Napoleon's mornings at the Tuileries Palace often began like this.
He would leave Josephine's bed very early each day, drape himself in a dressing gown, pull on stockings, slip into a pair of green-and-red slippers with worn-out soles, and descend a narrow staircase to his private chambers.
The air in the rooms was quite clear, though Paris had hardly smelled pleasant before the mountain of filth accumulated over centuries was cleared away. At such times, he had servants place small incense burners in the rooms where he spent his days.
Napoleon had a keen sense of smell and caught colds easily, so the fireplaces were kept burning until very late each year.
He was extremely impatient and somewhat rude in manner. If a document concerned some trivial matter, he would toss it onto the floor after reading it. If it required a serious reply, he would mark it with a cross. Then he would read the newspapers. Around nine o'clock, people would be waiting in the outer salon to attend his morning levee. A few privileged individuals could enter his room immediately, such as the Master of the Wardrobe and the Grand Marshal of the Palace. As they watched the "First Consul" wash and dress, they would tell him palace rumors and street gossip. Even when ladies came to see him, he did not avoid the matter, bathing right in front of them.
Napoleon was especially fond of hot baths—scalding hot. He would scrub his own arms and chest with a coarse brush, a habit he had formed in Egypt, then have a servant scrub his back.
Almost every morning, Napoleon would shout at his valet, "Scrub harder, harder, like you're brushing an ass's back!" Probably no other emperor would compare himself to a donkey, yet he was rather proud