Born in February 1828, the young Jules Verne lived with his family on the Île Feydeau, a small rocky island in the Loire. The open water surrounding his home was an imaginative boy’s dream and he spent hours watching the comings and goings at the quayside, turning them into tales of the high seas. After failed attempts at stowing away to travel the blue yonder, it was agreed that the young Jules should join a chum in Paris and he soon found himself immersed in the arty salons of the city. He decided that his future would certainly be that of a writer… Despite all this gay abandon, it was a hard time to live in the capital. Paris was falling to the Prussians and its people had suffered years of siege, hunger and heavy taxes. But Verne was to conjure up the perfect antidote for these troubled times. Drinking in a Parisian café, he spotted a travel advertisement suggesting that it might be possible to circumnavigate the globe in just eighty days — the beginnings of a story. As Verne later explained: ‘I have a great many scientific odds and ends in my head. It immediately struck me that I could profit by a difference in the meridian and make my traveller gain or lose a day in his journey. There was my denouement ready found.’ In less than two weeks, Verne had crafted an outline for his tale, offering it to Parisian newspaper Le Temps for publication in installments. Around the World in 80 Days would become a hugely successful literary serial. Fogg’s wager at the Reform Club caused such a sensation amongst Le Temps’ readers that they too began to bet on the odds that Verne’s hero would complete his journey in the given eighty days.
