Together, they were known as "les trois inséparables" (the three inseparables). The three boys met when they were at school and often swam together at the River Arc. Cézanne produced numerous paintings of male bathers based on these experiences, which Zola also remembered in his novel, L'Œuvre, [2]
Another friend and classmate was Louis Marguery, future lawyer and writer for vaudeville.[3]