Ah, Bonjour! Day 8

Au Revoir!  La vacances est finis

I'm completing the Ah, Bonjour blog from Charles de Gaulle airport, where the wi-fi connection is decidedly much improved from the cruise ship, and that's a wonder in itself that free, albeit spotty, wi-fi is available as you tool down the Seine River.

Yesterday the ship docked in LePecq, a suburb of Paris, where we shuffled off to Napoleon and Josephine's home...wait, correction, ONE of their homes, called Malmaison.  The tour guide indicated that the house was sacked when the Prussians came through, so restoration of the property has required going to other Napoleon and Josephine homes to attempt to recreate as closely as possible to what Malmaison might have looked like when they lived there.  It was opulent, nowhere on the scale of Versailles, naturally, but it reminds one of the huge wealth gap between the ruling classes and those whose lifestyle was worker bee.  And also a reminder of why there was a French revolution.

A portrait of Josephine.  Very attractive woman who, according to the tour guide, invented the closed mouth smile because her teeth were so rotten.

Napoleon Bonaparte.  The tour guide said there are still generations of Bonapartes in France (and probably elsewhere) who can trace their lineage to Napoleon, but not to Josephine because Napoleon and Josephine did not have children together.  Because Napoleon had children with other women, it didn't appear to be his fault they didn't procreate so, buh, bye, Josephine.  However, she made out pretty well in the divorce settlement.  Her daughter from a first marriage was married off to Napoleon's brother's son and they produced Napoleon III.


Josephine had a thing for nature, including swans.  She imported black swans to her gardens surrounding Malmaison and there are a couple still there today, no word on whether or not they are direct descendants.

This is the coach she was driven around in.

Back to the ship, where we then caught the shuttle into Paris.  The shuttle took 45 minutes to get to Paris.  The ship, on the other hand, would take nearly 5 hours to return to the original dock due to locks, bridges and traffic.


Love the Metro signage



We got off at Tuileries, where we crossed the garden to the Musee L'Orangerie where Monet's original nearly floor to ceiling sized panels of his famous Water Lillies are located.

Of course this tiny close up of a water lilly does not do the painting justice.  Most of Monet's paintings are now displayed at the Musee D'Orsay, which we previously visited and where I will revisit when we return to Paris.  Just sayin'.  L'Orangerie has a more limited display of Impressionist art, but in the short time we had, it was great to see Water Lillies.

Back on the ship after walking a couple miles through the streets of Paris, here are our intrepid explorers at the last supper on the ship.


We finished the trip with an evening cruise down the Seine.

Mary and Barbara

The sparkling Tour Eiffel

Moonlight over the Seine


I caught a couple pictures of the many sculptures on the older bridges.

This is the oldest stone bridge in Paris

When we arrived at the airport, I noticed a small group of people standing together, wearing vests with multiple pins and holding, of all things, a Rotary sign!  They were there to greet their incoming exchange students, one young woman from Brazil and one from Ecuador.  Small world!

I suppose I should have some summary thoughts, but right now I'm more on the tired side than the philosophical side so perhaps another day.

Paris, a bientot.






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