Not only a glass-ceiling-shattering explorer, but also a groundbreaking botanist.

Jeanne Baret sailed around the world as part of the first French circumnavigation of the globe, led by admiral Louis-Antoine de Bougainville from 1766 to 1769.

Because the French Navy did not allow women on their ships, Baret bound her breasts with linen bandages and boarded the Étoile dressed as a man. Jeanne became “Jean” in a masquerade that planted her place in history.

Trained by her family in their identification and medicinal uses, she earned a reputation as an “herb woman,” . . . won her the attention of a young widowed nobleman and fellow botanist, Dr. Philibert Commerçon, later becoming her husband.

When Philbert’s health deteriorated, Jeanne established herself independently. She was awarded property in Port Louis, Mauritius, where she ran a tavern.

Philbert died in 1773, and in 1774 Jeanne married Jean Dubernat, a noncommissioned officer in the French Army and the two returned to France completing her trip around the world. Jeanne was granted a pension from Admiral de Bougainville, who cited her exemplary service during the expedition.

It is 1775 and Baret was a different woman than the girl dressed as a boy who’d departed nearly a decade before. She had seen the world. She had broken boundaries, made discoveries, lost a lover, and found a husband.

Though Baret was met with no fanfare, the French government did award her a pension of 200 livres a year for her work gathering plant specimens, even remarking on record that she was an "extraordinary woman."

🍵 Ginger Peach Rooibos – Refreshing early summer sweet peach tones with light ginger hints.

▶︎Superb bright finish that makes your taste buds come alive. With sharp hints of ginger offset by juicy sweet peach overtones, this is one tea you’ll never be able to forget.