Federation and found itself upon the quays.

This portion of Grenelle, lying between the Champ de Mars and the densely
populated streets of the centre of the district, has an aspect all its
own, characterized by vast bare expanses, and long and almost deserted
streets running at right angles and fringed by factories with lofty,
interminable gray walls. During work-hours nobody passes along these
streets, and on raising one's head one sees only lofty chimneys belching
forth thick coal smoke above the roofs of big buildings with dusty window
panes. And if any large cart entrance happens to be open one may espy
deep yards crowded with drays and full of acrid vapor. The only sounds
are the strident puffs of jets of steam, the dull rumbling of machinery,
and the sudden rattle of ironwork lowered from the carts to the pavement.
But on Sundays the factories do not work, and the district then falls
into death-like silence. In summer time there is but bright sunshine
heating the pavement, in winter some icy snow-laden wind rushing down the
lonely streets. The population of Grenelle is said to be the worst of
Paris, both the most vicious and the most wretched. The neighborhood of
the Ecole Militaire attracts thither a swarm of worthless women, who
bring in their train all the scum of the populace. In contrast to all
this the gay bourgeois district of Passy rises up across the Seine; while
the rich aristocratic quarters of the Invalides and the Faubourg St.
Germain spread out close by. Thus the Beauchene works on the quay, as
their owner laughingly said, turned their back upon misery and looked
towards all the prosperity and gayety of this world.

Mathieu was very partial to the avenues, planted with fine trees, which
radiate from the Champ de Mars and the Esplanade des Invalides, supplying
great gaps for air and sunlight. But he was particularly fond of that
long diversified Quai d'Orsay, which starts from the Rue du Bac in the