Le Pecq to Chateau Malmaison

We docked at Le Pecq just a short way outside of Paris (15 minute drive) which was a convenient stop to visit The Château de Malmaison, formerly the residence of Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais (Napoleon's wife).  Our tour guide was so wonderful and related stories of Napoleon, then Joséphine and how Malmaison became their residence and then hers after their divorce.

Joséphine loved to spend money and decorate as well as adorn herself with clothes, shoes and jewelry.  Originally the property was 150 acres.  

Here is a fun little story and facts (wikipedia again), that helps set the stage for going inside of this small house:

Upon his return, Bonaparte expressed fury at Joséphine for purchasing such an expensive house with the money she had expected him to bring back from the Egyptian campaign. The house, for which she had paid well over 300,000 francs, needed extensive renovations; she spent a fortune doing them. However, Malmaison would bring great happiness to the Bonapartes. Joséphine's daughter, Hortense de Beauharnais would call it "a delicious spot".

Joséphine endeavored to transform the large estate into "the most beautiful and curious garden in Europe, a model of good cultivation". She located rare and exotic plants and animals to enhance the gardens. Joséphine wrote: "I wish that Malmaison may soon become the source of riches for all [of France]." In 1800, she built a heated orangery large enough for 300 pineapple plants. Five years later, she ordered the building of a greenhouse, heated by a dozen coal-burning stoves. From 1803 until her death in 1814, Joséphine cultivated nearly 200 new plants in France for the first time.

After her divorce from Napoléon, Joséphine received Malmaison in her own right, along with a pension of 5 million francs a year, and remained there until her death in 1814. Napoléon returned and took residence in the house after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo (1815), before his exile to the island of Saint Helena. After Josephine's death in 1814, the house was vacant at times, the garden and house ransacked and vandalised, and the garden's remains were destroyed in a battle in 1870.

Malmaison was fully restored by the famous French architect Pierre Humbert in the early 20th century. It is now considered an important historical monument.

Game room often used at parties and gatherings.

Joséphine's Harp

Notice that many of the rooms had the appearance of being inside a tent.  Napoleon liked that feel as he spent many months on the campaigns in a tent.  This was apparently his "happy place".  Joséphine was more than willing to create this feeling.  I think she did quite well with that theme.

Sadly, the gardens were much neglected except for the entrance walk...

which we didn't see until we exited.