Napoleon Slept (and Partied) Here!

Last night was our first dinner on the Seabourn Legend and it was pretty great. We sat with two older British couples who were completely taken with Cheryl. The food was superb and after my afternoon of champagne, a couple Jim Beam’s before dinner, wine with dinner, and finishing off with a Remy Martin cognac, I was only too happy to call it a night.

We were underway just before dinner. Through dinner, we were not on relatively placid Buckeye Lake by any stretch. One of the British gentlemen we had dinner with was green, but gradually came back to some color of normalcy before dinner was over. In the morning, when we awakened and began pulling in toward our first port, the rolling of the ship was even worse! I know I felt like crap and Cheryl, who hadn’t had a sip of anything other than water, felt worse.

Still, I managed to drag her out of bed and to breakfast at 7:30, all the while having a hard time walking on the decks which were moving hither and yon. I’m sure the staff thought it was “no problem”, but trust me it was really an issue.

We disembarked about 9:00 and got on a bus headed toward our first destination – Napoleon’s “summer house” where he was exiled while on Elba. Of course he had 8 houses on the island, but the main one is under renovation so it was house #2 we got to see.

After his first major defeat, he was given a choice of three islands to be exiled to, one of which was Corsica where he was from, but instead he chose Elba (allegedly because it was the easiest from which to escape!). He spent 10 months here before slipping away, back to the mainland where he claimed back his emperorship of France and went on to the major defeat at Waterloo and final exile until his death.

The house was relatively modest which, perhaps it could afford to be as one of eight on the Island, one in each of the towns.

It certainly had a wonderful view of the harbor of Elba, and he had clear vision to the comings and goings from the island as this was the only source of information on what was happening in Europe and elsewhere. Apparently Napoleon was much loved by the local populace - kind of like having a rock star living amonst you. A crowd got wind of him leaving when he did and met him at the harbor with tears and fond farewells as he had done much for the citizenry . . . building schools, teaching Greek mythology, and throwing lavish parties.

One charming aspect of his life there was that his sister, Paulina, was the only one of his eight siblings to stand by him. She was wealthy and sold many of her own jewels to pay for his lifestyle on Elba, all while enjoying herself immensely, and was widely known as the most beautiful woman in all of Europe. She also had another nickname in French society where she was known as “The Great Horizontal”. Quite simply, she liked men and, unfortunately, ended up dying of venereal disease in Florence at age 45. On her last night of life, her husband held a party in the courtyard of her home in Florence, under the moonlight with an orchestera playing while guests greeted her with kisses in her bed placed under the stars. Love conquers all.

After the visit there, we got back on the bus and went from one side of the island to the other. Cheryl was pretty much green on the hilly, windy roads. I thought maybe we’d have to stop and let her get rid of that breakfast, but she toughed it out. We got off the bus on the other side of Elba in the small town of Port Azzure, and her insides gradually calmed down. Perhaps it was the Italian chocolate ice cream that played a role. I had a lovely cappucino which had a special "message" in it - see below with the PS.

Back on the bus after about an hour to our docking in Portoferraio, the largest city on the island. We walked around for a bit and had lunch at a lovely seaside restaurant – Cheryl had spaghetti and I had a pizza. Both were, of course, delicious. Back to the ship, a short half hour laying in the sun, and a wonderful nap were to follow.

Tonight is the captain’s dinner, so count on a lot less alcohol – probably none – since I had more in one night last night than I’ve had in the past year at home! I’ll fill you in on the goings on when I post again tomorrow after our anchoring in Protovenere, a substitute stop for the normal port of call at Portofino. Apparently, the Italian government has instituted a restriction on anchoring in Portofino as a result of the Costa Concordia, so better safe than sorry.

More tomorrow. See you then.

PS – Happy 60th. anniversary to my wonderful in-laws, Ray and Joan Creamer, known within the family as Mum Mum and Pa Pa. They've set a great example for their five children, the most wonderful of which I'm married to . . . I can only hope we reach that number in years to come.