Victor Hugo's house

During a large part of Victor Hugo's exile from France, he lived on Guernsey for 15 years. 

He wrote every day til 11 in the morning but it's clear that he then spent a LOT of time working on the interiors of his house. "I missed my vocation," he said. "I was born to be an interior decorator."

Tapestries were everywhere - walls and ceilings. Every square inch was covered with some sort of fabric. This was on the ceiling of a drawing room; the black line is the rod holding the chandelier.

Tapestry on the wall with carpet covered built-in sofa below.

He loved finding something and then making it, or getting it made, into something else. The round pieces to the right of the mirror, for example, were table legs.

This is in the same room, the dining room. He liked to contrast dark and light, death and life. He also integrated his initials in many places; hence the large "H" above this fireplace.

Have to include the cat tiles, of course!

 Doors leading out of the dining room.

The red room! On the first floor (1 above ground level). There was a blue room next to it.

Up one more flight of stairs. Ah, we think. Here is his bedroom, next to what looked to be a writing room. But no, he didn't write in the writing room and he rarely slept here. It's more of a death bed....

The conservatory just off the "bedroom." Not really visible in this picture but you can see France from here, which of course was where he was longing to be.

This skylight provides light from the roof to the ground floor, just over the main staircase.

Now we are on the third floor; another conservatory. Not very clearly visible in the far corner is his stand-up writing desk. Light all around. Carpet-covered built-in sofas again. Les Miserables was written here. Redemption a theme, as it was in Hunchback of Notre Dame and others.

This is the room where he slept. Super tiny. Fabric covers everything, including the little cupboards on every wall for storage.

And when he wanted to get out into the light as much as possible, there was a stairway up one more flight outside.

An amazing house in so many ways. It was almost perfectly preserved by his grandchildren who then donated it to France.

Good-bye to Guernsey and many thanks to Anne, Phil and Alex. I had a perfectly marvelous time! Here's their lovely conservatory that I spent most of my "home" hours in...

And their fantastic backyard, right up a rock quarry wall.

Flying away...

Back to London!