To fully appreciate this unique footnote in Texas history, take one of the regularly scheduled guided tours of the French Legation Museum, which gives you access to the inside of the house as well as the surrounding grounds. Include a stop at the French Legation with your guided tour of important sights in Austin and the Hill Country, while you relax and take in the area’s history and natural beauty.
The French Legation is a must for history buffs.
Docent-guided tours last approximately 40 minutes.
There is an on-site gift shop.
The house is accessible to wheelchairs though portions of the grounds are not wholly ADA-complaint.
The French Legation is located 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) east of the Texas Capitol in downtown Austin. Several Capital Metro buses stop nearby; the closest stop is at 7th Street and San Marcos.
The French Legation is open from 1pm to 5pm Tuesday through Sunday. If you’d like to expand on your visit, come on a second or fourth Sunday of the month, when you can partake in the French leisure sport of pétanque; equipment is provided and it’s free to play. Games are held at the Mueller Hangar, about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) north of the French Legation.
French chargé d’affaires Alphonse Dubois de Saligny is notorious for his Pig War in downtown Austin. During his brief tenure at the French Legation, he complained about troublesome pigs belonging to a neighboring hotel keeper. He and the hotelier quarreled mightily over the pigs until de Saligny, unsatisfied not to receive backing from the Texas government, took off for Louisiana, never to set foot in Texas again.
