Ventimiglia is the French frontier point reached by the Jackal during his drive from Milan toward the border. The crossing marks a change in the journey: after making rapid progress along the road, he must join a queue and submit his passport to customs inspection.

Setting and Approach

A road map places Ventimiglia 210 kilometres from Milan, at the end of the route via Genoa and San Remo. The Jackal is ahead of his estimated two-hour driving time when he passes Genoa shortly after seven in the morning and continues toward the border on the A.10. By ten to eight, he has reached what the narration describes as France’s sleepiest frontier point, though the daily traffic is already thick and the heat is rising.

The Border Crossing

The apparent quiet of the frontier does not mean an effortless passage. The Jackal waits in the queue for thirty minutes before being directed to the customs examination ramp. A policeman carefully examines his passport, then takes it into the customs shed. Ventimiglia thus becomes a checkpoint in the Jackal’s flight: forward momentum gives way to scrutiny, and his passage depends on the identity document he presents.