Voyage en Italie Quotes

“I have always hated crowds. I like deserts, prisons, and monasteries. I have discovered, too, that there are fewer idiots at 3000 meters above sea level than down below.”
― Jean Giono, An Italian Journey

“I should like to write about what happens when fictive people encounter and are embellished by real people.”
― Jean Giono, An Italian Journey

“The Italians are said to be noisy and to gesticulate, but that is a libel dreamed up by the English.”
― Jean Giono, An Italian Journey

“We arrived in Peschiera. . . . Within the town everything was minuscule apart from the toys of war. The houses and shops were so narrow that you would easily recognize an inhabitant of Peschiera in the Antipodes for he would never dare to make a broad gesture, but look to see if there was room behind his elbow before taking out a pocket handkerchief. I was intrigued to note that the postcards were half a centimeter smaller than anywhere else. This only goes to show that you can find traces of sublimity even in a grocer's shop.”
― Jean Giono, Voyage en Italie