10 replies to this topic

[Renix]

I am currently reading Moonraker and have read Casino Royale and Live and Let Die.

Perhaps I have my information wrong but I thought Bond crashed his Bently in Casino Royale. But he is again driving it in Moonraker.

Did he get another Bently or am I missing something?

Thanks,
Jonathan

[Mister Asterix]

The Bentley Bond wrecked in Casino Royale was presumably repaired and rebuilt by the beginning of Live and Let Die.

[Renix]

I thuoght so. But then I was trying to remember if there was anything about his Bently in Live and Let die.

Plus, it seems kind of strange that Bond would have his own personal car shipped to France for Casino Royale, doesn't it? But we know that it was his and that he most have done just that.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[Mister Asterix]

Originally posted by Renix (edited)
Plus, it seems kind of strange that Bond would have his own personal car shipped to France for Casino Royale, doesn't it?

Actually, I assume Bond came over with his car on the ferry. Royale-les-Eaux is located very near where the ferry crossed the channel.

[marktmurphy]

Its not a real place, you know:-)

Didn't Bond have a couple of Bentleys? He started with a 41/2 litre and then got a Continental convertible (I think its described in the Living Daylights). No idea when he made the switch, though.

[Mister Asterix]

Originally posted by marktmurphy (edited)
Its not a real place, you know:-)

Well, yes and no.

Royale-les-Eaux doesn’t exist, but it can be pinpointed by all of the real places around it. So while there is no Royale-les-Eaux there is Cayeux-sur-Mer which is a small resort with one casino and a couple of hotels just south of the mouth of the Somme river. The map I created for my article Royale Mission: S-Branch Debriefing is accurate to Fleming’s description and everything is real except Royale-les-Eaux substitues for Cayeux-sur-Mer.

[Cesari]

Yes. I'm french and Royale les eaux is supposed to be in France.
So when I was a young boy descovering Bond, reading Casino Royale and beginning to become a young fan I spent hours and hours looking at maps and books, trying to find the very accurate description by Fleming how to go to Royale les eaux.
I never find it.
It is later than I learned it didn't exist.

[Mister Asterix]

See I took a different approach. I knew Royale-les-Eaux didn’t exist, but Fleming describes much about the location of the resort. I examined those description and worked my way in. The first clue:

Royale-les-Eaux, which lies near the mouth of the Somme before the flat coast-line soars up from the beaches of southern Picardy to the Brittany cliffs which run on to Le Havre, had experienced much the same fortunes as Trouville.

I mearly looked for the mouth of the Somme, saw that it was in Picardy, and began examining the coast area to the south of the Bay Of Somme. Sure enough, I found Cayeux-sur-Mer, a resort town that fits Fleming’s general description of Royale-les-Eaux and lies in all of the same proximities to the real cities, towns, and other map markers that Fleming described.

Royale-les-Eaux is simply Cayeux-sur-Mer written with artistic licence.

[Bryce (003)]

Back to the original Bentley question:

From Chapter 22 - The Hastening Saloon

"She kept an eye on the repairs to the Bentley which had been towed down to coachbuilders at Rouen, and she even arranged for some new clothes to be sent out from Bond's London flat."

Quite a girl. Makes sure your car gets fixed and even sends home for your own clothes.

Pity about Vesper. But, the Bentley is implied to be back and road worthy by MR.

[Mister Asterix]

Goes to show, you read a book three times in a month and you still miss things. For some reason I was thinking she just dealt with having the car towed.

[Renix]

Thanks Bryce. I just looked that up and found that passage.

I knew you guys would have the answer.