The Invention of Hugo Cabret Part 2, Chapter 7 Summary

The Visit

  • Text
  • Running the toy booth, Hugo and Isabelle manage to raise money for Papa Georges’ medicine.
  • But the clocks are starting to break down and the Station Inspector leaves a note for Hugo’s uncle asking for a face-to-face meeting.
  • Uh-oh. Sounds like someone’s in trouble.
  • The night before Etienne and Rene Tabard are supposed to visit Papa Georges, Hugo has a terrible nightmare about a train accident that happened in the station 36 years back.
  • Illustration
  • We see a photo of a train that has crashed through the second story of the station and has fallen out into the street.
  • Text
  • Hugo dreams that he’s walking outside when a train suddenly falls from the sky.
  • When he wakes up, he gets dressed and eats, then goes to Isabelle’s apartment to meet with Monsieur Tabard and Etienne.
  • Isabelle leads them inside, even though Mama Jeanne and Papa Georges don’t know anything about the visit. When Mama Jeanne sees them, she asks who they are.
  • Horrified at the intrusion, Mama Jeanne insists that they leave, but Monsieur Tabard tells a sentimental story about how he met Papa Georges when he was a little boy, and how Papa Georges told him that the movie set was where dreams were made.
  • Is Papa Georges secretly Walt Disney or what?
  • Illustration
  • A younger Papa Georges kneels in front of a tiny little Monsieur Tabard. Behind them is a magical set with castles, giant smiling moons, and a big monster with a gaping mouth. Talk about dreams!
  • Text
  • Monsieur Tabard says that he was totally inspired by his meeting with Papa Georges. Then he says that he’s brought one of Papa Georges’ movies and a projector.
  • Movie time! Hugo and Isabelle want to watch right away, of course, but Mama Jeanne's not so sure. Eventually she relents.
  • After they watch the movie, they turn around and see Papa Georges standing there crying. Mama Jeanne starts to cry, too.
  • Isabelle explains who Monsieur Tabard and Etienne are, and how she and Hugo figured out that Papa Georges is a filmmaker.
  • Then he asks for the projector and goes to his room, locking the door behind him. Um, that was awkward.