In Search of Lost Time: Combray to Venice

The novel opens with the narrator remembering his room in the family's country home in Combray, while downstairs his parents entertain their friend Charles Swann. Years later the taste of a madeleine cake dipped in tea brings it all back, starting with a similar snack shared with his invalid aunt Léonie. Combray was Proust's name for Illiers, which renamed itself Illiers-Combray in 1971. The home of "Aunt Léonie" in the heart of the village is now a museum to the writer.

Precisión del lugar: Combray is fictional and modelled on Illiers; the pin marks the town of Illiers-Combray, not a single house.

Para el visitante: The museum in Aunt Léonie's house is in the centre of the village.

Back in Paris the boy dreams of Venice and Balbec, but he is too unwell to travel and instead takes walks in the Champs-Élysées. There he meets and befriends Gilberte, the daughter of Swann, and is awed by the beautiful sight of Mme. Swann strolling in public. The lower end of the avenue runs through the Jardin des Champs-Élysées, a park around the Grand Palais, so you can still wander the same stretch of Paris.

Precisión del lugar: The novel names the Champs-Élysées but no exact spot; the pin marks the Jardins des Champs-Élysées.

Para el visitante: The Jardin des Champs-Élysées is a public park.

Two years later the narrator, his grandmother and their servant Françoise set out for the seaside town of Balbec. He is disappointed with the church and uncomfortable in his unfamiliar hotel room, until his grandmother comforts him. Balbec is invented, but Cabourg is its model. Proust stayed regularly at Cabourg's Grand Hôtel, in room 414 on the fourth floor.

Precisión del lugar: Balbec exists only in the novel; the pin marks the Grand Hôtel in Cabourg, its real model.

Para el visitante: The Grand Hôtel in Cabourg is open as a hotel.

The narrator is now living with Albertine in his family's Paris apartment. When she wants to go to the Verdurins, he suspects an ulterior motive and suggests she go instead to the Trocadéro with Andrée; she reluctantly agrees. Then he learns that Léa, a notorious actress, will be at the Trocadero too, and sends Françoise to bring Albertine back. The old 1878 Palais du Trocadéro was partly rebuilt as the Palais de Chaillot, in the 16th arrondissement.

Precisión del lugar: The novel names only the Trocadéro; the pin marks the Palais de Chaillot, which replaced the old palace.

Para el visitante: The Palais de Chaillot esplanade is open to walk.

The narrator and his mother visit Venice, which enthralls him. By chance they see Norpois and Mme. de Villeparisis there. A telegram signed from Albertine arrives, but he is indifferent; only later does he learn that it was really from Gilberte, and that Albertine is not alive. Venice's sights include St. Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace, the Grand Canal and the Piazza San Marco.

Precisión del lugar: The novel's Venice scenes are not tied to one landmark here; the pin marks the city centre.