taxi, go from one address to another. Are you still laughing now, speaking of their hob-nailed boots? "I was in such-and-such a café!" responds a Hungarian. Now, his alibi has to be verified, checked with the patron, the customers. "Me, I was in such-and-such a store." The saleswoman is of course on her day off, and there's nothing to be done but to come back tomorrow. That takes three days, during which time there's a certain emptiness at the Quai des Orfèvres. And then they learn that the cashier was wrong, that M. Baruch was right – the bandits weren't Hungarians, but Yugoslavs, and everything has to start all over. " original French Murielle

1959 filming of "Simenon" in Jours de France 2/12/07 – Jours de France   (N° 251) September 5, 1959, p 56-57 Simenon plays Simenon: first photos of the filming reporting : RAPHO-DALAIN original French This two-page spread is essentially three photos and a brief text about the making of the 1959 short (23 min) film "Simenon" by Jean-François Hauduroy. This is the second article we've seen here on the making of the film. The first, lengthier, from the 9-10-59 L'Illustré appeared on the Forum in May, 2004. I don't have much more on the finished film itself. Anyone? The imdb shows: Simenon (1959) directed by Jean-François Hauduroy written by Jean-François Hauduroy cast: Paul Meurisse .... Récitant/Narrator (voice) Georges Simenon .... himself Michel Simon .... himself original music by Philippe Arthuys cinematography by Guy Delattre, Pierre Goupil ST

Maigret of the Month: Maigret en meublé (Maigret Takes a Room / Maigret Rents a Room) 2/15/07 – 1. The movies and escargots, or: Maigret's "infidelities" We learn in Ch. 1 that Mme Maigret is away from Paris, at the bedside of her sister who is going to have an operation. This absence of his wife will weigh on Maigret's conduct throughout the novel. Not only because he doesn't like to find himself alone in his apartment, which seems so empty to him, "almost foreign", without the reassuring and indispensable presence of Mme Maigret, but also because without her, the Chief Inspector feels himself more exposed to temptations. While the conjugal fidelity of Maigret is proverbial (cf. the article by Jouanny), the Chief Inspector is nevertheless prey to temptations, and these can take the symbolic form of... gastronomic infidelity ("His wife doesn't like escargots. He rarely eats them. He decides to treat himself to them that evening, so as to 'take advantage' of her absence". Or a breaking of a family custom (Maigret decides to go to the movies without his wife, whereas they usually go together: "I'll take advantage of it and go to the movies, he'd answered." and later: "Up to the movies, which made him feel almost guilty to enter alone."). But all that leads the Chief Inspector, well in spite of himself, into the path of temptations more "carnal": "A woman stared at him pointedly, and he almost blushed, for she seemed to have guessed that he was temporarily a bachelor. Was she waiting, her too, for him to take advantage of the opportunity?" 2. Mlle Clément, or: the substitute for Mme Maigret We can ask ourselves whether the connection created between Mlle Clément and Maigret isn't also on the level of those "infidelities"... Consider the end of Ch. 2, when Maigret, installed at Mlle Clément's, receives a phone call from his wife: "And, like the night before on the boulevards, he was a little embarrassed, feeling almost guilty.". In Ch 3, Maigret telephones Lucas, who asks him "You're still at Mlle Clément's? Did you sleep well?" There was no mockery in Lucas's voice, but the Chief Inspector made a face nonetheless. In Ch. 4: Maigret said to Lucas: "If there's anything new, phone me. – At Mlle Clément's? You'd think that at moments like that the Chief Inspector was touchier than usual. He gave Lucas a nasty look, as if he suspected him of sarcasm. – At Mlle Clément's, yes!". In fact, I think that paradoxically, there was nothing to it, and that Mlle Clément would simply, in reality, take on the role which Mme Maigret couldn't fill because of her absence: she unpacked Maigret's bag, brought him his coffee in the morning, got him a beer in the evening, which he passed in tête-à-tête with her ("It was a curious sensation to be there, in an armchair, a little like being at home" Ch. 2). And very soon, Simenon's description of her makes us think of a double for Mme Maigret, "a sort of Mme Maigret, a Mme Maigret who didn't have a man to take care of, and who consoled herself by pampering her lodgers" (Ch. 2). Like Mme Maigret, she has a comforting stoutness, a cheerful character, and she also knits. It's almost without reservation, or at any rate without the feeling of guilt which he'd felt at first, that Maigret finds himself at her side during the night in the scene in the kitchen. Despite the fact of her being in chemise, and Maigret in his trousers, suspenders on his thighs, with no jacket, the scene is for him only "very amusing", without equivocation... And Maigret will retain a "maternal" image of Mlle Clément: "I thank you for your care and kindness" he says to her on leaving (end of Ch. 8). continued in English   original French Murielle Wenger

Maigret in Polish 2/18/07 – Another previously-unpublished-in-Polish Maigret has appeared - Rewolwer Maigreta (Maigret's Revolver). Suprisingly, it was published by Wydawnictwo Dolnosląskie - a publisher which had decided to no longer publish Maigrets. Luckily they changed their policy! best regards, Przemek

Simenon story: "The Missing Finger" 2/20/07 – I am trying to track down an allusion in a Samuel Beckett text and I am interested in a Simenon story called "The Missing Finger" that appeared in Lilliput magazine in [Jan] 1948. Have you heard of it and do you know where I might get a copy of the tale? Cordially, David Hatch 2/23 - Thank you Simon and Steve for your generous and timely help with this matter. - DH

French film reference site Tout Maigret - 75th Anniversary site 2/21/07 – Some links in French Searching for Maigret on BiFi brings some results and references to journals like "Maigret à Pigalle / Jean-Louis Comolli. - [1] p., p. 73. In Cahiers du cinéma, n° 192, juillet-août 1967." For movies, the list of actors seems very complete (40 to 50), possibly useful to complete or find some new reference... For the 75th Anniversary of the Maigret novels, Omnibus is publishing "Tout Maigret" in 10 volumes... the first volumes released 15th February, and the remaining during 2007. The for-the-occasion Tout Maigret website looks very interesting, with many pictures of old covers and postcards. And there's a small competition about Maigret but with only three easy questions... Jerome And Murielle noted this article by Francis Matthys at lalibre.be along with the Tout Maigret site, "which appears to be by Michel Carly"....

Inconsistencies 2/23/07 – I have just started re-reading "Maigret at the Crossroads" and can't help noticing a lack of logic of the kind I have spotted elsewhere in these stories. In the 1963 Penguin at page 19 Maigret saw "a little man walking along the road...a pipe between his teeth..." Then on the next page the man turns to Maigret and offers him a cigarette. Now I know it is possible but, having been a pipe smoker in my youth, I know that I didn't carry a packet of cigarettes--in fact I hardly ever bought them at that time. I have noticed similar lapses of "continuity" detail in other Maigret stories and wonder if they can be attributed to the speed with which Simenon worked. Did he read over his work before submitting it? Did his editors look for these details? Paul Thomas

Two Dutch Maigrets Kees Brusse Jan Teulings 2/25/07 – Finally some light has been shed on the Dutch Maigret mystery. For some reason it has been impossible to find any information on the net about the series with Jan Teulings (not Teuling_ as many sources insist). That there was such a series is only fleetingly mentioned. Then the name Kees Brusse that noone seemingly had heard of turned up on the Internet Movie Database and confused Maigretophiles everywhere. Well, today while surfing this site [imdb], I found that someone (God bless his/her heart) had finally submitted information about a Kees Brusse series. It turns out that this was in fact based on the teleplays for the Rupert Davies series which is not as strange as it may seem. The Germans, for example, made their own Sherlock Holmes-series and Francis Durbridge-serials the same way. Anyway, the Dutch series is said to have been made 1964-68, which probably means that Teulings took over after Brusse. I have found the following instalments: Maigret en de kruidenier (29 January 1964) [Maigret at the Grocer's] Maigret en de inbrekersvrouw (23 October 1964) Le voleur Paresseux? De moedwillige vergissing (20 November 1964) Une erreur de Maigret? Moord op Montmartre (18 December 1964) Maigret au Picratt's Maigret op kamers (26 February 1965) Maigret en meublé De vriendin van mevrouw Maigret (26 March 1965) L'amie de Madame Maigret Perhaps someone can shed some light on the unidentified sources? Mattias Siwemyr Once again, fine detective work by Mattias. I'd guess two different sources for the (?) titles though - for Maigret en de inbrekersvrouw: Maigret et la Grande Perche (Maigret and the Burglar's Wife), and for De moedwillige vergissing: Maigret se trompe (Maigret's Mistake). [Maigret at the Grocer's] remains a mystery title if it's actually based on a Maigret in the corpus... it's not even similar to any of the (very creative) Rupert Davies episode titles... ST

Dutch Series Titles 2/27/07 – I think the source of Maigert en de kruidenier is "Maigret and the Flemish Shop." This shop sold provisions to passing bargemen and it was run by a Flemish family. Some of the passing barges would have been from Flanders and Holland so I would expect that this story was a natural choice for a Maigret TV program to be shown in Holland. From my pretty elementary knowledge of Dutch, Steve's choices for the other two unknown titles seem correct. Regards, Joe 2/26/07 – Of course "Maigret en de inbrekersvrouw" is based on "Maigret et la grande perche", sorry! The title in English translation is "Maigret and the Burglar's Wife" and the same scriptwriter, Roger East, is listed for both episodes. Mattias

Maigret of the Month: Maigret en meublé (Maigret Takes a Room / Maigret Rents a Room) 2/27/07 – Having completed Maigret au Picratt’s on the 8th of December 1950, Georges Simenon, about ten weeks later, followed this novel with another Maigret entitled Maigret en meublé which he completed on the 21st February 1951. There are several parallel factors linking both these Maigret novels, apart from the locations being in Paris. In the first novel, the young Inspector Lapointe is emotionally involved with the first victim, Arlette, the striptease artiste working in Picratt’s nightclub. In the second, another of Maigret’s close colleagues, Inspector Janvier, is shot and seriouly wounded whilst on duty keeping watch on a boarding house. When Maigret takes over the investigations in both cases, he decides to leave his office on the Quai des Orfèvres in order to immerse himself at the centre of the crime scene. In Maigret au Picratt’s, he spends some time in the nightclub questioning the people who work there, whereas in Maigret en meublé he moves into the boarding house. Another link between the two novels is that there emerges two enigmatic male characters, although their identity and their part in the investigation does not come to light until near the end. Off duty, Maigret is much on his own as his wife is visiting her sister who is about to have an operation in Alsace. It is when he is preparing for bed that he receives a phone call from Torrence to inform him that Inspector Janvier has been shot whilst on duty in the Rue Lhomond on the left bank in the fifth arrondissement and has been taken to the nearby Cochin hospital. At the hospital, having ascertained Janvier’s condition and welfare, Maigret takes on the investigation completely. Inspector Janvier had been put in charge of an investigation involving a couple of young men who had robbed a small nightclub of the night’s takings. A boarding house in the Rue Lhomond had been identified as the hideout of one of the men, hence the surveillance of the establishment. Having moved into the boarding house in the Rue Lhomond, Maigret proceeds to investigate thoroughly his environment. Simenon takes the opportunity to explore and concentrate on a few characters, the main one being Maigret himself, where the Chief Inspector characteristics are brought to light during the course of his investigation. There is the rapport with the boarding house lodgers — more a community — the persistant pouring over his notebook when he reaches an impasse and the frustration the goes with it, his disturbed sleep and occasionally “escape” to the bistro down the street for the odd drink — chracteristics that are more stated than in some of the other novels. The boarding house is run by the tall and fat Mademoiselle Clément who outwardly seems to have a diposition of contentment with her boarders, and then later Maigret’s attention is gradually focused on the house opposite and Madame Boursicault who is mainly confined to her bed. It is an investigation that ends far removed from the beginning with the nightclub robbery. The only English translation is by Robert Brain who follows Simenon’s French text faithfully. The map shows the Rue Lhomond on the Left bank with the nearby Rue Mouffetard where there is a long established market (Michelin, Atlas Paris par arrondissements, 1989). Peter Foord UK

Maigret of the Month: Maigret en meublé (Maigret Takes a Room / Maigret Rents a Room) 3/4/07 – "Maigret en Meuble": one of my favorite Maigrets, and one I've read over and over. Simenon accurately reports the concerns (though minor) of a faithful husband whose wife is away. In a way it's amazing that an author who himself was not at all faithful to the marriage bond got it so right. As for the mysterious relatives of Mme. Maigret, my feeling is she had only one sister (though didn't she also have a brother?). Any discrepancies are just errors of memory on Simenon/Sims' part. Oz Childs

Article about Maigret... 3/6/07 – Last week, in the French newspaper "La Croix", there was an article about Maigret with an interview of Michel Carly... at: www.la-croix.com Jerome

Maigret and the Elements 3/9/07 – [translation] Maigret and the Elements by Murielle Wenger original French "It was raining. The weather was grey and mild." (Madame Maigret's Friend, Ch. 9) 1. Introduction In this study, I'd like to analyze Maigret's relationship with the weather. We know how important the weather is for our Chief Inspector's moods, and the importance he attaches to the elements at the time of his investigations. At least that's the feeling we get after reading several Maigrets, but what exactly is the place of meteorology in the novels, what is the weather that Maigret encounters most often, which season is evoked most, how does Simenon describe the seasons, a particular month of the year... Such are the questions to which I'd like to provide some response. Once more, I've ranged through the corpus, attempting an analysis of the Maigret cycles at a time quantitative, statistical and semantic. I hope that you, dear Maigretphile friends, will find in reading this study as much pleasure as I've had in researching it... 2. Season of writing and season of the action "Simenon had no memory for dates, as he himself recognized. But he retained a precise recall of circumstances, seasons and atmosphere down to the least detail: colors, odors, lighting…" (Lacassin in "Métamorphoses de Maigret", an essay written for the [1999] Omnibus edition, "Maigret entre en scène" [Maigret takes the stage]). We can, justly, it seems to me, wonder about the influence of the season in which Simenon wrote a novel, on the season chosen for the action of the novel itself, so much does the weather described in the Maigrets play an important role in the unfolding of the investigation. In other words, is the season selected by Simenon for a novel dependent on the season in which it was written? Is it the same? Or on the contrary does he select a season unlike that in which he lives, in a sort of nostalgia for a past season? To answer this question, we have to examine the corpus. For this study I have only included the novels, ignoring the stories, considering the quantity of these to be representative. I've included 74 novels, leaving aside Maigret's Memoirs (which is a unique enough case since it's not limited to the telling of a single investigation), and Maigret's Christmas, whose length hovers between that of a novel and a story (cf. the study by Steve Trussel). Here is a graph summarizing this analysis: correspondence between the writing and the action We can conclude from this analysis that the season of the writing has a clear influence on the season of the action of the novel, but with some nuances... - of the 14 novels written in autumn, 7 (50%) take place in autumn. The remaining novels occur mainly in the summer, as if the memory of the season just gone by influenced the novelist's writing. - of the 16 written in the spring, 13 (76%) take place in the spring. It's apparently more difficult for Simenon to impose on his Chief Inspector another season when he is living in springtime, probably his favorite season (see below)… - for the 27 novels written in winter, the division is more equal... 10 novels (38%) take place in winter, 8 (31%) in spring, and 7 (26%) in autumn. Winter seems to have less influence on the author than the other seasons. - of the 17 novels written in the summer, 10 (58%) take place in summer. Here the season of the writing has a double influence, since none of the novels written in the summer are set in the winter, the most distant season and perhaps more difficult to describe when you are living in the midsummer heat… Complete article original French Murielle Wenger

Maigret of the Month: Maigret et la Grande Perche (Maigret and the Burglar's Wife) 3/11/07 – Simenon completed this Maigret novel at his home in Connecticut on the 8th of May 1951. In his office on the Quai des Orfèvres, Maigret receives a visit and request from a certain Ernestine Jussiaume for an interview. When he meets her he finally recalls that she is a person from his early days in the police when as Ernestine Micou she played a trick on him when he tried to arrest her. Characteristically tall and thin, the "Grande Perche" of the title (literally "beanpole") for several years has been married to Alfred Jussiaume, a character known to the police with some affection as "Sad Freddie", who started his career working for an organisation that installed safes, but somewhere along the line he switched to become a safe breaker. His hope is that one day he will find sufficient money in a safe in order to retire into the countryside. The purpose of Ernestine's visit to Maigret is to inform him that in breaking into a house her husband discovered a dead body. The location of the house is in the Neuilly area of Paris in the Rue de la Ferme that runs parallel to the Boulevard Richard-Wallace. It was between 1936 and 1938 that Simenon rented an apartment in the Boulevard Richard-Wallace so that the area was very familiar to him. At first, with only Ernestine's statement, Maigret is sceptical and is reluctant to act, but then decides to visit the house in the Rue de la Ferme taking with him a colleague who has known "Sad Freddie" for some years. With only Ernestine's statement and no other information, Maigret meets the two people who live at the house, Guillaume Serre, in his fifties, who runs a dental practice from his home, and his seventy-eight year old mother. Maigret is left with no evidence of a crime being committed or of a burglary having taking place. What is intriguing about the whole investigation from Maigret's first visit to the Serre home is how he sets about gradually and patiently working away at as many aspects of the case with the help of some of his colleagues and later a forensic team led by Moers. The main aim becomes the whereabouts of Guillaume Serre's Dutch born wife who supposedly left the Rue de la Ferme to return to the Netherlands. Maigret explores and exploits as many leads as he can however tentative, interviewing the daily help Eugénie, contacting a Dutch friend of Serre's wife in order to place a missing person's statement, having the forensic team go over the house, garage and car, interrogating Guillaume Serre and his mother until he arrives at the truth. The English translation is by Julian Maclaren-Ross who stays close to Simenon's French text. Part of a map that shows both the Rue de la Ferme and the parallel Boulevard Richard-Wallace (Michelin, Paris Atlas 11, 2003). Simplified part of a map that indicates the position of Neuilly-sur-Seine to Paris, butting on to the northern border of the Bois de Boulogne (Michelin, Atlas Paris par arrondissements 15, 1989). Peter Foord UK

Maigret of the Month: Maigret et la Grande Perche (Maigret and the Burglar's Wife) 3/12/07 – Here are some pictures from rue de la Ferme... there is no more "hotel particulier" but a lot of small buildings, 3-4 stories tall, with luxury flats. You can see a general view of the street, but there are no more bars or pubs, no shops... it doesn't look like it did 50 or 70 years ago. facing the Bois de Boulogne "Horses and livestock not allowed on the sidewalk" - a sign on a nearby street Jerome

Maigret of the Month: Maigret et la Grande Perche (Maigret and the Burglar's Wife) 3/15/07 – [translation] 1. Discovery of a new milieu "At other times, one might have attributed different motives to him, wondered if he didn't take a more or less malicious pleasure in turning the house upside-down. They had seldom been given the chance of working in a home like this, where everything was peaceful and serene…where, after hours of exhaustive searching, they hadn't come across even one questionable detail." (Ch. 6) It's a constant to find in the Maigret cycle that the Chief Inspector has the occasion to enter into milieus which would normally be closed to him, that he can have access to certain social strata through the expedient of the investigation which he must lead. We recognize Simenon's ambition to know Man in all his forms and in all conditions, to discover, under the "varnish" of the social surface, the "naked man". We recall as well that Simenon had imagined, in his first popular novels, the character Jarry, who could take on any identity. Cf. this text often cited, "I had begun to do a character named Jarry [whose] sole ambition was to live a number of different lives – a refined Parisian in Paris, a wooden-shoed fisherman in Brittany… and then Maigret came along and supplanted him, and I see that he himself is a transposition of Jarry. But it is into the lives of others that he inserts himself for a moment." In his role as a policeman, Maigret has by definition the ability to meet people of very different social levels, and it is no doubt this idea which attracted Simenon when he chose an occupation for his character. Consider in this regard this extract from "Maigret and the Millionaires": "'A policeman – the ideal policeman – should feel at home in any surroundings.' Maigret had said this one day, and all his life he had striven to forget the surface differences between men, to scrape away the varnish and discover the naked human being under the various appearances." (Ch. 2) We have, in "Maigret and the Burglar's Wife", a particularly striking illustration of the Chief Inspector crossing the social strata. An old acquaintance of his, Ernestine, a streetwalker with whom he'd had a run-in long ago, comes to say that her husband, a safe-cracker, had discovered a woman's body in a well-to-do house in Neuilly. This will give Maigret the opportunity to both traverse the capital according to the "personal geography" that Simenon depicts of Paris – a geography which is also a function of the social grouping of its inhabitants ("According to the Chief Inspector, there is a necessary correspondence between the district, and thus the street, where a person lives, and his social status." Marco Modenesi, in "Streets, alleys, dead ends and boulevards: Maigret and the Parisian space") – and at the same time to enter into the surroundings of the wealthy class in which he often feels ill at ease. As we know, he has retained from his childhood as the son of the steward of a chateau, a certain "respect" with regard to those of the higher social classes, a respect which we might suspect to be mixed with a touch of envy, or at any rate a certain discomfort. And we might go so far as to say that he experiences a certain pleasure at "cracking the varnish of respectability", as Maigret says in MEM, of those in these elevated social strata. Examples abound in the corpus, but we will content ourselves to find that this intrusion into the closed world of the higher social classes – an almost perverse little pleasure for a Chief Inspector who himself is of the middle class – is not only a constant in the corpus, but a "habit" which Maigret has fallen into since his debut with the police, proof of which we can find in the Gendreau-Balthazar affair in "Maigret's First Case". In "Maigret and the Burglar's Wife", it's the milieu of the wealthy "good middle class" that Maigret will "tackle", this milieu dominated, according to Maigret-Simenon, by the cult of money and fortune, and where they will do anything to preserve this fortune. This theme is shared by many novels in the Maigret cycle, and in others outside the cycle. What's interesting here is the manner utilized by the novelist to insert his Chief Inspector into the milieu – if Maigret gets into the Neuilly house, it's in some sense through the intermediary of Ernestine, that is, a girl from the other end of the social scale. This is Simenon's opportunity to paint the contrasts between two worlds, symbolically represented by the districts the characters inhabit. On one side the private mansions of the Rue de la Ferme, "peaceful and provincial", paralleling Boulevard Richard-Wallace, and on the other the crowded square of Puteaux where Eugénie, the Serre's housemaid, lives. ("I selected a vast apartment on the boulevard Richard-Wallace… and had it furnished in a refined fashion by a decorator. … When I was bored, I crossed the bridge to rediscover Puteaux, its everyday people..." Simenon, in "Un homme comme un autre" [A man like any other], in "Mes Dictées" [My Dictations]), or the bistro on the Quai de Jemmapes where Ernestine lives. We note, for the record, that Maigret had investigated in an apartment on Boulevard Richard-Wallace in REV, and that he had "trudged" the length of the Saint-Martin Canal, Quai de Jemmapes and the Quai de Valmy, in COR... Complete article original French Murielle Wenger

French police ranks? 3/18/07 – Forgive me my ignorance. I have read many Maigrets but have not been able to definitively work out Lucas' relative rank in comparison to "the inspectors". In the UK a sergeant would be subordinate to an inspector, but Lucas does not seem to be so and indeed often appeears to co-ordinate them on behalf of Maigret. There are two models I think possible and I swing between one or the other depending on the circumstances in the individual texts: the "inspectors" are more closely equivalent to the UK detective constable and so Lucas is a detective sergeant and their senior. otherwise, his might be a position similar to that of a sergeant in the army, technically serving under the junior officers (inspectors) but remaining somewhat above them in terms of know-how and experience. It is hard to work out from the novels which of these models is the correct one - can someone please elucidate. Graeme Sutherland Coventry, England

Simenon at 57 3/19/07 – L'Écho de la Mode   (N° 39) Sept. 25, 1960, pp 8-9, 11     The Écho visits Simenon Jérôme Lefranc original French A little article about a brief visit to the Simenons' chateau in Enchandens in 1960, by a reporter from a French fashion magazine... I often enjoy these "little" articles more than the "major" retrospectives done on various anniversaries (like The Simenon Year last month). They give us a contemporary picture of a living Simenon, not yet totally shrouded in myth... for there he is in the flesh, greeting us at the station, smoking his pipe, his wife at home, children alive and well... ST

Simenon at 83 3/25/07 – Télé7Jours   (N° 1350) April 12-18, 1986 pp 58-59 Simenon tells of the birth of Maigret Patrick LeFort original French Another "little" article, this one from the April 1986 issue of Télé-7-jours, a weekly television guide magazine, which includes a brief retelling of the famous Delfzijl/Pietr anecdote of Maigret's origins. Although the article appears to be based on an interview, that's not stated, and as almost all the information had been previously published, it may actually have been compiled from archived material. ST

Maigret's Paris - Easter Tour! 3/27/07 – Fans of Maigret, Simenon and Paris! Having organized the third trip to Maigret's Paris, we will meet on Friday, April 6th, 2007, in Paris and have a closer look at Maigret and Simenon places. There will be six tours and we will also visit some quarters where you would probably not look for the author or his famous hero but definitely find their traces. Oliver Hahn (www.maigret.de) will join us. How about you? The price for six tours is 200 €, we will stay in a more than acceptable **-hotel. Have a look at the prices under www.hotelalhambra.fr. If you are interested in our journey I shall gladly stand by for closer information. Details are also available on www.maigret.de --> "Mit Maigret nach Paris". Translation of the article? Just tell me. Salutations d'Allemagne Régine Zweifel

Simenon's death at 86 in September 1989 Télérama 3/28/07 – KAREL/SYGMA     Simenon's pipe has gone out Monique Lefebvre original French A "quick-and-dirty" (some of the more obvious errors are noted) television-guide reaction to Simenon's death at 86 in Lausanne on September 4, 1989. From a weekly French television magazine, the September 16, 1989 issue of Télérama. ST

Maigret in Polish 3/28/07 – Next Maigret in Polish will be published April 14th: "Maigret w portowej kafejce" [Au Rendez-Vous des Terre-Neuvas]. Best wishes, Przemek

Simenon in Crossroads magazine 3/30/07 – Voici un article de 18 pages disponible dans le magazine Crossroads sur GEORGES SIMENON intitulé "LES FANTÔMES DE SIMENON". ici www.banditscompany.com. There's an 18-page article on Georges Simenon in the March 2007 issue of Crossroads, "LES FANTÔMES DE SIMENON" [Simenon's Ghosts], which can be seen here: www.banditscompany.com. cordialement, Cédric JANET

Simenon in Crossroads magazine 4/1/07 – I was able to buy a copy of the the March Crossroads magazine with the 18-page article on Simenon. It's a list of the books adapted as movies and those not adapted yet. Regards, Jerome

Forum Anniversary 4/1/07 – Jerome has pointed out that coming up on April 7th is the 10th anniversary of this Forum. (The actual anniversary of this Maigret site passed without notice... it first appeared on August 29, 1996 as "Inspector Maigret Bibliography. A listing of 'all' of Simenon's Inspector Maigret novels and stories in their various English language editions".) Jerome's question... "Which Maigret was mentioned most in the Forum over these 10 years?" (I notice Jerome first appears in the Forum on 11/21/98!) ST

New Maigret Story Found !? 4/1/07 – Unconfirmed reports are circulating in Paris of a new Maigret story found among Simenon's papers in the archives at Liège. It is said to be 15 pages long, and the title is reported as "Maigret et le poissonnier" [Maigret and the Fishmonger]. Jerome

Maigret of the Month: Maigret, Lognon et les Gangsters (Inspector Maigret and the Killers / Maigret and the Gangsters) 4/2/07 – When Simenon finished writing this Maigret novel on the 8th of October 1951, he had more or less settled into a pattern of producing novels. From about 1950 he was writing between five and six novels a year, alternating a Maigret novel with one or two of his others. Maigret, Lognon et les Gangsters is very different from Simenon’s previous Maigret novel, Maigret et la Grande Perche written five months before. The latter shows how painstaking Maigret can be when faced initially with little evidence of a crime, but determined to seek out the truth. It is an investigation that is quietly probing with Maigret exhibiting quite a degree of patience. By contrast, Maigret, Lognon et les Gangsters has Maigret, incensed, going from one Parisian location to another. The reason for this is the events that happen to Inspector Lognon. Although not a member of Maigret’s team at the Quai des Orfèvres, Maigret has empathy for Lognon’s plight. Based at a police station in the ninth arrondissement and on night duty carrying out surveillance of a drug dealer, Lognon witnesses a “body” being dumped from a car a few yards away from him. This leads to him being targeted, his home visited, being kidnapped and beaten, requiring hospital treatment. Maigret learns that the perpetrators are two dangerous American criminals who, with another, are residing in Paris and he it determined to track them down. It is Maigret’s approach to the investigation that gives the pace to the novel, without much respite.   The English translation is by Louise Varèse who follows Simenon’s French text closely. This translation was first published in the United States in hardback format by Doubleday in 1954, but the first British edition only appeared from Hamish Hamilton in 1974. Part of a map of the ninth arrondissement which shows the location of the church of Notre Dame de Lorette next to the Rue Fléchier where Inspector Lognon was on surveillance duty at the beginning of the novel (Michelin, Paris Plan, 1988). A section of a map of the seventeenth arrondissement with the Rue des Acacias (the location of Pozzo’s bar and restaurant), the Rue Brey and the Rue Brunel (Michelin, Paris Plan, 1988). Peter Foord UK

New Maigret Story Found ??? 4/2/07 – Did you notice anything fishy about the April 1 report of "Maigret et le poissonnier" [Maigret and the Fishmonger]??? In French, "poisson d'avril" (April fish) = April Fool! ST

Clive James on Simenon 4/3/07 – from The New Yorker (4/9/07) - "Blood On The Borders" "...it was Georges Simenon, Maigret’s prolific inventor, who really gave the modern crime novel its aspirations to seriousness. Helping to fuel the aspiration, but hindering its fulfillment, is the familiarity provided by a recurrent detective hero. There had always been a space-warp area in which gifted writers wrote noir books that hovered trembling between thrills and thoughtfulness, but without a star detective the gifted writers had trouble writing enough of them, and one of the imperatives of the genre-fiction business is that you must publish enough books to survive in a market where everybody else is publishing a lot of books for the same reason. It helps to have your own sleuth and to get people hooked on him. Simenon, with the organization and instincts of a Colombian drug runner, got the whole world hooked on Maigret. Not only did Maigret sell by the million in every tongue and in all media; literary critics praised his author’s stripped-down style. Though it could be said that the style was stripped-down because Simenon was essentially styleless – he said that he spent hours taking out the adjectives, but he also said that he was irresistible to women – the Maigret novels acquired such prestige that Simenon’s action novels without Maigret in them started counting as proper novels, the absence of the star turn being thought of as a sign of artistic purity.... Roddy

Maigret and the April Visitor 4/6/07 – As Jerome noted last week, tomorrow, April 7 is the 10th anniversary of this Forum, and Murielle has done me – us – the honor of producing a new Maigret pastiche to commemorate the event! Many thanks, Murielle, and to all the others who have contributed to this site over the years! ST Maigret and the April Visitor by Murielle Wenger original French The papers on his desk rippled at the slightest puff of air. The window was wide open, letting in the noises of the street and the characteristic odor of Parisian springtime. Maigret lit a new pipe, sighed as he regarded with a reluctant eye the report he was working on, then got up and went to the window, like someone giving in to a desire too long held in check. His look wandered over the quays, the Seine, which was this morning the same fresh green as the chestnut buds, and the passers-by, among them women brightly dressed in their first spring outfits, giving patches of color.   The telephone rang, and Maigret regretfully left his observation post to answer. At the other end of the line, he heard Janvier's voice... "We've done it, boss! We've located Stan!" "Where are you?" "In a café on the corner of the Rue Saint-Antoine. Verduret is watching the entrance to the hotel right across the street. We've been following the Polish woman since yesterday, and this morning she went into this hotel. Verduret, who took over at 8:00, just told me that he saw a guy go in whose description matches Stan's. What should we do?" "I'll send Lucas over. He's in charge of this case so it's for him to finish it up."   Lucas had hardly left with Maigret's final instructions when the phone rang again. This time it was Torrence. "Is that you, Boss?" (as if it could have been anyone else!) "Thouret just left his house and is heading toward the metro. What should I do, follow him?" Maigret wanted to shrug his shoulders. He grumbled, "Of course you should follow him! What else do you want to do?" "Me, I don't know. I was thinking that maybe you..." "Don't think too much, Torrence… For the moment, simply follow Thouret. All I want to know at this point is who he meets, who he talks with, etc. Clear?" "Clear, Boss," replied Torrence, sounding like a little boy who'd been scolded. Maigret returned with a sigh to reading his report. He'd only finished a single sentence when the telephone rang once more. The Chief Inspector stared at it as if considering sending it flying across the room. He decided, however, to lift the receiver... Complete article original French Murielle Wenger

Maigret of the Month: Maigret, Lognon et les Gangsters (Inspector Maigret and the Killers / Maigret and the Gangsters) 4/8/07 – Here are some photos to illustrate how the locations at the beginning of Maigret, Lognon et les gangsters look today... Place Constantin-Pecqeur from Rue Caulincourt the side of the Place Constantin-Pecqeur with residential buildings the side of the Place Constantin-Pecqeur with residential buildings Rue Caulaincourt, the south side of the Place Constantin-Pecqeur Rue Fléchier from Rue de Chateaudun from the pub in front of the Rue Fléchier, the church and pavement are on the right; probably where the body was thrown by the gangster another view of the Rue Fléchier Rue St. Lazarre, where the first car left Rue St. Vincent, at the corner of place Constantin-Pecqeur. Sacré-Coeur can be seen at the top, highly touristic. Regards, Jerome

More about the Dutch Maigret series 4/16/07 – Since my first posting on this subject (2/25/07) the following information has been added about the Jan Teulings series at the Internet Movie Database: Season 2 Episode Original Air Date Title 1 4/11/67 Maigret en zijn dode (Maigret et son mort) 2 4/25/67 Maigret en de blauwe avondjurk (M and the Blue evening dress) 3 5/23/67 Maigret in de verdediging (Maigret se défend?) 4 6/6/67 Het geduld van Maigret (La Patience de Maigret?) 5 6/20/67 Maigret viert kerstmis (Un Noël de Maigret) 6 7/4/67 Maigret en Pieter de Let (Pietr-Le-Letton) Mattias Siwemyr

Two new Maigrets in Hungarian / Man of London at Cannes 4/19/07 – Two new Maigret novels have been published in Hungary:   Madame Maigret barátnője (L'amie de Madam Maigret)   Maigret New Yorkban (Maigret à New York) A film made from Simenon's novel "The Man from London" will be shown on the programme of the Cannes Film Festival on the 16th of May, 2007. The director is Bela Tarr, Hungarian. Shooting started more than two years ago, but the French producer suddenly died when they had just started the filming. Many from many different countries contributed to the film. The main character (Maloin) is played by Miroslav Krobot (well-known - at least here in Central Europe - theatre director and actor), and the woman is Tilda Swinton (British). The film was shot in Corsica (Bastia). Best regards, Viola Bátonyi Budapest

It's Doom Alone that Counts 4/20/07 – Here's an excerpt from an interesting article on Simenon, It's Doom Alone that Counts by Marco Roth, from the April 19 issue of Nation, online at www.thenation.com... ...Red Lights is but one of the nearly 200 novels Georges Simenon published under his own name. In his lifetime, he made his reputation as the creator of the popular Inspector Maigret series, but tales of the ultra-bourgeois detective with his omnipresent pipe are only a fraction of a total output that includes investigative journalism, pseudonymous crime novellas, a multivolume memoir, as well as the work he considered his best, the psychological novels often known by the alluringly pornographic moniker les durs--the hard ones. To posterity, then, the Belgian-born writer appears as one of literature's great graphomaniacs. Where other novelists had moods, fantasies and love affairs that may or may not have influenced their work, Simenon seemed to turn every mood, every passing fantasy, every love affair into a novel. And there were quite a lot of fantasies and affairs. On the rare occasions when he wasn't writing, Simenon had lots of sex: with prostitutes, mistresses--even with wives (he had two, although his preferred mode was a ménage à trois that included a housekeeper or personal secretary). It usually took him between six and fourteen days to produce a novel. The affairs often took an equivalent amount of time, while the marriages averaged twenty years... Roddy

Maigret of the Month: Maigret, Lognon et les Gangsters (Inspector Maigret and the Killers / Maigret and the Gangsters) 4/21/07 – 1. France 1 - USA 0 This novel is somewhat distinctive in the Maigret cycle. While it takes place in Paris like the two preceding ones (MEU and GRA), it shows the intrusion of American gangsters into the French context. Since he'd been living in America, Simenon had written a number of Maigrets (in fact, all of those published by Presses de la Cité since NEW), but only in NEW and CHE had Simenon made any allusion to Maigret's relationship with the US. It's as if the author had suddenly felt the need to make a connection between life in the US and Maigret's life in France, and from the confrontation of the two worlds is born a battle whose events are a treat for the reader, who has no doubt that the victor will inevitably be… French! If it's often mentioned in the novel that the American gangsters are "strong", that they have – at least in appearance – a certain superiority over the French police, it was nevertheless Maigret, we knew, who would win the match. Assisted by his knowledge of the terrain (after all, they were "on his turf" in the city of Paris, and while a good part of his irritation in the story comes from the fact that he doesn't accept the intrusion of the American gangsters – who act "like they're at home" with no embarrassment – all the same Maigret knows the city – his city – better than they) he can follow their trail and locate them. At the same time it's his ability to put himself into the skin of others, which leads him, paradoxically, to act in the same way as those he pursues, and to arrest them using the "American method" of gangster films."He had all the same shown them... perfectly!" who was the stronger! 2. Like in the movies... Hand's up, dear sir! From a stylistic point of view, Simenon uses various processes to create the "gangster film" atmosphere which bathes the novel... the physical descriptions of Cicero and Cinaglia, the description of Pozzo's bar, allusions to the "American methods" by Pozzo and Luigi, the use of slang to create the ambiance, and the description of the three attacks– against Lognon, against Maigret in the Rue Grange-Batelière, and finally the exciting arrest of the killers at the "Bon-Vivant". 3. Tragi-comic The novel opens with Maigret's visit to Mme Lognon, who seems a tragi-comic character, at once pitiful and laughable... we are more inclined to laugh than to shudder when she tells of the visit of the gangsters. This tragi-comic aspect will recur numerous times in the course of the novel, as when Simenon describes the appearance of the wounded Lognon... Maigret can't stop himself from smiling when he sees Lognon's face with its swollen eye next to his bandaged nose. And again in Ch. 4, which alternates between Maigret's visit with Luigi, who explains to him American methods, setting a menacing tone, and Maigret's visit with Adrienne, whose appearance and outspokenness gives a lighter mood. And finally, a third example when Maigret finds Baron at home, Baron's description of rather dramatic events contrasting with his hung-over condition. If you have the opportunity, I recommend seeing the episode based on this novel in the Jean Richard television series... the tragi-comic aspect is particularly well rendered. 4. Reminiscences and allusions Let's collect here some elements which remind us of other novels (a little game which, as you will have noticed, I always pursue with pleasure!): Bill Larner, the American con artist – this technique is mentioned a number of times in the Maigrets. We find a notable example in JEU (it's the "métier" of Julius Van Cram). Maigret's meeting with Luigi at La Coupole – this famous bar on the Boulevard de Montparnasse is a principal site of the action in TET. Helen Donahue, the American woman who was putting up the gangsters, made me think of Rosalie Bourdon who put up Fernand's gang in PAR. Finally, let me add some supplementary information about two of the details which appear in the text... Edouard Belin and his Bélinography Ch. 4, Bélinography (in Varèse's English translation as "telephoto"), invented in 1907 by Edouard Belin (1876- 1963). This device allowed long-distance transmission of texts, documents, and above all, photographs. It was much-used by newspaper reporters 1960-70. The information was sent using telegraph, later telephone lines, and then after 1920, by radio. The document was placed on a rotating cylinder, then analyzed line by line by a photoelectric cell which moved along the rotating generator drum. The levels of grey were transformed into frequencies (high for white, low for black) and sent over the wire. At the other end, a synchronized system, with an identical cylinder in a dark room, with a small bulb to mark the photographic paper, reproduced the document. To send a 5"×7" (13×18 cm) black-and-white photograph took about 12 minutes. Ch 8, Harry Pills had "the name of some singer". This is a reference to the singer Jacques Pills (1910-1970). Under his real name, René Ducos, he started in music-halls in the revues of the Casino de Paris, as Mistinguett's dance partner. He teamed with Georges Tabet as a duo in the 1930s (one of their successes was "Couchés dans le foin" [(they) slept in the hay], a song by Jean Nohain and Mireille). Pills and Tabet separated in 1939. Jacques Pills continued his career solo. Married to the singer Lucienne Boyer, he recorded the songs of Bruno Coquatrix. After an American tour, he met Edith Piaf, whom he married in 1952. He wrote her a song "Je t'ai dans la peau" [I've got you under my skin], with music written by Jacques Pills's pianist, Gilbert Bécaud. Jacques Pills and Edith Piaf performed successively on the same stages, Moulin Rouge in 1954 and the Olympia in 1955. After their divorce in 1957, Jacques Pills was unable to recapture his earlier success. From 1967 until his death in September, 1970, he directed the school of the Olympia music-hall created by Bruno Coquatrix. 5. A little poetic image as an ending I'd like to end this little text with a quotation from the novel, both as an illustration of Simenon's talent for poetic description of atmosphere, and to point out the contrast between this image and the context of the action, as it precedes the rather "physical" arrest of the gangster made by Maigret and his men (Ch. 8) : "A fairly stiff, very cold wind had risen, and it gave an odd character to this night. For there were two distinct banks of clouds in the sky. The lower one, thick and dark, driven swiftly before the wind, made the darkness for the most part complete. But occasionally there would occur a sudden rent, and then you could see, as though through a crack between two rocks, a lunar landscape where, very high, fleecy, moonlit clouds stood motionless." [Varèse translation] Murielle Wenger Original French

Peter Foord 4/22/07 – I have just received the very sad news that Peter Foord passed away on Tuesday, April 17, at the age of 74, after a short illness. Although it seems like he was always with us, Peter's wonderful contributions to this Forum began only four years ago, in May 2003. His Maigret of the Month columns began with the very first one, Le Chien Jaune, in January 2004, and continued without a break until his last submission earlier this month. These columns are noteworthy for his unique blend of insight into Simenon's life at the time of the writing, his analysis of the book itself... and his accompanying maps to clarify the settings. If you search the archives over the past four years for his numerous contributions, you will see how knowledgeable and insightful Peter always was. I was thrilled at his first posting, for I recognized Peter Foord as the author of the only significant bibliography of Simenon in English, his 1988 "Georges Simenon A Bibliography of the British First Editions..." from Dragonby Press. I felt that our Maigret Forum had acquired a "resident scholar"... and for four short years we had. Many times when I posted a challenging question received in the mail, I thought, "Ah, I hope Peter will respond to this..." and when he did, the issue was clarified. He will be sorely missed. ST

very sad news 4/23/07 – Je viens de lire la nouvelle du décès de Peter Foord dans le forum… Je suis aussi très triste: ses contributions vont nous manquer. Cette dernière année, c'était devenu pour moi comme une sorte de "challenge" de préparer un MoM, et comme un petit jeu amusant d'arriver à être la première à l'avoir terminé, i.e. avant Peter Foord. Je ne pensais pas du tout à mesurer mes modestes connaissances face à sa grande érudition, mais il me plaisait d'apporter un petit supplément à ses excellents articles….A présent, je vais me sentir bien seule pour préparer les MoM…. Une seule consolation: nous pourrons toujours relire les articles de Peter Foord dans les archives du Forum, et à ce propos, j'ai une suggestion à vous faire: ce serait un joli hommage à lui rendre que de prévoir dans ces archives une entrée pour une rubrique qui regrouperait tous les articles que Peter a écrits pour le forum…Qu'en pensez-vous ? Meilleures salutations I've just read the news in the Forum of the death of Peter Foord… I'm also very sad... his contributions will be missed. For the past year, it had become for me a sort of challenge to prepare a MoM, and as a private little game, to be the first to finish... in other words, before Peter Foord. I wasn't thinking at all of matching my modest knowledge against his great erudition, but I enjoyed providing a little supplement to his excellent articles…. Now I'll feel lonely preparing the MoMs…. A sole consolation... we can always reread Peter Foord's articles in the Forum archives, and in this regard I have a suggestion... it would be a fine homage to him if there were a way to find in the archives a link which gathered together all that Peter wrote for the Forum...What do you think? Best regards Murielle

Finding articles, MoMs... 4/24/07 – Murielle suggests (below) creating an easy way to locate all the articles Peter Foord wrote for the Forum. Actually, it's fairly easy to find them now. To locate a Maigret-of-the-Month (MoM)... At the bottom of this Forum page, (click the link at the top), are all the MoMs thus far, and those scheduled for the current year. Clicking on the title link brings the "Plots" page for that novel, where there is a link to the MoM for that title. All the MoMs can be accessed in this way. For articles outside the MoMs, consult the Author index on the Text Index page, where Peter's other major articles can be found. ST

Maigret in Le Point 4/24/07 – I was told that in this week's edition of "Le Point" there is a short article on Maigret. I will try to buy it tomorrow morning... I checked the web site and did not see it but found some old articles on Simenon and Maigret like this one There is a short interview with Assouline, and you can probably find three or four interesting articles, even if they are two or three years old. I was sorry to hear the news about Peter... he will be missed by all of us. Jerome

Peter 5/2/07 – I would like to voice my sorrow too at the sad passing of Peter Foord. His contributions were always a pleasure to read, giving a concise summary of each novel and adding a sense of place with his maps, as well as insights and little-known facts. The Forum will be the poorer without him. Roddy

Visit to (Maigret's) Paris 5/3/07 – Visit to Paris April 13 - 16, 2007 Murielle Wenger Almost 25 after my first and only stay in the French capital, here I am returning to Maigret's city. For a long time I've wanted to walk the streets and boulevards described by Simenon. What remains of the city told by Simenon? Does the shade of Maigret still haunt the Parisian streets? Can we find in the city of today traces of the passage of our favorite Chief Inspector? A map of Paris in one hand, Michel Carly's book ([Maigret, across Paris]) in the other, I started on the search for my memories… So the "route" I'll describe is a condensation of my walks, focusing on Simenon's places, without being too concerned with their chronological position. On the other hand, the route can be done, but it depends on how much time you have and how much you want to walk. Certainly I think that the best way to discover the city is on foot, like Maigret, an unrepentant stroller… The itinerary I propose is of course but one variant among many others you could take to cross the capital, and it's obvious that it can't be done in a single day. But it will still be possible to take up the route from a described location, and use it as a point of reference. Course A:   The Latin Quarter Course B:   Île de la Cité Course C:   The Louvre and Tuileries Course D:   The "beaux quartiers" Course E:   Montmartre Course F:   Faubourg Saint-Honoré Course G:   The Marais Course H:   Boulevard Richard-Lenoir and Quai de Valmy Course I:   The Grand Boulevards Complete article Original French

Maigret Day TV 5/7/07 – I wonder how many fans are watching Maigret Day on ITV 3 today? A great pity that it is not the BBC series! Bill Lee

[translation] Maigret of the Month: Le revolver de Maigret (Maigret's Revolver) 5/12/07 – 1. In the style of Peter Foord... I'd like to begin this article as a sort of posthumous homage to Peter Foord, by writing a few lines somewhat in his fashion... Had you noticed that he began his "Maigret of the month" articles by establishing the novel in the context of Simenon's life at the time of writing? Of course, I can't compete with his great erudition, but I'd like to say once more how much we'll miss his articles. To write the following few notes, I used the text "Simenon, une vie, une œuvre" [Simenon, a life, a work], the new chronology established by Michel Carly for the volume "Tout Simenon 27" from Omnibus. On March 11, 1952, Simenon, his wife Denyse, son Johnny and the faithful Boule departed from New York aboard the Liberté, for a triumphal voyage to Europe. From March to April, it was Paris, with the official reception, April 18, at the Quai des Orfèvres. In May, Simenon was warmly welcomed in his birth city of Liege, and on May 10, in Brussels, he was made a member of the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium. Then he returned to the U.S., to Lakeville, Connecticut, where he wrote, from June 12 - 20, Maigret's Revolver. 2. "Through to the end, this was an investigation unlike any other." This sentence, taken from Ch. 8 of the novel, matches my own opinion... the somewhat "strange" aspect of the novel not exactly in line with the "classical" Maigrets. I find the atmosphere closer to that of Simenon's "hard novels", with the pathetic character of Baron Lagrange, and Simenon's severe portrait of Jeanne Debul, this woman without scruples who blackmails men from whom she's extracted secrets. Moreover, the investigation led by Maigret in this novel is also atypical, in the sense that the Chief Inspector doesn't confine himself to Paris, with three of the nine chapters taking place in London. It's a relatively rare case that Maigret goes in pursuit of a suspect beyond the border... only in Maigret and the 100 Gibbets, and At the Gai-Moulin, and we must wait for Maigret and the Millionaires to see him on the trail of another woman outside of France. 3. "Concerning a baby, calf's head mock turtle style, and a boulevard…" Some information about some subjects alluded to in the novel * Ch. 1, "Baby Cadum" to whom Lagrange is compared – In 1907, an American manufacturer, Michael Winburn, was cured of persistent eczema by a salve prepared by the pharmacist Louis Nathan, produced by in his laboratory in Courbevoie. Winburn was director of a chemical products firm and an advertising agency, and he decided to go into business with Nathan. The Cadum trademark was registered, the name coming from "cade", one of the ingredients, a Provencal word for a southern juniper. In 1912, Winburn entrusted the painter Arsène-Marie Le Feuvre with the design for the Cadum product advertising. The image of the baby, clean and innocent, was chosen to