Debussy's initial delight with the eccentricities of the English and the fresh air of the English Channel faded somewhat as time progressed. By 28 August 1905 he was complaining to Durand and to Louis Laloy about the ‘murderous’ draughts and extraneous music disturbing the peace and his grumbles continued until his return to Paris. On the way back, he and Emma spent a few days in London ‘without much joy except for the music of the grenadiers who pass by every morning with their joyous ‘bug-pipes [bag-pipes] and wild little fifes …’ By 11 September they were staying not in a grand hotel, but in a pension de famille, La Feuilleraie, in Bellevue (Meudon), Seine et Oise. Debussy's awareness of the consequences of his relationship with Emma is highlighted by the fact that he had no one to whom he wished to dedicate his first series of Images for piano; after all, he had been deserted by those he might have previously wished so to honour.

Finally, in October, Debussy and Emma moved into a grand address: 64 avenue du Bois de Boulogne, sometimes called Square du Bois de Boulogne and which in January 1908 became 80 avenue du Bois de Boulogne (now Avenue Foch). This must have been tiring for Emma, who was approaching term with her pregnancy. Thirteen-year-old Dolly lived there with Debussy and Emma for nearly six years, until shortly before her marriage in 1911 and was permitted to call Debussy by his first name. Debussy's parents moved nearer, perhaps with financial help, from Levallois-Perret to 35 bis, rue La Fontaine in Auteuil. From then onwards they would come to lunch with Claude, Emma and Dolly twice a week.

How could this new élite lifestyle be supported by Debussy's inadequate pocket? The property was rented in the name of Madame Emma Moyse from an Englishman, an alcoholic, according to Debussy, called Mr. Fairbin. Their neighbours included various aristocrats, counts and wealthy foreigners, English, American and Russian, a world completely alien to the composer dedicated to his art, who denigrated the superficiality of these monied social circles.