This paper aims at showing that by just visiting the house of a famous person (in our case, the house of the French novelist Honoré de Balzac in Paris, 47, Rue Raynouard) one can also travel back into the 19 th century and get to know, through reading and studying, the society of the time through thousands of representative characters. We have visited this house located on top of the Passy Hill and we came to the conclusion that it seems to have been designed especially for Balzac so that he can escape creditors through the back door. Besides this, the study and the desk on which Balzac used to write using a pen and ink, the imposing yet modest bookcase he used to document, where anybody can read documents, manuscripts, original editions, etc., all remake the past and give you the illusion of reality.

virtual tourism; Balzac; Paris; The Human Comedy

Presentation: oral