Burdeos is the place where Alice Espanet and Ritxi met, and a point of origin in the Narrator’s account of the case. Though the later events she investigates unfold elsewhere, Burdeos remains fixed in her mind as the place where everything began.

Setting and First Meeting

Alice and Ritxi met in Burdeos. Two months later, Alice had moved to Vitoria: weekend visits had grown into stays lasting a full week, and then, almost imperceptibly, she transferred all her belongings to Ritxi’s attic in the city centre. The transition from meeting in Burdeos to settling in Ritxi’s home marks the rapid development of their relationship and the start of a shared life.

The Narrator’s Recollection

Burdeos returns as one of the places occupying the Narrator’s thoughts while she cares for Erik. At the park, surrounded by mothers ready to talk, she wants no conversation; on rainy days, she takes Erik to a café with a corner of toys and a rug. Yet her attention is elsewhere: with the courts, the chalet in Armentia, and the bistro in Burdeos where the story began. The ordinary settings of childcare are thus set against the places bound up with her investigation.

Narrative Significance

Burdeos functions less as a fully described setting than as a remembered origin. The account gives no further detail about the meeting itself, but connects the place to the swift sequence that followed: Alice’s visits to Vitoria, her move into Ritxi’s attic, and their subsequent marriage. For the Narrator, Burdeos is also part of a mental map that intrudes on daily life, returning alongside the court and Armentia as she tries to write and make sense of Alice’s case.