From 25 October to 12 November the Empress Eugénie visited Upper
Egypt before presiding over the inauguration ceremony of the Suez
Canal. She boarded a ‘dalabieh’, that is a flat-bottomed boat
pulled by tug boats, accompanied by her nieces and their governess,
as well as Mlles Marion and de Larminat. The rest of the retinue
found places in other boats.
The main ports of call on this voyage up the Nile were Minieh,
Keneh, the Dackel oasis, Edfu, Aswan, and on the return Esneh,
Luxor, Karnak, Thebes, Memphis, Saqqarah and Gizeh. Although the
visits to the archaeological sites were guided by the famous Egyptologist
Auguste Mariette nevertheless the Empress much preferred the desert
picnics and the spontaneous camel or donkey races. And despite
the terrifying heat, the Empress greatly appreciated this journey
to Upper Egypt, where she was at last free from the constraints
of the harsh protocol reigning in the court. The independence
which she enjoyed then (it was as if she were simply a woman in
the street) was for her the best part of the voyage.
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