Hanging out with Napoleon. And the treasure I found in one pebble.

Meet Napoleon.

Cute isn't he.

No, this is not Napoleon I hang out with on Elba.

Did you know that Elba (Isola d'Elba) is a place where Napoleon spend 300 days after his forced abdication.

Following the Treaty of Fontainebleau, French Emperor Napoleon was exiled to Elba and arrived at Portoferraio on May 30, 1814. He was allowed to keep a personal guard of six hundred men. 

During the months Napoleon stayed on the island, he carried out a series of economic and social reforms to improve the quality of life, partly to pass the time and partly out of a genuine concern for the well-being of the islanders.  

He returned to France on February 26, 1815 for the Hundred Days. 

After his defeat at Waterloo he was subsequently exiled again, this time to the barren and isolated South Atlantic island of Saint Helena.

Apparently, Napoleon liked staying at Elba.

These were taken near the house he spend his days here.

Walking with Napoleon I was.

The villa is transformed into a little museum.

5 EUR entrance.

Nice place actually,

small garden with orange and lemon trees.

And a magnificent views.

I like this lighthouse.

Interesting how even in exile these people get nice views...

Maybe I should transform into powerful villain to get these.
Hm...Tempting this is.

I remember Napoleon from my history books looking like this.

Actually, I have a similar photo.

I will not be writing about glory and despair of Napoleon in this post.

You can find much about it here (plus great photos of Corsica).

That painting represents Napoleon at his young, glory days.

Then all the stress, over-ambition and Josephine led to these looks.

The villa still contains original furniture.
Napoleon received people here often.

There is also some camping gear on display.

One would thought these soldiers do get sick of camping, but no.

His sister's dress and bed are on display too.

Yes, it is true what they say.

These people were REALLY short.

Though the word is his sister was among the most beautiful women of that era.

Her statue is kept here.
If you are in a doubt, she is the one on the left.

On the first floor there is a reception room.

With big fire place.

Climbing the stairs.
If these walls could talk...
:)

There is something about men with great power.

I mean look at me looking at his statue.

Almost like a blushing bride.

*Not really, I got sunburned that day.

And here?

Mesmerized. 

Completely in love.

I forgot he was short.

I like men taller than me.

Hehe.

 What I am fascinated with when it comes to Napoleon 

, and some other "powerful" men,

 is how ONE woman swipes their feet of the floor.

In one blink of an eye.

You all are familiar with Napoleon and Josephine.

Emperor and his mistress turned wife turned enemy.

Napoleon met Josephine de Beauharnais, who was six years his senior and a widow with two children, in October 1795.

Her husband was sentenced to death by guillotine. 

Mr. de Beauharnais was considered an “enemy of the revolution” after he was accused of poorly defending Mainz in the siege against a coalition of Prussian, Austrian and Germans against the revolutionary French forces in 1793.

Napoleon and  Josephine met a few times and even he was very fond of her, he did nothing.

Apparently he thought she was not a marriage material.

So Josephine made the first move.

She wrote a note to Napoleon that started the ball rolling.

Interesting.

“You no longer come to see a friend who is fond of you…

You are wrong because she is tenderly attached to you…

Come to lunch with me tomorrow. 

I need to see you and chat with you about your interests.”

 Wise woman this was. To chat about HIS interests...

After their lunch date, Napoleon was apparently so captivated by Josephine that he went back to see her night after night for the next five months.

They were a well-matched couple and it was sexual love that really bound them together.

He wrote passionately to her often.

This one, wrote in December 1795 is my all time favorite.

“I awake full of you. 

Your image and the memory of last night’s intoxicating pleasures has left no rest to my senses. 

Sweet, incomparable Josephine, what a strange effect you have on my heart. Are you angry? 

Do I see you sad?

 Are you worried?

 My soul breaks with grief, and there is no rest for your lover; but how much the more when I yield to this passion that rules me and drink a burning flame from your lips and your heart? 

Oh! This night has shown me that your portrait is not you!

 You leave at midday; in three hours I shall see you. 

Meanwhile, my sweet love, a thousand kisses; 

but do not give me any, for they set my blood on fire.”

Did she really love him ?

Josephine was a woman of considerable sexual experience by the time she had met Napoleon.

Even today that is not considered as compliment (well, more as a virtue :) ), but imagine back then!

Many believe that she chose to settle with a man, who was almost penniless, has lacked social grace and was a lousy lover possibly to protect herself and her two children (and because a certain general named Hoche would not leave his wife for her).

Even when there were rumors that Josephine was enjoying company of other men  while Napoleon was in his battles (just a year after they met), he chose not to believe in these and wrote her with even more passion. He was 29.

“I am going to bed with my heart full of your adorable image… 

I cannot wait to give you proofs of my ardent love… 

How happy I would be if I could assist you at your undressing, the little firm white breast, the adorable face, the hair tied up in a scarf a la creole.

 You know that I will never forget the little visits, you know, the little black forest… 

I kiss it a thousand times and wait impatiently for the moment I will be in it. 

To live within Josephine is to live in the Elysian fields. 

Kisses on your mouth, your eyes, your breast, everywhere, everywhere.”

Apparently all this love and lust was mostly in his head since Josephine continued her way. 

Party girl she was.

So Napoleon's letters soon turned to this.

“I don’t love you anymore; on the contrary, I detest you.

 You are a vile, mean, beastly slut. 

You don’t write to me at all; you don’t love your husband; you know how happy your letters make him, and you don’t write him six lines of nonsense…”

She did try to correct her behavior, more after he started flaunting his mistresses in public.

But it was too late.

They finally divorced in 1810.

What I find most fascinating about these letters is the fact that someone would ride a horse for days to deliver them to Josephine.

Good thing was common people were afraid of Napoleon plus they could not read.

Imagine today  a man of such power sending these words in writing to his mistresses.

Yellow pages, come on!

Near by the villa, there is an old fortress turned into museum.

Nice views again.

Just bellow this fortress and Napoleon's villa is a tiny beach.

Hidden gem.

That day on Elba, on this tiny beach, I found love :).

The sea rolled it over at me.

In the form of the black heart engraved into this tiny white pebble.

Imagine how strong  was the current that carved black grains of sand into this pebble.

In the form of the heart.

Just for me.

I made a key pendant of it since I like to collect silly things and give them a new life.

Now whenever I look at it I remember that day I spent following the footsteps of one fallen emperor.

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