Send Gift Baskets to Rueil-Malmaison, France

Château de Malmaison

After acquiring Malmaison in 1799, Joséphine spent astronomical sums on the house and grounds. Meanwhile, she planted 250 varieties of roses and set up a menagerie with zebras, llamas, antelopes, and kangaroos in the gardens.

Bois-Préau

The banker’s daughter would not sell, and Joséphine would not get the property until the neighbor drowned in the pond in 1808. In addition to beautiful lawns and mature trees like Turkish hazels that date back to Joséphine’s time, these 17 hectares are now a beautiful public park in the English style.

Château de la Petite Malmaison

This grand pavilion became a separate property after the massive grounds of Château de Malmaison were divided. This tomb was built in 1805 by Louis-Martin Berthault, who also designed Joséphine’s tomb.

Église Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul

This Renaissance church is best known for containing the tombs of Joséphine and her daughter Hortense. On 2 June 1814, a funeral service was held here, and her grave would be completed 11 years later in 1825. It was carved from Carrara marble and designed by architect Louis-Martin Berthault and sculptor Pierre Cartelier.

Bois de Saint-Cucufa

About 200 hectares of forest make up the Malmaison grounds, which became a public park in 1871. In addition to some Joséphine trivia, she contracted pneumonia after walking beside the park’s pond on a cold night.

Mont-Valérien

The fortress atop Mont-Valérien, the prominent rise to the west of Paris, played a crucial role in the Siege of Paris in 1870 and the suppression of the Paris Commune in 1871. However, during the Second World War, the French Resistance and other forbidden groups were executed here in more significant numbers.

Musée d’Histoire Locale

The old town hall houses a museum covering the city’s history, including some of its ways of life and personalities. At the end of the 1800s, the phylloxera blight killed off Rueil-Malmaison’s old winemaking industry.

Musée des Gardes Suisses

During the French Revolution, almost 900 soldiers were massacred while defending the Tuileries. A detachment would leave this building weekly for Versailles to relieve the “piquet donner” there. It is located in one of three barracks built for the corps in the middle of the 18th century.

Parc de Saint-Cloud

While Rueil-Malmaison embodies the empire, Saint-Cloud is characterized by a royal flair. This legacy can be seen in the prestigious “Jardin Notable” Parc de Saint-Cloud, one of Europe’s most beautiful gardens.

Atelier Grognard

Once a 19th-century factory that forged copper, zinc, and tin plates for engraving, this building is now a museum. It’s been long since those days, and the Atelier Grognard now hosts temporary art exhibitions in two large halls.