The whole drive over to Muzeo this weekend to see the latest exhibit about Napoleon, Tucker asked “Who is this Napoleon guy?” and I said “He is a French man. He was a military leader” which was basically ALL I could REMEMBER about him. My apologies to Mr. Abott my 8th grade history teacher. I think I was having a boy crisis that day and didn’t pay attention…
I learned amazing things about this guy today..
#1. He was the King of Italy AND the Emperor of the French. Kinda impressive.
#2. He did great things in exploration of Egypt.
#3. There was nothing wrong with his hand.
#4 He wasn’t short AT ALL. (5’ 6”)
#5. He was crazy about hygiene.
#6 He was extremely well read….
#7 He was kinda a ‘playa’ in his day…just as Josephine.
#8 He was famous for most of his life time…
Every time I visit Muzeo I am shocked at the quality of the exhibits. I mean it is this charming little museum in the middle of a newly renovated area of Anaheim and it has some of the highest quality exhibits of all time. It was packed with personal artifacts, his hand written papers, letters and drawings. From a personal bottle of his liquor , his underwear, his glasses to even his famous hat (that I may or may not have taken an illegal photo of..ahem) it was all just meticulously displayed and explained.
We went next door to the Kidzeo (which is a kid friendly annex to the museum) to see a real life reenactment of the Battle of Waterloo in miniature. My boys were very taken with this whole concept…and kept saying things like ‘so this is like the first video game’ to which the experts in the room would cringe. In the end we went home with several boxes of these minature figures (Jack is Britain and Tucker is France in case you are wondering) and they have worked on assembly for hours…painting these little suckers is tomorrow. As the boys worked in my garage studio I said “I love how you guys are working together. So nice” to which Jack replied “Mom we are going to be entering into a bloody war soon mom. I don’t think that is so nice. You better not watch that part”. Awesome.
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I once read that he was very romantic…and I think I even read one of his love letters. Cool trip!
Awesome reading for more about Napolean and Josephine… The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland. It’s a trilogy of historical fiction from the viewpoint of Josephine’s diary.
It is such an interesting exhibit. I can’t wait to head back without my little preschoolers in tow. I think it’s so fun that your boys worked together to create a battle scene! Seriously, how cool is that? It was fun running into you Saturday!
Some day I’m heading south for a museum trip. I’m making notes based on your web site. Thanks Marcy!