Tuesday April 7, 2026 LePecq France

By Ellen Outten



We are just outside of Paris docked at Le Pecq as it is close to our first tour, Chateau de Malmaison, the home of Josephine and Napoleon Bonaparte.

The weather today is perfect, about 70 degrees and sunny.  We left the ship at 9:40 am for a 2 hour tour of the house and we also had access to the gardens but little was in bloom .  However the driveway entrance to the house had some beautiful tulips and annual flowers in bloom.  Bettiann took a longer walk to find the black swan and did finally find one.

We had a great house tour to see how Josephine, originally from Martinique bought the house and made it into the home she wanted.  Napoleon also lived there when he wasn’t off conquering countries.  He never had a child by Josephine.  She had a son and a daughter by her first “evil” husband who died in jail during the revolution.  He was executed.  Josephine also went to prison solely because she was married to the first husband and later was  let go.  

She was determined to live a life of royalty and did so.


The dining room

All the tulips in bloom in the driveway entrance 




Napoleon’s bedroom 

Some of the amazing dishes on display all dating back to 1799



Josephine really liked swans

Josephine’s bedroom 

The original billiard table 



More flowers as we walked back down the driveway to our bus.




This afternoon we headed to the Palace of Versailles.  This morning we had Napoleon's home all to ourselves.  It was an exclusive opening just for us.  This afternoon, there were  soooooo many people going through the palace.  Elbow to elbow, groups and individuals crammed into Versailles.  
It was worth the craziness and the crowds and I’ll never be back so I’m glad I did the tour, but oh my!  And the temperatures today were in the mid 80’s especially inside the palace.

Some fun facts

Seven years after their wedding, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette had still not consummated their marriage. The queen had abandoned the marriage bed because the king, could not 'honour' her, and she drowned her boredom in entertaining and games.

There are 2300 rooms, 1250 chimneys 67 staircases  and 2000 windows.

7,000 people lived at Versailles.














Louis the 14th bedroom 


The start of the Hall of Mirrors 
Mirrors were discovered and brought to France in the early 1800’s   There are 357 mirrors in this hall 





Marie Antoinette bedroom 


The balcony where Marie Antoinette curtsied to the crowd

The chapel where Louis 14th prayed.  Not open to the public.

We got back to the ship at 6:35 pm and dinner was at 7 pm.  And, we had to pack!  Tomorrow it’s suitcases out the door at 6 am; off the ship at 10:30 am and Viking is taking us to the train .  We ride to Lyon and board our second ship and sail for 7 days e ding in Marseille.  

It’s been a long day and if Bettiann buys anything else, it’s going to have to be a suitcase so she can get everything some!

















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