Here we are at Rambouillet... less than 50 klms from Paris... part of a circle of pleasure domes around Paris that rulers used for weekend entertainment. The Rambouillet chateaux was a favourite of Napoleon I... he stayed here waiting for his expulsion to St Helens island.
Here are two bits of information on Napoleon you may wish to tuck away in your 'grey matter'.
First... he was not a big eater... he did not organise formal occasions to include the dining table... he rarely sat down for his meal... preferring to stand and complete each meal in less than 10 minutes. The typical pose for Napoleon shows him with one hand on his stomach... not because he had a gammy arm... but because he wanted to show the world the great shape of his stomach.
Second... he had a fascination with bees... kept hives all over the country... and decorated his houses and clothes with bee and hive symbols. At Rambouillet, he had a fresco showing bees painted above his bath.
Rambouillet was originally excellent hunting territory... which attracted the early Kings. A moat was built around the property for defensive purposes... it was altered into a beautiful lake when defense ceased to be a concern. One of the kings imported specialists from England to build formal gardens. This place is no match in grandeur with Versailles... but many kings loved to escape to Rambouillet for its relaxing informality.
Charles De Gaul used the chateaux as his headquarters immediately after the Normandy landings in WWII. In recent times, French presidents have used the chateaux to entertain some foreign heads of state... including Putin of Russia... European leaders met here to sort out their response to the Bosnian crisis... today, some rooms are kept prepared for government use... the locals made it sound like senior ministers use the place for secret assignation... nod nod wink wink... know what I mean... say no more.
The most charming stories we heard today had to do with Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Louis like the place... but Marie-Antionette did not... she preferred the celebrity lifestyle of Versailles. She wouldn't come to Rambouillet. Louis renovated the chateaux in a style attempting to match Versailles... some exquisite wooden panel carvings painted white with gold trim... nice... real nice. He had a special boudoir built for her in the most prominent position in the chateaux... still, she wouldn't come.
Louis knew of the love of nature Marie-Antionette had developed... she apparently saw a flower and liked it. Louis, set about building her a dairy... not exactly the same type of milking bails that Joye grew up with... this one had tilers imported from Spain... the national sculptor was pulled off his current assignment to carve outstanding marbles depicting the wonders of nature... the glorious edifice took 7 years to build. Twelve hundred pieces of porcelain were commissioned for the dairy... a fountain was installed... supporting out-houses were constructed to allow entertainment of groups numbering 60 guests...this dairy now makes an impressive museum... everything done to exacting standards.
The dairy did the trick... Marie-Antionette agreed to visit Rambouillet. She settled her belongings into the chateaux... rode a carriage the 1 klm to the dairy... walked inside... did a circuit of the quaint building... walked out again... and never returned. You have to admire the girl's style... and front. You may recall that she identified the solution of food shortages in Paris... when told that the masses were starving because they couldn't eat bread... her solution was so obvious... "If they cannot eat bread, let them eat cake"... brilliant!
One by-line to Rambouillet's story... when Napoleon fell in love with the place he added more technology to the dairy. Josephine preferred her milk to be chilled. Napoleon ordered that small fountains of water from a cold spring be constructed under each of the serving bowls of milk. We were not told how many times Josephine visited the dairy.
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