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17. Château des Milandes
Built in 1489, Château des Milandes is famous for being the former home of Josephine Baker.
Baker (1906-1975), an American expatriate singer and dancer who awed Paris with her flamboyant revues,
became a French citizen in 1937. She refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States and was
the first African American woman to become a world-famous entertainer and an inspiration to generations of African-American artists.
Ernest Hemingway called her "… the most sensational woman anyone ever saw."
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Josephine Baker assisted the French Resistance by smuggling secrets written in invisible ink on
her sheet music during the Second World War and because of this, she became the first American-born
woman to receive the highest French military honor, the Croix de Guerre.
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In 1949 she purchased Château des Milandes where she protested in her own way against racism by famously
adopting 12 multi-ethnic orphans, whom she called the "Rainbow Tribe." Les Milandes became The World Village
and the children represented for her the ideal of universal brotherhood.
The Chateau now features an exhibition to her extraordinary life, as well as a park, formal French gardens and a very popular falcon show.
The 30-minute show which takes place in the gardens of the castle, features 6 to 8 trained birds of prey and is great for the kids.
The normal show schedule is as follows:
April weekdays: 3pm, April weekends: 3pm, 4:30pm, May: 3pm, 4:30pm, June: 11am, 3pm, 4:30pm,
July and August: 11am, 3pm, 4:30pm, 5:30pm, September: same as June, October: same as April.
The Château itself is closed on Saturdays.
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