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Jean Racine in Uzès : a young Parisian on Occitan soil

In today's open, globalized world, seeing a German, American or Japanese visitor strolling through the narrow streets ofUzès is no longer a surprise. The town welcomes travelers from all horizons, seduced by its blond facades, its markets and its art of living. But it wasn't always so.

In the XVIIᵉ century, a Parisian arriving in Uzès could experience a veritable culture shock. And when he was a 22-year-old man of letters, promised a career that his family considered uncertain, the experience took on an even more singular dimension.

In 1661, Jean Racine was not yet the celebrated playwright we know today. His pen was sharpening, but those close to him, deeply attached to the rigorous ideals of the Jansenist masters of Port-Royal, were worried. Fearing that he would succumb to the seductions of literary and worldly life, they sent him to Uzès to study theology with his maternal uncle, Antoine Sconin, vicar general of the bishopric, in the hope of a future ecclesiastical benefice.

Uzès also boasts a small Romanesque building topped by a dome. Built in 1687 on the remains of a tower of the ancient ramparts, it was named in 1819 after the famous writer who loved to stroll along it during his stay in the city.

This stay, which was intended to anchor him in a pious life, was in fact an immersion in a culture that was both close to him and profoundly different. In a spirited letter to his friend Jean de La Fontaine, Racine recounts his journey from Paris, his arrival in the ducal city, and his first impressions.

The first thing he mentions is the linguistic change of scenery: as soon as he stepped off the Rhone, he felt "as much in need of an interpreter as a Muscovite would be in Paris". To his ears, the local language sounds like a mixture of Spanish and Italian, to which he tries to adapt by drawing on his linguistic knowledge.

Then comes the culinary change of scenery: here, people cook with olive oil instead of butter. A change he dreaded... but eventually embraced, going so far as to declare that "there's nothing better".

And then, with the mischievousness of a young man in the throes of discovery, Racine also notes the change in customs: the dazzling beauty of the local women, the natural elegance of their dress, while confessing that he was advised to be wary of them.

Uzès appeared to him as an almost exotic country: perched on its rock, surrounded by countryside covered with olive trees still bearing bitter fruit, bathed in a light and warmth unknown to the banks of the Seine.

Through this letter, we see a double perspective: the amused and curious view of a young Parisian discovering another France, and the retrospective view we can take today of an era when cultural distance began as soon as you left your home province.

Racine, who only stayed in Uzès for a short time before following his literary destiny, had a seminal experience there: that of a bridge between two worlds, between the Île-de-France and the Occitan land, between the austerity of Port-Royal and the sunny freedom of the Midi.