La Pagerie, Martinique 2008Marie Josephe Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie was the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte and the first Empress of France. She was born in Trois Ilets, Martinique, in 1763. Her family home was a sugar cane plantation, the ruins of which are pictured here. She married the Vicomte de Beauharnais, who was executed in the French revolution. She married Napoleon two years later.
The family estate in Martinique was destroyed several times by hurricanes, and only the kitchen outbuilding remains today. (Kitchens were generally in buildings separate from the family residence because of frequent fires.) The estate has the stone foundations of the residence and the shell of one of the buildings used to press the cane and boil off the water, leaving sugar.http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3735/254250159_CHgvX-Ti.jpghttp://civex.smugmug.com/gallery/4334643_bhfDT/2008-02-13T09:42:42ZCopyright 2009, the copyright holder of each photograph. Some portions copyright SmugMug. All rights reserved.SmugMugThis is the chimney of the ruins which boiled off the water from the cane pressings.<p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com">civex</a><br />This is the chimney of the ruins which boiled off the water from the cane pressings.</p><p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/4334643_bhfDT#254250159_CHgvX" title="This is the chimney of the ruins which boiled off the water from the cane pressings."><img src="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3735/254250159_CHgvX-Th.jpg" width="99" height="150" alt="This is the chimney of the ruins which boiled off the water from the cane pressings." title="This is the chimney of the ruins which boiled off the water from the cane pressings." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p>2009-01-15T23:14:38Zcivexhttp://civex.smugmug.comhttp://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3735/254250159_CHgvX-Th.jpg14.53077000000000-61.0487100000000030These are the ruins of the sugar refinery. Near the center of the photo are the round brick settings where the hemispherical tubs of sugar water were located for boiling off the water.<p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com">civex</a><br />These are the ruins of the sugar refinery. Near the center of the photo are the round brick settings where the hemispherical tubs of sugar water were located for boiling off the water.</p><p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/4334643_bhfDT#254250828_2LvPG" title="These are the ruins of the sugar refinery. Near the center of the photo are the round brick settings where the hemispherical tubs of sugar water were located for boiling off the water."><img src="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3738/254250828_2LvPG-Th.jpg" width="99" height="150" alt="These are the ruins of the sugar refinery. Near the center of the photo are the round brick settings where the hemispherical tubs of sugar water were located for boiling off the water." title="These are the ruins of the sugar refinery. Near the center of the photo are the round brick settings where the hemispherical tubs of sugar water were located for boiling off the water." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p>2009-01-15T23:14:04Zcivexhttp://civex.smugmug.comhttp://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3738/254250828_2LvPG-Th.jpg14.53077000000000-61.0487100000000030The gardens of La Pagerie are lovely.<p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com">civex</a><br />The gardens of La Pagerie are lovely.</p><p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/4334643_bhfDT#254251520_Ai4jB" title="The gardens of La Pagerie are lovely."><img src="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3734/254251520_Ai4jB-Th.jpg" width="99" height="150" alt="The gardens of La Pagerie are lovely." title="The gardens of La Pagerie are lovely." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p>2009-01-15T23:13:59Zcivexhttp://civex.smugmug.comhttp://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3734/254251520_Ai4jB-Th.jpg14.53077000000000-61.0487100000000030A palm tree near the ruins of the sugar refinery.<p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com">civex</a><br />A palm tree near the ruins of the sugar refinery.</p><p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/4334643_bhfDT#254252155_V9DUh" title="A palm tree near the ruins of the sugar refinery."><img src="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3737/254252155_V9DUh-Th.jpg" width="99" height="150" alt="A palm tree near the ruins of the sugar refinery." title="A palm tree near the ruins of the sugar refinery." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p>2009-01-15T23:10:24Zcivexhttp://civex.smugmug.comhttp://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3737/254252155_V9DUh-Th.jpg14.53077000000000-61.0487100000000030A view of the ruins over the garden.<p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com">civex</a><br />A view of the ruins over the garden.</p><p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/4334643_bhfDT#254252575_4VGKf" title="A view of the ruins over the garden."><img src="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3731/254252575_4VGKf-Th.jpg" width="99" height="150" alt="A view of the ruins over the garden." title="A view of the ruins over the garden." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p>2009-01-15T23:07:27Zcivexhttp://civex.smugmug.comhttp://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3731/254252575_4VGKf-Th.jpg14.53077000000000-61.0487100000000030The ruins.<p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com">civex</a><br />The ruins.</p><p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/4334643_bhfDT#254253002_5fxzG" title="The ruins."><img src="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3732/254253002_5fxzG-Th.jpg" width="99" height="150" alt="The ruins." title="The ruins." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p>2009-01-15T23:10:56Zcivexhttp://civex.smugmug.comhttp://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3732/254253002_5fxzG-Th.jpg14.53077000000000-61.0487100000000030The gardens of La Pagerie.<p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com">civex</a><br />The gardens of La Pagerie.</p><p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/4334643_bhfDT#254253614_hqHke" title="The gardens of La Pagerie."><img src="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3729/254253614_hqHke-Th.jpg" width="99" height="150" alt="The gardens of La Pagerie." title="The gardens of La Pagerie." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p>2009-01-15T23:09:25Zcivexhttp://civex.smugmug.comhttp://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3729/254253614_hqHke-Th.jpg14.53077000000000-61.0487100000000030This is the kitchen building. The dark stones on the ground at the left are the remains of the foundation of the family manse.<p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com">civex</a><br />This is the kitchen building. The dark stones on the ground at the left are the remains of the foundation of the family manse.</p><p><a href="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/4334643_bhfDT#254254205_WTKkU" title="This is the kitchen building. The dark stones on the ground at the left are the remains of the foundation of the family manse."><img src="http://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3733/254254205_WTKkU-Th.jpg" width="150" height="99" alt="This is the kitchen building. The dark stones on the ground at the left are the remains of the foundation of the family manse." title="This is the kitchen building. The dark stones on the ground at the left are the remains of the foundation of the family manse." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p>2009-01-15T23:13:45Zcivexhttp://civex.smugmug.comhttp://civex.smugmug.com/Travel/La-Pagerie-Martinique-2008/DSC3733/254254205_WTKkU-Th.jpg14.53077000000000-61.0487100000000030