village
Les Artaud
A tiny, sun-scorched village near Le Paradou in the south of France, where the young Abbé Serge Mouret has been sent as curé in La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret. Les Artaud is barely a hamlet — a cluster of peasant families bearing the same name, living close to the rock and the earth, indifferent to the Church and to the priest's wavering faith. The village exists in deliberate contrast to the neighbouring garden of Le Paradou: where the garden is wild, sensuous, and outside time, Les Artaud is dusty, pragmatic, and brutally alive. The schoolteacher Frère Archangias, harsh and fanatical, dominates the village and serves as Serge's antagonist.
Hameau misérable et ensoleillé proche du Paradou, où le jeune abbé Serge Mouret est envoyé comme curé dans La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret. Les Artaud s'oppose délibérément au jardin : poussiéreux, pragmatique, gouverné par l'instinct et la terre.