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Napoleon leaving Elba |
This year marks the bicentennial of the return of
Napoleon Bonaparte to France after nine months of exile on the I
sland of Elba, off the coast of Tuscany, that was imposed by a European coalition of nations. All through the year, there will be commemoration of this important event that marked French history.
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Route Napoleon |
On March 1, 1815 Napoleon landed on the shore of Golf Juan (on the coast of the French Riviera). In the next 20 days, accompanied by a thousand of his loyal men he secretly made his way up north to Paris going through the Alps and avoiding arrest by the troupes of restored King Louis XVIII. They advanced on horseback, mule-back and on foot during the day and bivouacked at night in places like
Mougins, Grasse, Castellane, Sisteron and
Gap . Today this scenic mountain road is known as
"Route Napoleon" and runs 331 km from the Mediterranean coast to Grenoble crossing the mountains of Hautes Alpes and Isere.
Napoleon returned triumphantly to Paris on March 20 displacing the reigning king. His return to power will only last a hundred days until his defeat at
Waterloo and his subsequent abdication on June 22 . The Emperor was once again sent to exile, this time in faraway
Saint Helena, an island on the Atlantic Ocean and over 1000 miles from the coast of Africa. He was never to return to France alive.
A program of commemorations including re-enactments will take place in the different locales where Napoleon stopped on his journey back to Paris. For a custom itinerary retracing the footsteps of the Emperor contact
Enchanted France.
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