Episode Details

James Bond in the Adirondacks? Believe it or not, 007 once traded the glamour of London and Monte Carlo for Route 9 and Lake George.

In Ian Fleming’s 1962 novel The Spy Who Loved Me, a young woman named Vivienne Michel sets off from Montreal on a Vespa, eventually landing at a lonely Adirondack motor court near Lake George. That’s where Bond finally enters the story, in one of Fleming’s strangest and most fascinating departures from the usual 007 formula.

We sat down with Adirondack local and internationally recognized James Bond scholar Frieda Toth, who took her fascination with the book one step further: she retraced Vivienne’s journey through the Adirondacks herself on a vintage motor scooter.

Along the way, we explore the real Adirondack places Fleming worked into the novel, from Storytown and Route 9 to Glens Falls and Lake George. Frieda helps us separate Fleming’s remarkably accurate local details from the things he got hilariously wrong. October in the Adirondacks on a Vespa, anyone?

Whether you’re a James Bond fan, a Lake George history buff, or someone who loves discovering an unexpected Adirondack connection, this episode may change the way you look at Route 9.

What you’ll hear in this episode

• Why Ian Fleming set The Spy Who Loved Me in the Adirondacks.
• How the novel broke nearly every rule of the usual James Bond formula.
• What Fleming got surprisingly right, and wrong, about Lake George and Route 9.
• Why Frieda retraced Viv’s journey on a vintage motor scooter.
• The classic Adirondack attractions she discovered along the way.
• Why Fleming’s Adirondacks make more sense in August than October.
• How Lake George’s motels, roadside attractions, and pre-Northway traffic shaped the story.
• Why The Spy Who Loved Me deserves another look from Bond fans.

Resources:

• Ian Fleming Foundation
• The Spy Who Loved Me
• James Bond in the Adirondacks
• Storytown, Motels, and Summer Memories: How Lake George Became America's Vacation Paradise

Produced by NOVA