CHAPTER 29 — Modern “Cadets de Gascogne”

In Chap­ter 29 of “The Ways of Men,” titled “Mod­ern ‘Cadets de Gascogne’,” the nar­ra­tor and their com­pan­ion, inspired by a pri­or enchant­i­ng per­for­mance by the Come­die Fran­caise in the antique the­atre at Orange, eager­ly seize anoth­er chance to immerse them­selves in French cul­tur­al and lit­er­ary her­itage. This oppor­tu­ni­ty presents itself in the form of an adven­tur­ous jour­ney with the “Cadets de Gascogne,” a group of pas­sion­ate, south­ern-born young men whose lives revolve around the stage and the arts, rem­i­nis­cent of the spir­it­ed band por­trayed in Ros­tand’s “Cyra­no de Berg­er­ac.”

The Cadets, mod­ern-day devo­tees of Melpomene and afi­ciona­dos of Gascony’s lit­er­ary con­tri­bu­tion, blend the mer­ri­ment of his­toric cama­raderie with the seri­ous pur­suit of lit­er­ary excel­lence. Their excur­sions are depict­ed as lay pil­grim­ages to sites of lit­er­ary and his­toric sig­nif­i­cance, embody­ing a mix of earnest artis­tic homage and light­heart­ed rev­el­ry, includ­ing per­for­mances, recita­tions, and the enjoy­ment of region­al del­i­ca­cies.

This par­tic­u­lar jour­ney leads the nar­ra­tor, their com­pan­ion, and the Cadets through the scenic Cevennes Moun­tains towards Langue­doc, with a grand finale planned in the are­na at Beziers for a per­for­mance of “DEJANIRE” by Louis Gal­let and Saint-Saens. Along the way, from Car­cas­son­ne’s revived medieval splen­dor to the sim­ple beau­ty of Ispan­hac and the fer­vent artistry wit­nessed at St. Enimie, the trav­el­ers indulge in both the plea­sures of nature and the cama­raderie of shared lit­er­ary and artis­tic endeav­or.

Their pas­sage is marked by a series of vibrant, com­mu­nal expe­ri­ences: lunch­es atop ancient keeps, impromp­tu recita­tions stir­ring local inhab­i­tants, and river­side soirées under the moon­light, cul­mi­nat­ing in the artis­tic sol­i­dar­i­ty and rev­el­ry of a per­for­mance in Beziers. This per­for­mance, set against a back­drop of more than 10,000 spec­ta­tors, melds the ancient dra­ma of Dejani­ra and Her­cules with the liv­ing land­scape, rein­forc­ing the Cadets’ com­mit­ment to reviv­ing and cel­e­brat­ing French artis­tic and cul­tur­al tra­di­tions.

The chap­ter clos­es with a reflec­tion on the Cadets’ mis­sion to fos­ter a deep­er appre­ci­a­tion for France’s region­al diver­si­ty and cul­tur­al her­itage, aim­ing to decen­tral­ize art, revi­tal­ize the stage, and pro­mote laugh­ter and youth­ful spir­it amidst life’s tri­als. Through their jour­ney, the Cadets de Gascogne sym­bol­ize a bridge between France’s illus­tri­ous past and its liv­ing artistry, advo­cat­ing for a vibrant, endur­ing cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty.