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Joséphine Baker will make her entry into the Pantheon on Tuesday, November 30. If she sang about her two loves, her country and Paris, she had a third, a little more secret: the castle of Milandes, in the Périgord.
In the Dordogne valley, the Château des Milandes was bought by Joséphine Baker in 1947, who settled there with her 12 adopted children and her husband, the conductor Jo Bouillon. There is a kitchen to the dimensions XXL, a sumptuous dining room, which welcomes the gratin of showbiz and politics, or even luxurious bathrooms. “She wish[ait] have a black and gold bathroom, with the box colors of her favorite perfume, which is Jeanne Lanvin’s Arpège perfume “, explains Angélique de Saint-Exupéry, the current owner of the Château des Milandes. There is therefore black porcelain, glass of Murano painted with gold leaf or a tap in gold plated.
Of Milandes, Joséphine Baker is more a star than ever. She organizes shows for her guests in the small theater of the castle, and spends large sums of money. “She helped all the time. She gave money to everyone, in hospitals, in schools. That’s what caused the problem, it’s its management “, continues Angélique de Saint-Exupéry. In 1961, after her divorce, things got more complicated. Too spendthrift and too generous, Josephine Baker is riddled debt, and the castle of Milandes threatens to be auctioned off. In 1964, even Brigitte Bardot launched an appeal. In vain : in 1969, the Milanese were sold for a tenth of their value, and Joséphine Baker and her children were expelled from the estate.