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TRIP OF A LIFETIME, Part One

1/30/2015

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How lucky can you get, I ask myself every time I think about the five weeks I spent in France and England in August and September, 2014. The glow will stay with me for a long time—and it all started with months of planning, of course, also among my favorite activities.

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The Duke of Wellington Tour


My blogging partner, Kristine Hughes, and I planned to lead a Duke of Wellington Tour in September. Read all about it in our Number One London blog.


(see http://onelondonone.blogspot.com). We worked with several travel agents to secure the bookings and actually scheduled the trip so that we could visit Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey is filmed. Highclere is just a few miles from Wellington’s country home, and the Duke and the Earl of Cararvon sat side by side in the House of Lords in the early 19th century, so there was a connection. We knew Highclere would be a good draw for potential tour-goers.  


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Before leading our tour group, we spent a week in London visiting some wonderful places and simply enjoying our favorite city.

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Our first major stop was at Kenwood House, recently renovated, on Hampstead Heath.
After we rested and ate, we bussed across the Heath to visit Highgate Cemetery, a Victorian treasure, still in use for burials today.
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Lots more to come, soon.  I am enjoying reliving every minute as I assemble these posts. Many thanks for sticking with it!!
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NORMANDY AND THE SEINE

1/28/2015

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We left Paris and sailed north on the Seine, leaving behind the Eiffel Tower and the model of the Statue of Liberty near which we were docked

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.A favorite stop on the Seine Cruise was our return to Giverny, Monet's Garden near the picturesque town of Vernon, Normandy. The last time we were at Giverny, it was early summer; the late summer garden was equally beautiful.

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From tip of this series: Monet's House and Garden, the House, the Waterlily Pond and Japanese Bridge; still many roses in bloom; also lots of dahlias and late summer flowers; Below, views in Vernon.
Two of my lifelong ambitions were fulfilled on the day we visited the Bayeux Tapestry and the D-Day Landing Beaches. 
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We spent time in the lovely city of Rouen, where there is a spectacular light show on the face of the famous cathedral in the evening.
Au revoir, France.  On to England.
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PARIS ROUND-UP

1/26/2015

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In addition to visiting Josephine Bonaparte's estate at Malmaison, we took in several small Paris museums.  The city was crowded and even though I would love to have gone back to the Louvre and the Musee D'Orsay, Paris has many wonderful small museums we concentrated on...Rodin, Cluny, Delacroix, to name a few.

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Above, from the top: the garden at the Rodin Museum with The Thinker, the Roman Baths excavated at the Medieval Museum (Cluny), the Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries at the Cluny, the studio from the garden of the Delacroix Museum.
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As we walked around Paris, we took in many famous sights.  Above, Church of St. Germain des Pres, Notre Dame and the Seine, Place de la Republique, Grand Arche de la Defense, Hotel des Invalides.
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More dramatic sights, from the top: Church of la Madeleine, Arc de Triomphe, Palais Garnier (l'Opera). We soon embarked on our cruise up the Seine, pictures coming soon.
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MORE MALMAISON

1/23/2015

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Josephine's Portraits in the Emperor's Apartments
Josephine purchased the chateau (built in the 17th Century) in 1799 and used it as her retreat from the rigors of life as the eventual Empress of France in the Tuileries Palace. In this charming country house, she could cultivate her roses and enjoy peaceful solitude or host intimate soirees and picnics with chosen guests.

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Josephine in 1806, by Henri-Francois Riesener

Josephine was born on the Caribbean island of Martinique, June 23, 1763, named Marie-Joseph-Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie.  She grew up among the sugar plantation society on the island   At age seventeen, she went to Paris for an arranged marriage to Count Alexandre de Beauharnais. With him she had two children, a son, Eugene de Beauharnais  (1781-1824) and a daughter, Hortense (1783-1837).  Imprisoned during the Revolution, the Count was guillotined in 1794, but Josephine was released. 
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Salon Dore


When she met the young officer Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), he fell madly in love with her. Until he renamed her Josephine, she was known as Rose. They married in 1796. In December 1804, in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor and Josephine Empress of France, in the presence of the Court and the Pope. 
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The Music Room
Unable to bear any more children, Josephine reluctantly agreed to separation and divorce.  In December 1809, she moved permanently to Malmaison. 
 

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The Dining Room
Napoleon married Marie Louise, daughter of Austrian Emperor Francis I, and a year later, in 1811, his only legitimate child was born. He was named Napoleon, designated the King of Rome. [This unfortunate young man, so greatly anticipated, died in his early 20’s.]

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La Salle du Conseil (Council Room)
Napoleon, though not always faithful to Josephine, remained attached to her for the rest of his life, even through his divorce and re-marriage. After her death and before his final exile to St. Helena, Napoleon returned to Malmaison for a farewell visit.
 

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La Bibliothéque (The Library)

By her first husband, Josephine was the grandmother of Napoleon III, son of her daughter.  She is also an ancestress of numerous European Royals.

So far, all my pictures were taken in rooms on the ground floor of the house, all with doors opening into the gardens. Upstairs were the private chambers of Napoleon and Josephine each with their own apartments, i.e. suites of rooms.


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The Emperor's Bedchamber
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Napoleon's Shaving Stand


The couple's rooms are divided by a treasury of art and artifacts they acquired.

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The Empress's Dressing Table
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The Empress's  bedchamber
After Josephine’s death, son Eugene lived at Malmaison; later it was sold several times before being presented as a gift to the nation of France by Daniel Iffla (known as Osiris), art enthusiast and philanthropist, whose collections can be seen in a small museum on the chateau’s grounds.
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The beautiful gardens are full of the roses Josephine nurtured.  

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VISITING JOSPEHINE'S MALMAISON

1/23/2015

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 I recently had a free day in Paris and talked my husband Ed into accompanying me to visit the Chateau de Malmaison in the town of Rueil-Malmaison, about seven miles outside the city.


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Catching up with Victoria's Travels

1/23/2015

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Here is its 18 months later (or so) and I have neglected this blog far too long.  You see, I was busy writing, planning more trips to England and traveling.  I will have to catch up going 
"backwards," from the most recent trip.




On my most latest trip abroad, I spent five weeks plus in France and England, on the trip of a lifetime.  My hubby and I started with a few days in Paris and a cruise on Seine with Viking, our third such adventure.  Back in Paris, he headed back to Wisconsin while I went on to London and meet up with my blog partner Kristine Hughes.  See our posts at http://onelondonone.blogspot.com


More to come soon.





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    Victoria Hinshaw, Author


    Here I will share some of my articles on favorite topics, such as English Country Houses, the Regency Royals, Jane Austen, and the like. Some of these articles have been published elsewhere, probably on the blog I share with Kristine Hughes and Louisa
    ​Cornell:  numberonelondon.net

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