
A restless wanderer leaves the bustling streets of Paris, trading the clamor of cafés and crowded metros for the salty breath of the river Garonne. He pauses at a dimly lit bar, sipping a cold beer while his weather‑worn camera bag hints at a new adventure. The narrator’s mind drifts between the ordinary and the unknown, and a chance encounter with a grizzled dockhand nudges him toward a daring decision: to set sail for Iceland. The promise of icy horizons and uncharted seas awakens a yearning that Paris can no longer satisfy.
Boarding the old cargo vessel Yport, he finds himself thrust into the gritty rhythm of a working ship—creaking masts, shoveling cod, and the stern captain’s steady gaze. The journey begins under a scorching sun, the deck alive with the chatter of sailors and the hum of machinery. As the vessel slips away from the quay, the narrator feels both the weight of his past and the exhilarating pull of the unknown, ready to chase the fleeting promise of a new horizon.
Language
fr
Duration
~2 hours (160K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
France: Ferenczi, 1925.
Credits
Laurent Vogel (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Polona digital library)
Release date
2023-03-31
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1884–1926
Drawn to the far North and to hard-traveled frontiers, this French writer turned adventure into vivid fiction. His books mix survival, wilderness, and a taste for places most readers would never see for themselves.
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