Did you know that Honoré de Balzac was sued by creditors? The prolific author was indeed a big spender. He was therefore delighted to find in Paris, in 1840, a house with two entrances, one of which gave onto a discreet street allowing him to escape when he was called to account.
Personal souvenirs, pages of corrected proofs, original editions, furniture, paintings or sculptures (by Rodin in particular) acquired by the writer: this five-room garden pavilion still possesses the soul of the famous author who wrote, among other things, The Human Comedy.
His office is particularly moving: the chair and the small work table of this bulimic of writing (he slept during the day and blackened entire pages each night while drinking liters of coffee thanks to his coffee machine always on the spot) seem to have never moved!
I have made delicious journeys, embarked on a word...
In all, the man of letters (novelist, playwright, journalist, essayist, literary critic...) lived there for 7 years, under the pseudonym of "Monsieur Breugnol", and it was in 1908 that another tenant of this small pavilion decided to transform it into a museum. Inaugurated in 1910, it was classified as a historical monument in May 1913 and has since been renovated/expanded several times, including, in 2019, the opening of the English coffee shop Rose Bakery in the 650m2 garden.
An ideal break after the visit of this place also rich in animations (temporary exhibitions, concerts, readings...) which, while allowing a beautiful dive into the universe of one of the masters of the French novel, also offers a soothing disconnection from the Parisian tumult in the middle of the 16th district.
Valerie from Comme des Français
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