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Jean Racine in Uzès: a young Parisian in Occitan land

Today, in an open and globalized world, seeing a German, American, or Japanese visitor stroll through the narrow streets of Uzès surprises no one. The city welcomes travelers from all horizons, captivated by its blonde facades, its markets, and its art of living. But it has not always been this way.

In the 17th century, a Parisian arriving in Uzès could experience a true culture shock. And when it was a 22-year-old man of letters, embarking on a career his family deemed uncertain, the experience took on an even more singular dimension.

In 1661, Jean Racine was not yet the famous playwright we know today. While his writing was developing, his close friends—deeply attached to the rigorous ideals of the Jansenist masters of Port-Royal—grew concerned. Fearing he would succumb to the temptations of literary and high society life, they sent him to Uzès to stay with his maternal uncle, Antoine Sconin, vicar general of the diocese, to study theology.

In Uzès, one can also admire a small Romanesque-style building topped with a dome. Built in 1687 on the remains of a tower from the ancient ramparts, it was named in 1819 after the famous writer who loved to walk there during his stay in the city.

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

He first describes the linguistic disorientation: having just journeyed down the Rhône, he felt he “ad as much need of an interpreter as a Muscovite would in Paris.” To his ears, the local speech sounded like a mix of Spanish and Italian, which he tried to master by drawing on his linguistic knowledge.

Then comes the culinary disorientation: here, people cook with olive oil rather than butter. A change he dreaded... but which he eventually embraced, going so far as to declare that "there is nothing better."

And then, with the mischief of a young man making discoveries, Racine also notes the disorientation of manners: the striking beauty of the local women, the natural elegance of their attire, while confiding that he had been advised to be wary of them.

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

Through this letter, we perceive a dual perspective: the amused and curious gaze of a young Parisian discovering another France, and the retrospective gaze we can cast today upon an era when cultural distance began as soon as one left one's province.

Racine, who would only stay in Uzès for a short time before following his literary destiny, experienced a foundational journey 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.