Queen Victoria of England met Empress Eugenie of France…

… at Eugenie’s Biarritz, and they became close friends.  It was here Eugenie introduced the crinoline to Victoria, which the Queen would take back to England to become an integral part of Victorian fashion.

(Photos: Featured: Eugenie’s Biarritz, on the Cote d’Azure in France, is still a vacation spot; below Palais Hotel in Biarritz, France)