K.A.S. Excursions 1998

1. The Annual Summer Excursion in May, attended by 37 members, was based for a week in Fontainebleau to enable us to examine Kentish links with the lie de France. Al Malmaison, particularly, we appreciated the connection between the Empress Josephine and Camden Place, Chislehurst through her grandson, the Prince Louis Napoleon later Emperor Napoleon III. As a young man, he stayed at the house in the 1930s; as the exiled Emperor, he died there in 1873.

The high point of the whole week was a candle-lit visit to Vaux le Vicomte, the chateau which illustrates, in bricks and mortar, the divergent paths of English and French history after our 17th century revolution: a jealous French king (Louis XIV), could imprison his finance minister for life for building too grand a home.

The English establishment could force a too arbitrary king into exile and choose a successor more to their taste in 1688.

Joy Saynor

The Country Social Evening with sunshine and B.B.Q. supper in the grounds of Bradbourne House, East Malling was preceded by a conducted tour of the house to see the restoration now taking place. Especially appreciated was the opportunity to view the cellar and wine vaults.

Margaret Lawrence