ONCE AGAIN WEDNESDAY: VICTORIA & ALBERT – ART & LOVE

Today’s Once Again Wednesday post was originally published in July, 2010 and features my visit with Victoria to see the Victoria & Albert Art & Love Exhibit at the Queen’s Gallery in London. To this day, it remains the single best exhibition I’ve ever attended. So many truly iconic pieces of art in one room, never mind one exhibition. Do click through and read our original post.

Next, follow this link to view the 19 page catalogue from the Exhibition which focused on Queen Victoria’s personal jewelry. Lot’s of historical details and little known facts, including mention of the Duke of Wellington.

THE CHATSWORTH SHEEP

Is there anything more English than sheep? I don’t think so. Diane Perkins doesn’t think so. I know that because between the two of us, she and I must have taken at least 400 photos of sheep during our two weeks in England this past May. Forget Big Ben, the Union Jack or red telephone boxes – sheep are the quintessential symbol of England.

And Diane and I were lucky enough to be in England during the lambing season. We stayed at The Cavendish Hotel (above) on the Chatsworth Estate in Baslow, Derbyshire, where, it transpired happily, the window in our room looked out over the fields – fields that were chock full of sheep. 

The sheep baaahhhed, or bleated, constantly. They bleated morning, noon and night. We woke up to the sound of sheep and we fell asleep to the sound of sheep. Diane and I soon realized that our lives had not previously been complete, having lacked the sound sheep.

At first glance, you may think that the photos above and below are the same, but look again. See how the sheep at the bottom of the second photo are closer together? Which begged a second photo? Not to mention a fifth? You begin to see how it’s possible for one to take hundreds of photos of sheep. 
After a few days at Chatsworth, I became convinced that sheep were the secret to a happy life. I am seriously consdering renting one of the Chatsworth cottages for lambing season next year. They even have days when you can sign up to be driven into the fields in the hopes of witnessing a birth. Heaven!
The Russian Cottage at Chatsworth
Jean-Honoré Fragonard – The Shepherdess/Milwaukee Art Museum
I begin to understand why Marie Antoinette found the idea of playing at being a shepherdess so alluring. You will find below just a few of the many sheep photos I took at Chatsworth. 
< br />
Snap, snap, snap, step, step . . . . . . snap, step, step . . . . . Diane and I walked the paths and snapped photos, each lost in our worlds, for quite some time. We were walking our way over the crest, towards Edensor, the village that the 6th Duke of Devonshire, the Bachelor Duke, had dismantled and reconstructed to his design circa 1840. Up till this point, all of the sheep we’d seen had been a fair distance from the path we were walking on. If they appear any closer, it’s because I used the zoom. 

However, as soon as we crested the slight incline, I came face to face with the sheep below. 
It was right there. A foot off the walking path. And it was big. And, in a weird way, intimidating. I stopped short and it wasn’t long before Diane, still snapping pictures, bumped into my back. She looked up and saw what I saw, the sheep pictured above and below. Big, shaggy and completely owning it’s space. 

“Don’t make eye contact!” Diane warned. 

“What?!”

“Don’t make eye contact,” Diane repeated. 

“It’s a sheep.”

“It’s a big sheep. With babies. And don’t tell me you’re not scared of it.”

“Well, I was scared of it, but on second thought, what can it do to us? I mean, it doesn’t even have horns.”

“No but it’s got hooves and teeth and it weighs almost as much as we do. And it’s got babies to protect. I don’t know what it could do to us, and I don’t want to find out. Don’t make eye contact!”
Reasoning that I had another week and a half in England still ahead of me, I decided not to take chances with my life. I looked away and we hot footed it down the lane and across the road to Edensor. 
Where we found the sign below on the village gate. 
“Do you think we worried them?” Diane asked.
“More the other way round, no?” I responded. We turned away and attempted to find our objectives – the graves of Kick Kennedy and Deborah, the recently departed Duchess of Devonshire. 
As we approached the graveyard by the church, we spotted a wondrous sight – newly shorn sheep set to graze within the graveyard fence, thus keeping the cemetery all neat and tidy.
These sheep largely ignored us and kept their heads bent to the task at hand. Or hoof. When they did look our way, it was with curiosity and/or a sort of benign benevelance. Our faith in sheep was soon restored!
That night, we once again listened to the soothing sound of the sheep in the fields below our window. You’ve no idea how hard it is to fall asleep whilst counting sheep when one is actively avoiding making eye contact with them.  

You can see the Chatsworth sheep live and in person when we visit the House, gardens and Edensor during Number One London’s 2017 Country House Tour – full details can be found here. 

ONCE AGAIN WEDNESDAY: TRAVELS WITH VICTORIA: VISITING JOSEPHINE BONAPARTE'S MALMAISON

Originally published October 3, 2014

I recently had a free day in Paris and talked my husband Ed into accompanying me to visit the Chateau de Malmaison in the town of Rueil-Malmaison, about seven miles outside the city.
Josephine’s portraits in the Emperor’s Apartment

Josephine in 1806, by Henri-Francois Riesener
Josephine purchased the chateau (built in the 17thCentury) in 1799 and used it as her retreat from the rigors of life as the eventual Empress of France in the Tuileries Palace. In this charming country house, she could cultivate her roses and enjoy peaceful solitude or host intimate soirees and picnics with chosen guests.

The Entrance Hall

Josephine was born on the Caribbean island of Martinique, June 23, 1763, named Marie-Joseph-Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie.  She grew up among the sugar plantation society on the island   At age seventeen, she went to Paris for an arranged marriage to Count Alexandre de Beauharnais. With him she had two children, a son, Eugene de Beauharnais  (1781-1824) and a daughter, Hortense (1783-1837).  Imprisoned during the Revolution, the Count was guillotined in 1794, but Josephine was released.

The Billiard Room

When she met the young officer Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), he fell madly in love with her. Until he renamed her Josephine, she was known as Rose. They married in 1796. In December 1804, in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor and Josephine Empress of France, in the presence of the Court and the Pope.

Le Salon Doré


Unable to bear any more children, Josephine reluctantly agreed to separation and divorce.  In December 1809, she moved permanently to Malmaison.  

  
The Music Room

Josephine’s Harp and Pianoforte
Napoleon married Marie Louise, daughter of Austrian Emperor Francis I, and a year later, in 1811, his only legitimate child was born. He was named Napoleon, designated the King of Rome. [This unfortunate young man, so greatly anticipated, died in his early 20’s.]

Dining Room

In April, 1814, Napoleon abdicated, turning Paris over to the Allied Powers of Europe and Britain, and going into exile on Elba. In May of 1814, Josephine died at Malmaison, of pneumonia, which developed from a cold she caught while walking in her garden with the Russian Tsar Alexander, one of the victorious allies in the first defeat of Napoleon.

La Salle du Conseil (Council Room)
Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, in the Council Room
Napoleon, though not always faithful to Josephine, remained attached to her for the rest of his life, even through his divorce and re-marriage. After her death and before his final exile to St. Helena, Napoleon returned to Malmaison for a farewell visit. 

La Bibliothéque (The Library)


By her first husband, Josephine was the grandmother of Napoleon III, son of her daughter.  She is also an ancestress of numerous European Royals.

So far, all my pictures were taken in rooms on the ground floor of the house, all with doors opening into the gardens. Upstairs were the private chambers of Napoleon and Josephine each with their own apartments, i.e. suites of rooms.

two angles on Le Salon de l’Empereur

La chamber à coucher de l’Empereur

Napoleon’s shaving stand

The two personal apartments are divided by rooms containing treasures the couple accumulated.

Ceremonial Swords
A version of David’s Napoleon Crossing the Great Saint-Bernard Pass

Josephine’s gold table service
The suite of rooms belonging to Josephine begins with a sitting room filled with red velvet  and gilt chairs with white swan armrests, unique in my experience, Not even the Prince Regent had these! I can only assume that he never heard of them.
Three Views of the Frieze Room, named for the Greco-Roman  frieze, also featuring swans 
La chambre à coucher de l’Impératrice
Note the Swan theme continues.
Washstand of Mahogany and Sèvres porcelain
Next to the tented bedroom is another bedroom, known as La chamber ordinaire de l’Impératrice and Le Cabinet a toilette.        

After Josephine’s death, son Eugene lived at Malmaison; later it was sold several times before being presented as a gift to the nation of France by Daniel Iffla (known as Osiris), art enthusiast and philanthropist, whose collections can be seen in a small museum on the chateau’s grounds.

More soon on Malmaison’s gardens.
If you want to visit, allow about 90 minutes each way on the Metro (to La Defense) and by bus. Malmaison is currently closed on Tuesdays.

A TOUR GUIDE IN ENGLAND: DAY 6 PART THREE – WHAT WE SAW IN THE CHATSWORTH GARDENS

The Gardens at Chatsworth House are extensive, to say the least. There are 105 acres of gardens and they are full of surprises, with waterworks, sculptures, the maze and a wide variety of plants on show. The gardens have been evolving for the past 450 years, with the Bachelor Duke and Joseph Paxton perhaps having had the largest, surely the costliest, influence on the grounds. In 1811 the 6th Duke (known as the Bachelor Duke) inherited a neglected and fifteen years passed before Joseph Paxton was appointed as head gardener. Paxton proved to be the most innovative garden designer of his era, and remains the greatest single influence on Chatsworth’s garden. 

In addition to the 300 year old Cascade, the Gardens include the gravity-fed Emperor Fountain, above. In 1844, it became known that Czar Nicholas, Emperor of Russia might visit Chatsworth. The Duke thought to welcome the Czar with an even higher fountain than the one at Peterhof (the Czar’s palace in N.E. Russia), and so an existing fountain was renovated. Unfortunately, the Czar never visited Chatsworth, but the new fountain was still named after him. 

Above and below are photos of Blanche’s Vase, on the Long Walk, named for Blanche Georgiana Cavendish, nee Howard, granddaughter of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Blanche married William Cavendish, 2nd Earl of Burlington, but tragically died at the age of 28 in 1840. Her uncle, the Duke of Devonshire, was left heartbroken by the death of his favorite niece and wrote the following: “There are many things at Chatsworth that I should not have allowed myself to do had I not reposed in the thoughts of being succeeded by a person so indulgent, so much attached to me as Blanche.” (‘The Garden at Chatsworth‘ by Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire).

The latest restoration project at the Gardens has been conducted on the Trout Stream. You’ll find a short video on the project here.

We’ll be spending an entire day exploring the Chatsworth gardens during Number One London’s 2017 Country House Tour. Our estate guide will share the hidden stories and history of the gardens, including the famed glasshouses built by Joseph Paxton, and a picnic lunch will be served in the gardens. You’ll find complete tour details here. 

ONCE AGAIN WEDNESDAY: DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MONARCH OF THE GLEN?

No, not that Monarch of the Glen.
This Monarch of the Glen.
Monarch of the Glen was a BBC TV drama series featuring the exploits of an impecunious and somewhat dysfunctional Highland family in their efforts to keep the estate of Glenbogle going after Archie MacDonald, a young restaurateur, is called back to his childhood home where he must act as the new Laird. 
Adapted from the so-called “Highland” novels of Compton MacKenzie, author of Sylvia Scarlett, the series originally starred Richard Briers, Susan Hampshire, Hamish Clark, Alastair Mackenzie, Dawn Steele and Sandy Morton. The programme ran for seven series, from 2000 to 2006, becoming the longest running non-soap drama ever run by the BBC, beating Ballykissangel by one year.
In reality, Archie is not really the new Laird, as his eccentric father, Hector, is still alive, though increasingly unable, or unwilling, to fulfill the role. Archie’s mother, Molly (Susan Hampshire, right) uses this as a crafty excuse to call her son home. In the first season, Archie resents his obligations as various problems arise at Glenbogle – not the least of which is that Hector’s neglect of the estate has put it in dire financial straights. As the episodes progress, Archie finds himself increasingly attached to both the estate and it’s inhabitants, including Lexie (Dawn Steele), the estate’s sexy, street-smart cook; the shy and bumbling  kilt-wearing handyman Duncan (Hamish Clark), and a quintessentially Scots gilly named Golly (Alexander Morton). Archie is constantly tasked with making the estate profitable, or at least marginally solvent, and schemes for raising money include turning the estate into a museum, a wedding hall, a hotel and a wildlife park.  As the series goes on, we learn more about the lives of these characters, their connections to one another and their own reasons for wanting Glenbogle, and Archie, to succeed.  
Another of the stars of Monarch of the Glen is the atmospheric setting and gorgeous Highland scenery. The series was filmed around Badenoch and Strathspey – mainly in the Laggan, Newtonmore and Kingussie  area, and the fairy-tale like Ardverikie House, on the far shore of Loch Laggan, became Glenbogle Castle. Ardverikie is itself a grand Scottish estate which, through time, has faced many of the problems that underpinned the stories of the dramatized in the series.

Ardverikie was built in 1878 by local craftsmen and has been owned by the same family since then. It has had a rich history, almost chosen by Queen Victoria instead of Balmoral as her Scottish retreat and ironically used briefly in the film `Mrs Brown’ for some scenes. English painter John Millais spent many months here on the estate sketching and drawing. Landseer’s influence is also evident within the house, as well as in the adoption of his most famous stag painting for the title of the television series.

You can watch a bit of Monarch of the Glen here, but the series is widely available through Netflix and local libraries.

If you’ve always dreamed of seeing the Highlands for yourself, consider joining author and guide Sue Ellen Welfonder for Number One London’s 2017 Scottish Castles Tour – details can be found here. We’d love to share our love of Scotland with you!