Fabrice Etienne may have relinquished office of the French consul general three years ago but the parting gift he had left behind in print — Ghosts of Calcutta, a semi-autobiographical look-back at his experiences here and that of fictional characters set in the remote past — drew him back to the city. As Sebastien Ortiz, the nom de plume he assumes as author, Etienne was part of a delegation of French writers and publishers who were in town for Bonjour India, the celebration of Indo-French partnership in India by the government of France. On a February morning, accompanied by Arijit Datta of Twins Tour, Etienne took the team to explore the lanes and bylanes of central and north Calcutta he used to explore on his own during his stay here.  

STOP 1
 

Prinsep Ghat. Etienne told them about James Prinsep’s connection to Asiatic Society — the founding editor of its journal — not far from the Park Street hotel they had put up in. Across the river, he pointed to them the general direction of Chandernagore, the former French colony. As publisher Sabine Wespieser trudged down the slippery steps of the ghat, a worried Annie Terrier called out: “Tu veux nager?” (You want to swim?) 

The team at the Laldighi complex. “It was so named as the reflection of the red Writers’ Buildings fell in the water. I have read it in a Salman Rushdie book,” Gerard Meudal excitedly said. 

STOP 2 
 

 

The General Post Office, where Etienne pointed out the plaque of the Old Fort next to the Aadhaar card counter, mentioning the spot as the site of the Black Hole tragedy of 1756. “But it has not been proved if it really happened,” he added. 

STOP 3

Marble Palace. Here they were welcomed by Sourendro Mullick, a scion of the family. Journalist-author Jean-Claude Perrier was astounded by the trompe l’oeil in a portrait which seemed to look at the viewer from every angle. Katia Legeret pointed to the multiple Venus of Medici statues. “Rodin (the French sculptor) was fascinated by the Venus of Medici and would have loved this place,” she said.  

STOP 4 

The tour ended at the Bandukwala Dawn house on Vivekananda Road where a family wedding had just taken place. 

Annie Terrier had tried petting a streetdog at Laldighi but got growled at. She was luckier with the puppies in front of the closed KC Das confectionery on Rabindra Sarani 

Text: Sudeshna  Banerjee
Pictures: Rashbehari Das