MONCEAU (RUE), a street which runs northward from Rue du Faubourg St. Honore. It is a short distance to the north-east of the Arc de Triomphe, and in it was situated Aristide Saccard’s magnificent mansion. La Curee.
MONTSOU, a mining village in the north of France, about ten kilometres from Marchiennes (q.v.). It is the scene of many of the chief events in Germinal.
ORLEANS, an important town situated on the Loire, seventy-five miles south of Paris. It is referred to in La Terre and Nana.
PARADOU, the name of a neglected demesne near Plassans (q.v.). It was the scene of a large part of La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.
PLASSANS, the name under which Zola disguised his native town of Aix. It is a place of about 30,000 inhabitants, and is situated eighteen miles north of Marseilles. Aix was at one time the capital of Provence, is the seat of an archbishop, and contains a university and an Ecole des Art et Metiers.
In the Rougon-Macquart novels Zola made Plassans the cradle of an imaginary family, and throughout the whole series of books the town is constantly referred to. La Fortune des Rougon, etc.
RAUCOURT, a small town about six miles south of Sedan. It is frequently referred to in La Debacle.
REIMS, an important town of 98,000 inhabitants, situated about 100 miles to the north-east of Paris. In 1870-71 it was occupied by the Prussians, who laid heavy requisitions upon it. The town is frequently referred to in La Debacle.
REMILLY, a village about five miles south of Sedan. Old Fouchard’s farm was situated in its vicinity. La Debacle.
ROUEN, an important town of over 100,000 inhabitants, situated on the Seine, about eighty-seven miles from Paris and fifty-seven miles from Le Havre. It was the scene of the judicial inquiry regarding the murder of President Grandmorin. La Bete Humaine.