“My last dream being for you”: the phrase is his, written for her, and it gives its title to the first exhibition ever devoted to their story, from October 2, 2026 to September 26, 2027.

François-René de Chateaubriand and Juliette Récamier truly met in 1817, at the home of the dying Madame de Staël, and would remain inseparable for thirty years: he, the most celebrated writer in Europe, ambassador, minister, peer of France; she, the beauty whom David and Gérard painted reclining, whose salon at the Abbaye-aux-Bois would become the final stage of the author's life, where he read each week from the pages of his Memoirs from Beyond the Grave.

It was in the house in Vallée-aux-Loups, purchased in 1807 and lost in 1817, that he began these Memoirs, and it is there that the exhibition retraces, step by step, the birth, development, and legacy of their relationship. Portraits, manuscripts, autograph letters, including the one from spring 1819 in which he wrote to her, personal belongings, and lithographs, such as this one of Madame Récamier at Aulnay de Champin in 1834, make up the exhibition designed by Anne Sudre, director of the museum. It will notably feature a portrait of Madame Récamier after Jacques-Louis David, the original of which is in the Louvre.

The weekend of October 10 and 11 marks the opening of the exhibition with a guided tour, a lecture on their correspondence, an olfactory writing workshop, and a theatrical tour.

To continue, here are our top exhibitions in the regions (13) and our exhibitions in Île-de-France and other regions (15).

Chateaubriand House, Vallée-aux-Loups Estate
From October 2, 2026 to September 26, 2027
87 rue de Chateaubriand, 92290 Châtenay-Malabry - RER B Robinson
Tue. to Sun. 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (1 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Nov. to Feb., 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Apr. to Sep.), Sat. and Sun. also 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Price: €6 - Reduced rate: €5 - Free for under 26s