110. Thank You, Map Nerds

Part II, Book 5, Chapter 2

Luckily the Pont d’Austerlitz Takes Vehicles

I’m starting to get the sense that each book in Les Misérables is basically a different genre; Book 5 is really getting going and feels like it’s shaping up to be a nail-biting thriller. It is impossible to read just one chapter at a time.

Hugo, in this book, has extremely detailed accounts of exactly which streets, intersections, and landmarks Jean Valjean traverses while being chased by Javert—I suspect it’s totally possible to track the chase on a map, but I’m personally vibing through it without bothering to check where stuff is.

…As soon as I wrote that out, I thought, “Someone has to have mapped out the various journeys in Les Misérables—it’s such a place-dependent story,” and I looked it up and found that the nerds of the world did not disappoint.

Here is a website where someone has isolated the spots on a historical map that correspond to Books 4 and 5.

Here is an interactive Google Map where you can zoom in on the locations mentioned in the novel, including the specific points named in this book.

And here is a project literally called “Visualizing Les Misérables“—if you click on “Paris of Les Misêrables,” click on “Maps,” and open up Itinerary II, you’ll see a zoomable map that tracks Valjean and Cosette’s flight through Paris.

God, I love nerds so much.

So Valjean gets to a bridge at the Pont d’Austerlitz, which charges a toll to cross. Man, with all the tourists, can you imagine how much money the city of Paris would rake in if it still charged tolls for people to walk across its many bridges?

Annoyingly, the toll collector notes that Valjean is carrying a child fully capable of walking, and charges double for their crossing, because Cosette counts as an adult, basically. I think children’s admission should be a thing! But whatever.

Valjean is bothered not by the price—we have seen this man with money, he doesn’t have a problem spending it—but by the attention: “All flight should go unnoticed.” I will keep this in mind if I am ever on the run from the law.

Valjean and Cosette take cover behind a cart crossing the Seine—hence the name of the chapter—then cross a brightly lit square and make their way to a dark, narrow street. When they reach it, Valjean looks back and sees four figures crossing the bridge. AAAARGH.

He hopes that the men didn’t see him crossing a brightly lit square a few moments ago—I’m big on hope, but even that is overly optimistic, imho!—and hurries up the little street.

And that’s where the chapter ends! You cannot leave me hanging like this, Hugo!