About half-way between Frankfurt and Cologne, on the Rhine, there is the city of Koblenz. Castellum apud Confluentes, the place where the rivers Rhine and Mosel meet. In 1812, Coblence was a garrison town on the eastern border of Napoleon's empire.

Near the triangular wedge of land between the rivers, a short walk up the Mosel side, you'll find yourself on the square in front of St. Castor basilica. On the square there is a fountain, erected in 1812, that looks like a monument's pedestal whose statue has gone missing. It has two inscriptions in French. In the original one from 1812, the French commander of the city honours the victorious march of the glorious Grande Armée into Russia. The second inscription was added by his successor St. Priest in 1814: "Seen and approved by us, Russian commander of the city of Koblenz".

This story is not connected in any way to the content of this diary. Inside: Pynchon, Pelevin, König, myrmeleontidae.