Here, we meet a portly Soviet operative who goes by the name Le Chiffre (among other aliases like “the Number” “Herr Nummer” “Herr Ziffer” etc). The casino –a vast opulent victorian baroque edifice– has been tenderly restored to its former glory from the Belle Epoch. Ian Fleming’s inaugural James Bond novel ( Casino Royale, 1953) introduces us to the fictional French town of Royale-les-Eaux, a coastal enclave perched near the mouth of the Somme where a lavish casino sits.
