Victor Hugo Museum (Musée Victor Hugo)
About Victor Hugo Museum (Musée Victor Hugo)
The Victor Hugo Museum is housed in the Maison Vacquerie, an elegant 19th-century bourgeois residence belonging to a wealthy shipowner family from Le Havre. This museum holds profound significance as the site where Victor Hugo's daughter Léopoldine spent her summer holidays and where tragedy struck on September 4, 1843, when she drowned in the Seine just six months after her wedding. The museum contains the third-largest collection in France dedicated to Victor Hugo and his family, featuring original manuscripts, letters, drawings, and historic photographs from the Hugo-Vacquerie photography studio created during the writer's exile. Visitors can explore intimate period rooms with original furniture, see touching mementos of Léopoldine and her husband Charles Vacquerie, and learn about the tragedy that inspired some of Hugo's most moving poetry, including the famous "Demain, dès l'aube." The garden features artistic wave designs inspired by Hugo's novel "Les Travailleurs de la Mer." Free printed guides are available in French, English, and German. Note that hours vary seasonally, with reduced winter hours from October to March.
Interesting Facts
Victor Hugo learned of his daughter's death five days after it happened, on September 9, 1843, while traveling in Spain with his mistress Juliette Drouet. He discovered the news by chance when reading the newspaper Le Siècle in a café in Rochefort. The shock was so profound that Hugo stopped writing entirely for several years.
In the museum's garden, a curious tombstone engraved "Kiki" marks the grave of the Vacquerie family's pet monkey. This quirky memorial has become an unexpected talking point for visitors and offers a glimpse into the lighter moments of life in this otherwise tragic house.
The poem "Demain, dès l'aube" is dated September 3 (the eve of the tragedy's anniversary), but Hugo actually wrote it on October 4, 1847, during his annual pilgrimage to Villequier. Hugo deliberately backdated it to create the impression of writing on the eve of visiting his daughter's grave, adding emotional depth to this masterpiece of French literature.
Planning Your Visit
Opening Hours
Ticket Prices
Museum Entry
RecommendedGuided Tour
1-1.5 hour guided tour. Reservation required for groups.
Location & Practical Info
Address
Quai Victor Hugo, 76490 Villequier (Rives-en-Seine), France
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