Château de la Malmaison in Rueil-Malmaison

You're standing at the Château de Malmaison, about fifteen kilometres west of central Paris. This elegant manor house was home to Napoleon and his wife Joséphine. The name isn't exactly welcoming, by the way: Malmaison means something like 'bad house'. Back in the sixth century, a royal villa called mala-mansio already stood here. The house you see today dates from the early seventeenth century.