When Napoleon III seized power in 1851, the celebrated French author Victor Hugo openly called the new emperor a traitor to France and packed his bags. He relocated first to Brussels and then to Jersey. In 1855, he and his family settled in Guernsey, where they would spend 15 years in exile. There Hugo bought a home, Hauteville House, in St. Peter Port, where he produced several of his best-known works, including Les Miserables and Toilers of the Sea.
Today, Hauteville House belongs to the city of Paris and houses a Victor Hugo museum as well as quarters for an honorary French consul. The museum and the house's impressive gardens are both open to the public.
When Hugo finally left Guernsey and returned to France in 1870, he was immediately embraced and elected to the National Assembly and the Senate.