It's been a pleasant weekend - mostly sunny skies and no rain! Temperatures are cool (when I went for my run Saturday morning, the iPhone said it was
55⁰ F!). As the day progressed, it warmed up to around 70, which felt fine in the sun. Sort of like San Diego...
Our plan for the day was to meet our friends Pawel and Isabella at La Defense and take a bus to Chateau de Malmaison which is about 12K outside Paris (in other words, in the suburbs). The Chateau was built by Napoleon for Josephine, and was her residence after they divorced. Debbie and I decided to walk from our apartment to La Defense instead of taking the metro - just to see the area between. We walked up Av Raymond Poincare past Foch to Av de la Grande Armee' (which is the continuation of Champs Elysee's), and followed it directly to La Defense. We won't need to make that walk again - nothing special between Porte Maillot and Port d' Neuilly. We did stop in Neuilly at a boulangerie I remembered and bought sandwiches and orangina for later. We met Pawel and Isabella on the back side of the CNIT building - they bought some small bottles of wine and snacks at the Monoprix in CNIT. We had a pamphlet with directions to the Chateau - take the 258 bus from La Defense to "Le Chateau" stop. We found it without any problem. This was really our first ride on a Paris bus - actually very nice. It wasn't too crowded. The bus was in very good condition. The route and each stop were clearly shown as you approached them - so you knew exactly where you were and when to get off. There were a few other foreigners also going to the Chateau, so we all got off at the same place.
The chateau is really more of a mansion - not really the equivalent of others we've seen in Loire (which were more like castles). But it was still interesting - I learned a lot about Josephine. Napoleon was her second husband. Her first husband was Count Beauharnais, with whom she had 2 children (Eugene and Hortense). The Count was introduced to Madam Guillotine during the Revolution. Josephine survived with her children and married Napoleon in 1796. They separated in 1809 because Josephine (who was 6 years older) was unable to provide an heir.
After the separation, Josephine moved into the chateau full time, where she remained until her death in 1814. Her daughter Hortense ended up marrying the King of Holland, and her descendants are found throughout European royal families. One of Josephine's passions was roses, so there were various rose gardens.
After looking around, we had a little picnic with our sandwiches and wine. There was a nearby park, but it didn't really have any nice spots for a picnic. We ended up just sitting on some benches outside the chateau grounds. It was fine - we drank all the wine so we wouldn't have to carry any bottles home with us. Then walked back to the bus stop, took the 258 back to La Defense, and caught the metro home. All in all, a very pleasant afternoon.
The chateau is really more of a mansion - not really the equivalent of others we've seen in Loire (which were more like castles). But it was still interesting - I learned a lot about Josephine. Napoleon was her second husband. Her first husband was Count Beauharnais, with whom she had 2 children (Eugene and Hortense). The Count was introduced to Madam Guillotine during the Revolution. Josephine survived with her children and married Napoleon in 1796. They separated in 1809 because Josephine (who was 6 years older) was unable to provide an heir. 
After the separation, Josephine moved into the chateau full time, where she remained until her death in 1814. Her daughter Hortense ended up marrying the King of Holland, and her descendants are found throughout European royal families. One of Josephine's passions was roses, so there were various rose gardens.
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