Start in Life

One of the coach operators on the Paris to l’Isle-Adam route is Pierrotin, a forty-year-old family man. He uses The Silver Lion Inn as his Paris base, overpacks his coach and flagrantly violates travel regulations but is much beloved by his loyal regulars. It is one Saturday in the fall of 1822 and Pierrotin is complaining that he only has four passengers and no parcels booked on this fine day. He is thrilled when a servant asks him to hold a place for his master, the Comte de Serizy. Pierrotin carries a lot of parcels for the Count’s estate manager, Moreau, and is always generously tipped. The servant emphasizes that the Count wishes to travel incognito...