banquet. List of items Lutetia (Paris): ham Camaracum (Cambrai): humbugs (in the English translation; in the original a similar sweet called "Bêtises de Cambrai") Durocortorum (Reims): Champagne (not named as such) Lugdunum (Lyon): sausages and quenelles Nicæ (Nice): Niçoise salad (named "Nicæoise" salad) Massilia (Marseille) fish stew (i.e. bouillabaisse) Tolosa (Toulouse): sausages Aginum (Agen): prunes Burdigala (Bordeaux): oysters and white wine Cultural references The idea of the story (and its French title) was inspired by the Tour de France bicycle race. The sack carried by Obelix reflects the race leader's jersey colour (yellow — with a patch for the number). The Latin phrase "Exegi monumentum aere perennius" is uttered by a legionnaire during the construction of a wall (page 7). This is a reference to the same quote made by the Roman poet Horace. Translated, it means: "I have erected a monument more lasting than bronze." Fun is poked at various French regional stereotypes: The inhabitants of Normandy are shown as being unable to give a direct answer. The traffic jams in Paris (Lutetia in the comic strip) are spoofed. The phrase: "Je vous promets qu'on n'a pas fini d'en parler de l'affaire du courrier de Lugdunum!" is a reference to the trial "Le courrier de Lyon", where an innocent man was executed for the robbery of a mail coach and the murder of its occupants in 1796. The inhabitants of Lutetia (Paris) are shown going to Nicæ (Nice) for their summer holiday. (Obelix refers to Nicae as the "Gaulish Riviera".) Like modern Parisian travelers, the visitors from Lutetia cause huge traffic jams with their carts on the road into Nicæ, and huge crowds on the beach. The inhabitants of Massilia (Marseille) are hot-blooded and shown to exaggerate enormously. The maze of back alleys in Lugdunum is a reference to the traboules of Lyon and the role they played during the French Resistance. The idea of using pebbles to find one's way back is a reference to Hansel and Gretel or the French fairy tale Hop o' My Thumb. However a 'helpful' Roman Soldier picks up the pebbles for the Roman Official, trapping him in the maze also. The scenes in the tavern in Massilia on page 36 are references to the films Marius (1931), Fanny (1932) and César (1936) by Marcel Pagnol, all of which are set in Marseille. The characters are caricatures of the actors in the films,