midday
For the present , at all events , one can ask nothing more of them . '' When he had set them down on the floor , and given each a smacking kiss , he took hold of Marianne 's hands and said to her that everything was going on beautifully , and that he was very pleased . Then he went off , escorted to the front door by Mathieu , the pair of them jesting and laughing gayly . Directly after the midday meal Mathieu wished to go out , in order that Marianne might profit by the bright sunshine . The children had been dressed in readiness before sitting down to table , and it was scarcely more than one o'clock when the family turned the corner of the Rue de la Federation and found itself upon the quays . This portion of Grenelle , lying between the Champ de Mars and the densely populated streets of the centre of the district , has an aspect all its own , characterized by vast bare expanses , and long and almost deserted streets running at right angles and fringed by factories with lofty , interminable gray walls . During work-hours nobody passes along these streets , and on raising one 's head one sees only lofty chimneys belching forth thick coal smoke above the roofs of big buildings with dusty window panes .