The Musée Bernadotte of Pau !!!

Posted in Europe, France

I like to bring you back to a place that our family gathered for many years, first on my dear late wife Martine’s side for the Tour de France, and later us just even staying there as a base to see more of the region. This is Pau, in dept 64 Pyrénées-Atlantique in the region of Nouvelle Aquitaine of my belle France.  We have come by car always many times on our France Spain road warrior runs , and then staying in town ! I remember fondly the great beltway of Pau the D817 with lots of speed radars and we always on the lookout !!Memories forever ! I am doing this post because I am updating this older post with new text links and the older pictures,Do see my many posts on Pau in my blog, Therefore, let me tell you a bit more on the Musée Bernadotte of Pau !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

pau-musee-bernadotte-off-st- aug14

We took a peek at the  Bernadotte house museum, at the limits of the neighborhood of Hédas ; the birthplace of this Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte chosen by Napoleon I to secure the continuation of the royal house of Sweden in 1818 he finally became the king of Sweden as Charles XIV, and king of Norway as Charles III. Today the current king Gustav XVI is a 7th line descendant Bernadotte. The Musée Bernadotte is here since 1951.

pau-musee-bernadotte-entrance- aug14

There were many efforts to do a museum on his native house but difficulties always prevail the opening, Many years passed and many changes, due to the dilapidated buildings in Rue Neuve des Cordeliers ,today Rue Bernadotte, modified the appearance of the “Maison Balagué”, the only one that remained intact. On the occasion of the passages in Pau of the kings of Sweden or the members of the royal family of Sweden, the birthplace of the Marshal was the object of a visit. The house was visited in 1872 by Queen Joséphine, in 1878 by Gustave V, then prince royal, in 1892 by Oscar II, who returned in 1899, and finally by the Duke of Sudermania, future King Charles XIII of Sweden. In 2018, to celebrate the bicentenary of the accession of Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte to the Swedish throne, Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel visited the restored birthplace of the founder of the dynasty,

In 1935, the birthplace of Bernadotte was poorly maintained and in poor condition. A company, the “Association des Amis du Musée Bernadotte”, was therefore set up in order to safeguard the interests of the house. The mayor at the time,took over the file in order to allow the museum to reopen in good conditions. He thus contacted the Swedish ambassador in France to set up a viable financial project. The whole of the birthplace and the collections belonging to the Bernadotte Society were therefore bought back half by the city and the other half by the Swedish crown. The Lundberg donation still makes up the bulk of the Bernadotte museum’s collections, even if successive additions have been made by the various kings of Sweden. The life of Bernadotte is thus evoked, from the young soldier of the king, to the general of the French revolution, then marshal of Napoleon, to the crown prince and finally king of Sweden and Norway. The museum contains paintings, miniatures, watercolors, drawings, engravings, snuffbox, porcelain, rare books and prints, coins and medals, dispatches, personal memories (saber, spurs, gloves) , etc. The letter in which Napoleon authorizes Bernadotte to respond favorably to his appointment as Crown Prince of Sweden is part of the collection on display at the museum. The royal iconography is also very present with many documents, engravings and paintings, evoking the reign of Charles XIV Jean (Bernadotte), and his successors.

The city of Pau on the Musée Bernadotte :https://www.pau.fr/le-musee-bernadotte–tresor-patrimonial-entre-tradition-et-modernite

 The Pau Pyrénées tourist office on the museum : https://www.pau-pyrenees.com/pau/musee-bernadotte/tabid/315/offreid/4a8189e0-fede-4220-9615-687965dc0294

The Pyrénées Atlantiques dept 64 tourist office on the Musée Bernadotte: https://www.tourisme64.com/en/activities/pau/PCUAQU064FS00050-musee-bernadotte/

There you go folks, another gem of my belle France so many right, yes! And as a base, Pau is great even going into Spain! The museum has an interesting story and worth the detour, me think ! Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Musée Bernadotte of Pau as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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