Hôtel de Ville
Hotel de Ville – the original town hall built by François was the work of Italian architect Domenico de Cortona, known as Boccador. He was also associated with the design of Chambord. The current Hotel de Ville in Paris was built in the same style as François’ original.
William Hope
William Hope’s father had been a clerk for Henry Hope, a member of the well known banking family (who also gave their name to the “Hope diamond”). Henry was based in Amsterdam and had no children. When Henry’s clerk John Williams married his niece he changed his name to John Williams-Hope. Their child William Hope inherited a fortune when he turned 21. He decided to move to Paris where he bought a mansion in rue St Dominique for 700,000 francs in 1838. Over the next four years he spent a fortune, estimated at 7.5 million francs, on enlarging and transforming the property. It housed his collection of art works and his fabulously decorated reception rooms on the first floor were the scene of brilliant parties. Hope’s own private apartments were an enfilade suite on the ground floor. His bedroom was decorated in the French renaissance style with extremely ornate walls covered in blue and yellow silk damask. In 1855 he died in his bed in this room. He had never married and the mansion was sold for 1.2 million francs, a massive loss considering the millions he spent transforming it. It is now the Polish Embassy in Paris. His bedroom walls were dismantled and can now be seen at Les Arts Decoratifs. The original furniture has disappeared. The museum was able to locate a rare renaissance style bed from the same period.
Napoleon
2021 was the bicentenary of Napoleon’s death in exile on Saint Helena. When I initially took an interest in travel combined with French history it stopped with the French Revolution. Shortly after setting up in France I found this dramatically changed. Napoleon became a favourite topic for research. His legacy is palpable and following in his footsteps opened up an amazing treasure trove for visitors to France. Let’s take a look at the Beds and Boudoirs associated with Napoleon. his family and friends.
Josephine – Before Napoleon
Marie-Rose-Josèphe Tascher de La Pagerie was born in Martinique in 1763 (six years before Napoleon was born). Her parents were both from French noble families (at 16 her father had been a page at Versailles serving the dauphine Marie-Josèphe de Saxe). Josephine’s aunt was having an affair with the governor of Martinique, French nobleman François V de Beauharnais. They organised the marriage of his son Alexandre to Josephine who was then known as “Rose”. (It was Napoleon who later changed her name to Josephine). They were married in Paris when Josephine was 16 and Alexandre was 19. Their son Eugène was born when Josephine was 18 and daughter Hortense about 18 months later. It was an unhappy marriage with Alexandre absent most of the time and involved with other women. He wanted to marry someone else and treated Josephine dreadfully. He accused her of adultery, claiming Hortense was not his child. When her husband despatched her to a convent, it turned out to be a very positive move for Josephine. She was surrounded by women of high nobility—in those days single noble women had apartments at convents as a standard practice. The rough edges from being brought up in Martinique were rubbed off as these aristocratic women took Josephine under their wing. She went to court to file a complaint against Alexandre for his unjust charges against her. She won and was granted an official separation. Alexandre had to pay her an annual allowance and she went to live with her aunt and Alexandre’s father who were then in Fontainebleau. She was struggling financially and after three years decided to return with Hortense to Martinique. Eugène remained in Paris with his father. When the French Revolution broke out, Josephine returned to Paris. Alexandre was one of the rare nobles who had rallied to the cause, becoming quite prominent politically for the next four years. Josephine and he had both moved on and there was no longer any animosity. They were to spend the last few weeks of Alexandre’s life in the same place—prison. During the period of the French Revolution known as “The Terror” Alexandre was imprisoned at the Carmes in Paris. Josephine was arrested the following month and sent to the same prison. During the day, the prisoners were able to mingle in the gardens. The imprisoned aristocrats were facing the guillotine and did not know whether each day would be their last. It was typical for them to pass the time amusing themselves with affairs. While prisoners in the Carmes, Alexandre took up with Delphine de Custine and Josephine with General Lazare Hoche. Alexandre was guillotined three months after Josephine’s arrival at the prison. Only five days later Robespierre, the leading figure in the “Reign of Terror” was himself guillotined bringing it to an end . The remaining prisoners, including Josephine were released the following week. Josephine rented a house in Paris and concentrated on ensuring a good education for her son and daughter.
Josephine the “Marvellous”
In prison at the Carmes, Josephine also met Theresa Tallien an aristocrat who had married one of the revolutionaries. The two women became close friends. The reaction to end of the Terror and the establishment of a new government, known as the Directory, was swift. It became party time and everything was the opposite to the austere atmosphere of the Revolution. The stars of the new show were known as the “Merveilleuses” (French for Marvellous women) and two of the leading lights were Teresa Tallien and Josephine. The most beautiful of the Merveilleuses was Juliette Recamier, whose life story was mind blowing, even in a time of ignoring the norms. The “Merveilleuses” dressed in Greek or Roman style, mostly quite revealing clothes in sheer fabrics with sandals tied with ribbons or pearls. The male version of the “Merveilleuses” were known as the “Incroyables” (Incredibles). The most notable was Paul Barras, one of the Directors of the new government and lover of both Theresa and Josephine. It was at a dinner at Barras’ residence that Napoleon and Josephine officially met. Josephine was 32, Napoleon was 26.* They were married less than six months later. Napoleon moved into the house Josephine was renting in rue Chantereine, in the trendy quartier of Chaussée d’Antin, popular with both financiers and theatre celebrities. Two days later Napoleon left to head the division of the French army attacking Italy. *They both lied about their age on the wedding certificate to make them appear to be the same age.
Josephine meets Napoleon
Napoleon was madly in love with his new wife and constantly wrote her steamy love letters from Italy. He was desperate for her to join him there. Josephine, however, was in no hurry. Through Napoleon’s brother-in-law, she had met Hippolyte Charles, a handsome young officer with a wicked sense of humour. They began an affair immediately, in spite of the fact he was ten years younger than Josephine and she had just married Napoleon. Napoleon’s urgent pleas for Josephine to join him in Italy were ignored. She kept finding excuses, feigning illnesses and even pregnancy. The Directory (French government of the time) were worried that Napoleon might leave Italy if Josephine did not join him there. His military campaign in Italy had been successful way beyond anything they had imagined and Paul Barras (who had himself been Josephine’s lover before her marriage to Napoleon) ordered her to join her new husband. Josephine finally headed off to Italy—with Hippolyte Charles in her entourage. She had not seen Napoleon for four months. Napoleon seemed to be oblivious to what was going on. At the end of the following year he returned to Paris a hero. The street where he and Josephine lived was renamed “rue de la Victoire”. Three months later Napoleon bought the house which was now known as “Hôtel Bonaparte”. The next purchase was to be a weekend residence out of Paris. They saw the old Chateau of Malmaison but the owners were asking more than Napoleon’s budget of 250,000 francs so Napoleon left for the campaign in Egypt without making the purchase. Josephine was still involved with Hippolyte Charles, including in a business which was to prove to be problematic. Napoleon was finally confronted with the truth about the affair while he was stranded in Egypt, two years after Josephine had arrived in Italy with the young man. Junot, one of Napoleon’s generals, confirmed the gossip about the affair was true. Napoleon decided to divorce Josephine and sent a letter to his brother Joseph. Josephine’s son Eugène had accompanied his stepfather on the expedition to Egypt. He also wrote to his mother to warn her what had happened. Neither Joseph nor Josephine received the letters. They were among thousands of letters on a ship captured by the English admiral Nelson. He passed them on to the Morning Chronicle newspaper in London who printed parts of them November 24 1798. Having been confronted with the truth about Josephine’s affair with Hippolyte Charles, Napoleon was no longer under any illusions. He set out to have an affair himself. The local women in Egypt were not to his taste but he became involved with the wife of one of his soldiers. Pauline Fourès was on her honeymoon when her husband was called up for service with Napoleon’s army in Egypt. Not wanting to be parted, she dressed as a soldier and managed to sneak on board the boat with her husband. She initially rejected Napoleon’s approaches, along with others. It became apparent to Napoleon that she may react differently if her husband was out of the picture. He sent her husband on a mission to France. Pauline’s husband boarded the boat and that evening she dined at Napoleon’s residence with a group of officers and ladies. During the dinner, water was “accidentally” spilt on Pauline’s dress. Napoleon took her to his bedroom where it took an hour to “repair the damage”. The next day Napoleon set Pauline up in a villa near his residence. Lieutenant Fourès returned sooner than expected after his ship to France had been intercepted by the English and he was returned to Egypt. (It is very likely the English knew what was going on and were amused to inconvenience Napoleon this way). He was furious when he found Pauline had moved out and reacted violently. She demanded a divorce which happened extremely quickly. Pauline went back to her maiden name, Bellisle and became known as “Bellilote”. She acted as Napoleon’s hostess and Napoleon’s men referred to her as “La Générale” or “Bonaparte’s Cleopatra”. Josephine’s son Eugène was well aware of what was going on. With the mail being cut off by the English, Josephine was in the dark and still involved with Hippoltye Charles. Seven months later Napoleon escaped from Egypt. Pauline remained there in the “care” of General Kleber and they became lovers. By the time Pauline returned to Paris, everything had changed for Napoleon and she did not see him again. He did organise a mansion for her and a marriage was arranged to a retired officer.* When the news reached Egypt that the government of the Directory was in trouble in France, Napoleon decided the time had come for him to return. Because the British were patrolling the Mediterranean, it took him 47 days to arrive in France. A week later Napoleon arrived at his Paris residence, determined to go ahead with his plans to divorce Josephine. The pleas of Josephine’s children, along with her tears, softened Napoleon and he forgave her. He did not try to take any revenge on Hippolyte Charles, which says a lot about his character. Josephine never strayed again. Napoleon, on the other hand, continued to have affairs. It was the price Josephine paid. Napoleon had another surprise waiting for him. In spite of having been told Malmaison was too expensive, Josephine had bought the chateau six months earlier while Napoleon was stranded in Egypt. Napoleon went ahead and paid the loan Josephine had taken for Malmaison. Beside anything else, Napoleon had bigger things on his mind. Three weeks the return to Paris and the scene with Josephine, Napoleon was involved in the coup d’état that overthrew the Directory. Two days later a new government, the “Consulate” was formed. Napoleon was one of the three Consuls. Josephine had seen the work of architects Percier and Fontaine when they worked on her neighbours’ residences in Paris. They had both studied in Rome and specialised in the neo-classical architecture and decor