Following In Famous Footsteps

I just returned from a few days in Paris, and I'm way behind in my research and writing schedule (yeah, yeah, I know, cue the violins), so this post will be primarily visual.

Because I researched the lives of Napoleon and Josephine for NOTORIOUS ROYAL MARRIAGES, I took advantage of the fact that our hotel room wasn't yet ready on our arrival, so my husband and I took the metro and then a bus out to Malmaison.

The origin of the name "bad house" is unknown, but a house on the location dates to the twelfth century. On April 21, 1799, Josephine Bonaparte bought Malmaison, having been charged by her husband (who was off attempting to conquer Egypt) to find a nice country retreat. It became their favorite spot to unwind as the imperial couple; and Napoleon gave it to Josephine as part of their divorce arrangement in 1810.

Although we arrived on a somewhat gray day, and the facade is a dove gray as well, there was something very sad about the bad house. It's a museum of Napoleona now; the rooms contain period furniture, though not necessarily what was in the château at the time Josephine and Napoleon lived there.

Apart from the gardens gracing the entry to Malmaison, the grounds, including Josephine's famous rose gardens, seem sadly neglected. In late September, there isn't much blooming, but I did take a couple of pictures of the descendents of Josephine's roses. It wasn't until I uploaded the photos and noticed the speckled detail on this rose, that I was really struck by the poignancy of what looks like blood-spattered purity. Thoughts of the Revolution and Madame Guillotine came immediately to mind, as well as the broken marriage of the imperial couple.

The Conciergerie, once the residence of Medieval French kings, its purpose perverted during the Revolution, is similarly bleak. The heaviness of the atmosphere, the sorrow in the air, were palpable to me.

Lower level of the Conciergerie; the frieze of is of Bacchus and grapes, contrasting with the glum mood of the castle that became a prison.

The Women's Courtyard -- the Cour des Femmes. Female prisoners were permitted to take some fresh air here.

They tried to discreetly wash themselves and their dirty hose and linen in this fountain in the cour des femmes; feeling clean(ish) was a rare opportunity to retain a modicum of dignity in the crowded, filthy, and smelly prison. The male prisoners were afforded no such "luxury."

And how ironic that the place where Marie Antoinette spent her final months should now have a gift shop selling replicas of her head (this is the original marble bust, which is at Versailles)!

At Versailles I walked and walked in the footsteps of Marie Antoinette. For research purposes I've spent a lot of time in her company lately and have come to appreciate and understand, even love, her. Sometimes it were the little details that struck me.

Was this cupid relief on the chapel door the last thing she saw before walking down to aisle to be married to the dauphin, Louis Auguste, on May 16, 1770?

What did her bedroom (this is of course a re-creation of her furnishings) look like on that horrific day in 1789 when an angry mob armed with pitchforks, clubs, and pikes, stormed the queen's rooms in search of L'Autrichenne, beheading the faithful guards who tried to block their entry?

Who did she frolic with in the Temple of Love on the grounds of Le Petit Trianon?

Did she sip chocolate, gossip, or play cards, in the remote and sunny Belvedere?

Did she ever share this single bed at Le Petit Trianon with Axel Fersen?

Have you ever walked in the footsteps of your characters, whether for research purposes, or for the sheer pleasure of it? Who were they, and what did you take away from the experience?