Asterix and Obelix, the travelling Gauls of Uderzo (Part 2)

At a time when our last trip is beginning to date and the next one is unfortunately no longer on the agenda, a few great classics allow us to escape from his couch. First author of our series: Albert Uderzo, by Toutatis! As the great comic book author and father of Asterix (with René Goscinny), in particular, passed away on 24 March, this is an opportunity to plunge back into the adventures of the famous Gaul and his companions. Brave ancestors who went through a lot of trouble and who offer us the opportunity to travel a little in total confinement. From the famous village of Armorique (which we tried to locate in the first episode of our series) to India, passing through mysterious lands, where did Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix lug around a serpent, a menhir and a magic potion?

To the assault on the Old Continent

While Asterix and Obelix had adventures in the four corners of Gaul, they also crossed our borders to set off on an assault on Europe and even the world

Of course, it is Rome that we see most often in the adventures of our Gauls. Although Julius Caesar's city is naturally mentioned very often, we really discover it for the first time in Asterix the Gladiator, the fourth opus in the series. In this adventure, the two eternal companions set off for Rome to save the Bard Assurancetourix, who is to be delivered to Caesar during the circus games. The Roman city is also in the spotlight in Caesar's Laurels, where Asterix and Obelix disembark to steal the Emperor's crown of laurels, or in Obelix's Galley. The latter story will also take us to the shores of Atlantis, a mythical and unknown island often associated with the Canary Islands, the Spanish archipelago that dropped anchor off the coast of Morocco.

Spain is also drawn by Uderzo in Asterix in Hispania, where Asterix and Obelix cross the entire Iberian Peninsula: from Pamplona in the Basque Country to Cordoba and Seville in Andalusia, via Segovia and Salamanca in the Madrid region

Still in the south of Europe, it is Greece that will witness the Gallic exploits during Asterix at the Olympic Games. Before becoming one of the big French productions on the big screen, the comic strip already sees a large part of the Armorican village move to Olympia and confront the problem of doping with the magic potion

ThenGermany (Germania in fact) was also told by Uderzo and Goscinny in Asterix Among the Goths. In this album, Asterix and Obelix set out in pursuit of the Goths who kidnapped Panoramix to steal the secret of the potion. It should also be noted that our neighbours across the Rhine were also mentioned in The Great Divide where Uderzo imagines the village cut in half. A direct reference to the Berlin Wall: "this Great Ditch is a direct reference to this period of history. I found it more amusing to turn the wall into a ditch," the cartoonist later recounts. Not far away, it is in Switzerland that Asterix is going to walk his moustachein Asterix and the Helvetians

Course north!

He will also set a northerly course by venturing to our Belgian cousins in Asterix Among the Belgians, for a bravery contest, whereas inAsterix Among the Bretons, our hero is to be found in Great Britain, more precisely between Cornwall and Wales. A British excursion (where our English friends will discover tea), which will precede a meeting with the Vikings in Asterix and the Normans. While in this last story, the action will take place around the village of Armorique, La Grande Traversée will take Asterix and Obelix to Danish Jutland for a new encounter with the Vikings. An album in which our two heroes will even reach the lands of the New World, America. For Albert Uderzo has also regularly introduced his two fetish characters to even more distant lands.

From the southern shores of the Mediterranean to India, conquering the world..

In Asterix's Odyssey, it is in Judea that the Gauls will be found. In this land with a historical and biblical name, they will discover Lebanon, Israel (in Jerusalem) and the West Bank in Bethlehem.

Then the Gauls will set sail for Egypt in Asterix and Cleopatra for the 6th album of the saga. The story was also popularised on the big screen in 2001 when it made a box-office hit in the film adaptation Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, starring Jamel Debbouze and directed by Alain Chabat. On the African continent, Thapsus, an ancient site located in Tunisia, can also be seen in Asterix Legionary. A 10th album in which the famous moustached man goes to rescue Tragicomix, the fiancé of the beautiful Falbala, a prisoner of Scipio's army

Finally, our heroes will take the road to India, far from the invigorating air of their Armorican coasts in Asterix at Rahàzade. To reach the land of the flying carpets and the rajah Cékouhaçà to save Princess Rahàzade, who has been promised execution, the Gauls will go to Rome, then Athens, before crossing Phoenicia and Persia. An extraordinary expedition. Which will end how? By a few wild boars at the traditional banquet, by Toutatis!