Route Napoléon

The Route Napoléon is the route taken by Napoleon I in 1815 on his return from Elba.^[1] It is now concurrent with sections of routes N85,^[1][2] D1085, D4085, and D6085.

Gilded eagle marker along the Route Napoléon, on the southern approach to Gap, Hautes-Alpes

Map of the Route Napoléon

The route begins at Golfe-Juan, where Napoleon disembarked on 1 March 1815,^[1] beginning the Hundred Days that ended at Waterloo.^[3] Napoleon led around 1,000 men, horses and equipment, and completed the journey in less than seven days, reaching Grenoble on 7 March 1815.^[4] From there he proceeded to Paris, where, as Balzac wrote, 'France gave herself to Napoleon, just as a pretty girl abandons herself to a Lancer'.^[5]

The Route was inaugurated in 1932^[2] and meanders from the French Riviera north-northwest along the foothills of the Alps.^[1][2] Among the highlights of the route are the towns of Grasse, Castellane and Sisteron, and the Gorges du Verdon, which can be reached with a slight diversion from the main route.^[6]

Route

From south to north:

• Antibes
• Grasse
• Saint-Vallier-de-Thiey
• Castellane
• Digne
• Sisteron
• Gap
• Col Bayard (1,246 m)
• Corps
• La Mure
• Laffrey
• Grenoble

Gallery

• 
  Route Napoleon, Prairie de la Rencontre, Laffrey
• 
  Lake on the Col Bayard