When Balzac took refuge there in 1840, Passy was one of many small villages surrounding Paris. Nearby townships included Chaillot and Auteuil. On the Left Bank were Grenelle (a recent township established in 1830) and Vaugirard. Orchards, vineyards and fields surrounded the city, mostly devoted to cultivating vegetables. But La Villette, Vaugirard, and Grenelle also industrialised significantly in the 19th century; Bercy was one of the largest markets for wine in France. Meanwhile, the gypsum quarries of Montmartre produced the plaster used in Paris.
Fields and orchards dotted with a few farms: that is what the outskirts of Paris looked like in 1820. In the distance can be seen the green hills running along the Seine.