Stories
Maison de Balzac
By Norm Spilleth
After seeing Gerard Depardieu in “Balzac: A Life of Passion”, my wife and I had to make a pilgrimage to the Maison de Balzac in Passy at #47 rue Raynouard. We usually stay in the 15th near the Motte Piquet Grenille metro because it connects routes 6, 8 and 10 with easy connections to 13, 2 and 9...usually just a "stop" away to transfer. It is the best metro station in the city...always seems to work out to have fewer people aboard at any time....nice "secret" for ease in maneuvering about the town.
It is an easy walk from there to the Eiffel Tower, Trocadero, L'Ecole Militaire, etc. yet "secluded" in an upper middle-class professional/working community with moderate priced restaurants/cafes. It is also within walking distance of Passy, across the pont Bir Hakiem a double- decker bridge across the Seine with a metro line above and auto and passenger below. The Rue Raynouard is an uphill walk from there. The Maison de Balzac is on the side of a hill below street level, surrounded by gardens and trees. It has three levels from Rue Raynouard down to Rue Berton the street below.
In his day, he shared the building with other tenants and their rooms and out buildings are now a part of the museum. Balzac’s study is preserved as it was when he lived there. The walls are hung with red velvet, the floors are wood parquet. The desk and chair where he wrote many of his famous works including “The Human Comedy” is in the middle of the room. His coffee pot is on a side board, and his gold headed cane, inlaid with turquoise, the wood worn from his grip, stands in the corner. After a visit to the museum, we traveled by metro to Pere Lachaise Cemetery where he is interred with most of the heroes of French culture. Pere Lachaise has winding, cobblestone streets lined with old trees and house-like tombs. Balzac has a considerable memorial, topped with his bust.
Maison de Balzac
Address: 47, rue Raynouard, 75016 Paris
Phone: 01-55-74-41-80
Métro: Passy / La Muette
RER: C Boulainvilliers
Bus: n°32, 50, 70, 72.
Open: 10:00 - 18:00 except Mondays
