The 1908 New York to Paris Race was an automobile competition consisting of drivers attempting to travel from New York to Paris. This was a considerable challenge given the state of automobile technology and road infrastructure at the time. Only three of six contestants completed the course. The winner was the American team, driving a 1907 Thomas Flyer.

Yorick's journey starts in Calais, where he meets a monk who begs for donations to his convent. Yorick initially refuses to give him anything, but later regrets his decision. He and the monk exchange their snuff-boxes. He buys a chaise to continue his journey. The next town he visits is Montreuil, where he hires a servant to accompany him on his journey, a young man named La Fleur.

This is how it came about. I was writing copy for an advertising agency in Chicago when I was offered a job as rewrite man on a magazine in San Francisco. When I got to San Francisco the first staff member my new boss introduced me to was Elisabeth. As the boss and I entered the room, she was sitting at a desk with a window at her back. She was wearing a dark red blouse. Something went tick somewhere inside of me, and I knew that something had happened.