40. Malmaison - the home of Josephine Bonaparte

I hate to say it again.  

I know you've heard it before.  

But it was raining the day we made our second trip to Malmaison.

We took the Metro to La Defence and connected directly (and undercover and within 5 minutes) to a bus which dropped us right at the beginning of the Avenue du Chateau de Malmaison, a beautiful tree-lined (wet trees drip!) avenue that leads to a peaceful place that you can't believe is now surrounded by a very busy Paris suburb.

This is Malmaison, the home of Josephine Bonaparte.  I have decided I have a lot of time for Josephine.  So I need to give you a bit of background, taken from the little brochure I picked up at the chateau.

Marie-Joseph-Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie was born in Martinique in 1763, the daughter of an impoverished naval officer.  An advantageous, arranged marriage saw her move to Paris at the age of 16 and marry the rich, young Count de Beauharnais. The French Revolution saw the Count and Countess imprisoned and during the Reign of Terror the Count was eventually guillotined but only days before the fall of Robespierre.  Josephine was freed and reunited with her children and, fortuitously, the Count's wealth.

At 32, Josephine, a rich widow with two children met and married Napoleon Bonaparte who was 6 years her junior.  He was very much in love with her but left immediately after their marriage, on military campaigns. Josephine was resented and ostracised by the Bonaparte family during his long absence and foolishly she had an affair while he was away.  That was the beginning of the decline of their marriage over the next 14 years . During this time Napoleon became Emperor of France and Josephine Empress.  But because she did not bear him an heir, Napoleon ended their marriage in 1809 and Josephine lived the rest of her life, here at Malmaison.

She had purchased the property in 1799 as Empress of France and after considerable renovation and extensions, she and Napoleon used it as their second residence for about eight years.  The photo above shows the expanse of black and white tiles that connected the seven downstairs reception rooms.

This was a sitting room used for guests.

And this was the music room.  There are two harpsichords at the far end.  I'm not sure that Josephine's taste in interior decorating matches mine, but I am assured that the decoration in each room of Malmaison was absolutely the latest thing at the time.

Walking back down that long black and white corridor we pass through the large entry, waiting and reception area.

Looking out the window from the entry to the carriage driveway where guests would have arrived.

Next to the grand entry is the grand dining room.  If you think the furniture doesn't fit the room, I'd agree.  But this table and its chairs belonged to Napoleon's second wife and were part of her house at another palace.

So it seems that the museum company that manages Malmaisson, has acquired a good deal of furniture, paintings and other works of art from the estate of Napoleon and have placed the important pieces here at Malmaisson, and probably at other suitable locations.  

However, it doesn always fit. And I think this is the case with the dining room.  

But this is Napoleon's Council Chamber, another public room, and decorated to remind him of his days on campaign to resemble a tent.

Look at this detail.  Just superb.

Upstairs we see the Emperor's sitting room with some very famous paintings of the Empress on the wall.  In fact, he originally had a portrait of himself here which was the expected decoration for his rank.

The Emperor's bedroom, once again with the theme of military campaigns and tents.  Beautifully subdued colour scheme, unlike the bedroom used by the empress, not for herself, but for those nights when Napoleon wandered down the corridor for a bit of .... well .... whatever.

A copy of the famous painting of Napoleon crossing the Alps.  In actual fact, he crossed the alps on a donkey and it was pretty hard going.  But you can't show an emperor on a  donkey, can you?  We would call this painting - pure spin!

The georgeous bedroom Josephine shared with Napoleon.

The tent theme is seen here, again.  Josephine's normal bedroom was a small sudbued sleeping and sitting area adjacent to this room.

I can sympathise.  By the time you change the sheets, fluff the pillows, dust and vacuum, re-drape the curtains, etc - better to have a simple no-frills number in the next room.

And finally - a pair of Josephine's travelling shoes. Ribbons, fur and the softest leather.  She had such tiny feet that she was obviously a very petite woman.

Through her daughter Hortense, Josephine was maternal grandmother to Napoleon III of France.  And through her son Eugéne, she was great-grandmother to the future kings of Sweden and Denmark.  The reigning families of Belgium, Norway and Luxembourg were also descend from her.

She died in 1814, at the age of 51 from a cold, following a visit from her 'very close friend' Csar Alexander 1 of Russia.