Though not exactly a sequel,A vau-l'eau grew out of En ménage and indeed turned out to have so much in common with the preceding novel that Huysmans felt obliged to cut it short to avoid repeating himself. The text was therefore published as a novella in 1882. Its protagonist, M. Folantin, is an older man than the characters in the earlier texts, and this, plus the fact that A vau-l'eau was written two or three years after Les Sœurs Vatard, gives it a historical perspective lacking in its predecessors. As a result it is in this text that we see the clearest indications of the transformations that have affected the quarters that concern us – most notably the 6e arrondissement and the quartier of Saint-Sulpice where M. Folantin, like his creator, has his roots: ‘son bureau était là, puis il y était né, sa famille y avait constamment vécu; tous ses souvenirs tenaient dans cet ancien coin tranquille’ (499–500). M. Folantin observes the demolitions and new constructions that have affected his neighbourhood, ‘défiguré par des percées de nouvelles rues, par de funèbres boulevards, rissolés l’été et glacés l'hiver, par de mornes avenues qui avaient américanisé l'aspect du quartier et détruit pour jamais son allure intime sans lui avoir apporté en échange des avantages de confortable, de gaîté et de vie’ (500). The concomitants of these Haussmanian developments include the loss of certain picturesque perspectives favoured by the flâneur. Quaint and congenial nooks and corners have been replaced by the anonymous, barrack-like apartment and office blocks that line the broad boulevards (some referred to these buildings as huge strongboxes – ‘coffres forts’) (514).

More relevant to our theme is the fact that the small businesses he patronises are closing down and moving away in the direction of the new commercial areas produced by Haussmanisation: ‘les centres se déplacent; maintenant tous les antiquaires, tous les vendeurs des livres de luxe végètent dans ce quartier et ils fuient, dès que leur baux expirent, de l'autre côté du fleuve. Dans dix ans d'ici, les brasseries et le cafés auront envahi tous les rez-de-chaussée du quai!’ (506).