The First Entrance of Valjean and Cosette to the Petit-Picpus Convent. Volume 2, Book 5, Chapter 6.

Clips from <Il cuore di Cosette>.

enjolras was a charming young man who was capable of making u cry

On the double casting of Fredrick March as Valjean and Champmathieu:

My dear Fredric March: The other night I was busily engaged with a juicy steak in a Hollywood restaurant, with one ear cocked on your fifteen minute radio interview (the proprietor had humbly asked if I'd mind!) It was a nice interview, but I was fifty percent absorbed in the steak until you mentioned your playing of a dual rôle in Les Miserables. Immediately I forgot the steak, the shoe string potatoes that went with it, and the strawberry pie that came after. Because -- Recently I came away from Les Miserables in transports over a superb piece of acting. Not your Jean Valjean, nor Laughton's Javert. I just took those for granted. It was the forlorn half wit, mistakenly arrested and brought to trial as Valjean -- the bewildered vagrant trying to prove the innocence he feels in his befuddled soul and brain. But I had got in too late to read the cast and could not even guess what magnificent actor, new to Hollywood, was making his début back of those whiskers! What a characterization! The futile gestures, the goofy glint in the eyes, the foolish pleasure at being the center of attention, the helpless awareness of injustice, the inarticulate baffled rage! The whole tragedy of a life, right there before the eyes! J. G. Anderson, Long Beach, Calif.

[Source]

Brick... with animation!

18. The Enigma

Jean Valjean found himself in a sort of garden which was very vast and of singular aspect; one of those melancholy gardens which seem made to be looked at in winter and at night. This garden was oblong in shape, with an alley of large poplars at the further end, tolerably tall forest trees in the corners, and an unshaded space in the centre, where could be seen a very large, solitary tree, then several fruit-trees, gnarled and bristling like bushes, beds of vegetables, a melon patch, whose glass frames sparkled in the moonlight, and an old well. Here and there stood stone benches which seemed black with moss. The alleys were bordered with gloomy and very erect little shrubs. The grass had half taken possession of them, and a green mould covered the rest. - Vol 2, book 5, chapter 6

There were several men chasing Valjean and Cosette on the run. The captain was in a long black coat and had a tall shadow: he was Javert. Father and daughter ran together all the roads of the Paris, but they got a problem.

They met a dead end. There was a tall wall in front of the way, there's no other way to go, or if they went back, Javert could arrest Valjean and send Cosette to that awful inn.

Valjean wanted to climb the wall, but he was not alone. And Cosette was only a kid, who didn't have a strength to climb that tall wall. That time, what he really needed was a rope. If he had a kingdom, he would sell the kingdom and exchange it for a rope.

Luckily, there was a rope for a street light. Valjean brought that rope and tied it under Cosette's armpit tightly, and he grabbed it with his teeth. He then climbed that tall wall first.

And then he reached the top, he pulled the rope to drag Cosette, who couldn't climb the wall. Because there were no trails of Jean Valjean and Cosette, Javert gathered his cops and gendarmerie soldiers to surround the area.

Jean Valjean and his daughter successfully reached on the other side of the wall. There was an old hut, a huge building, and the largest garden he had ever seen. Where were they? Valjean let Cosette sleep on the ground, and looked around that area.

There were several women singing in a divine ways. However, he found that Cosette felt cold. If he left Cosette here, she would be ill soon. So, he needed to find anyone and a place to sleep for one night.

And he found an old gardener with a bell on his knee covering up melons to prevent freezing.

Vol.II - Book.V - Ch.X

Nahh I always thought it was cute.

i love him tho

The one, in which Valjean and Cosette find themselves in “a sort of garden.” That’s a fitting characteristic of the place. It seems that this ‘garden’ is a wild mixture of plants, ranging from forest trees to fruit trees and beds of vegetables.

Cosette is still dead-scared of Mme Thénardier—thank you Valjean, for adding to the child’s trauma. They try to hide even within the shelter they have found: “A man who is fleeing never thinks himself sufficiently hidden.” Soon we’ll have the convent digression, and the “celestial, divine, ineffable, ravishing” sound they hear serves as the first nod in that direction. It's a hymn sung on the night of Valjean’s entering the convent, marking the beginning of a series of sounds associated with this place. I am always fascinated by the fact that a nunnery can contain such an intricate soundscape despite being perceived as a silent place.

Valjean getting over the wall of Rue Petit-Picpus with Cosette. Volume 2, Book 5, Chapter 5.

Clips from <Il cuore di Cosette>.

Carlo Chiostri Valjean with Cosette on the wall, escaping the blind alley

I just realized! The ship Orion sequence in Les Mis foreshadows how Valjean and Cosette escape the police later on!

When Valjean goes to rescue the sailor who falls over the ship Orion, he helps the sailor ascend back to the mainmast by tying him to a rope and pulling him back up. This is basically the same thing he does to help Cosette ascend over the wall of the convent— he’s even described as tying Cosette with a knot commonly used on ships (“by means of that knot which seafaring men call a “swallow knot.”)

First ever attempt at sketching Valjean

This is messy and I’m not sure how I feel about it. It was done very quickly as I’m off to bed now. College tomorrow.