In Paris, Arc de Triomphe acclaims Napoleon Bonaparte France’s most renowned leader. Marble friezes represent his key victories. Thirty shields highlight battles where he passionately defended the new Republic and its revolutionary ideals. This enormous iconic arch sparks our investigations into Napoleon’s lifetime of achievement.
A Viking Cruise excursion skirts École Militaire where Napoleon excelled in war crafts and takes us onward into the city’s eastern suburbs to visit Château-de-Malmaison. Our guide recounts, “Josephine, a wealthy widow, bought her new husband this two-story 18th century home during his Egyptian campaign.” Decorated to impress, classical sculptures line a spacious foyer. A huge billiard table dominates the adjacent room. Upstairs, Roman and Egyptian-style furnishings evoke Napoleon’s early conquests.
Paintings reflect the influential couple’s support of revolutionary fashion. Renouncing the monarchy’s restrictive wear, women like Josephine rejected corsets, hooped skirts and heavy brocades. Portraits reveal simple, high-waisted, flowing Greco-Roman dresses flattering her natural beauty. Men abandoned foppish makeup, wigs, neck ruffles and lacy floral garb. Looking dynamic, Napoleon sports no-nonsense trousers, trim waistcoat, tricorn hat… and snappy riding boots.
His bedchamber proves austere. Canvas camp chairs stand beside the tent-like bed he used during military operations. As sole ornamentation, a gilded eagle perches above. In a glass cabinet, an elaborate toiletry case suggests efforts to look dashing for artists; one framed result hangs in the salon. Napoleon Crossing the Alps depicts him as a heroic figure mounted on his white stallion, Marengo, yellow cape flowing.
Outside, a portion of Josephine’s famous garden remains. A placard explains the evolution of her beloved rose collection. During military campaigns, Napoleon ordered his officers to find, dig and transport roses to Paris. Many of these 250-plus species still perfume the air.
Another day, we cross Pont d’Iéna, one of Napoleon’s early projects. His nephew, Napoleon III, later added sculpted Arab, Greek, Roman and Gallic warriors along the balustrades. On through the Trocadero and along the World Heritage waterfront, we arrive at Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel celebrating Napoleon’s Italian victories. To rival imperial Rome, he funded this and many other monuments. Nearby lies Place Vendôme commemorating his triumphant Battle of Austerlitz, defeating and destroying the Holy Roman Empire.
Our stroll continues into the Tuileries. The magnificent centuries-old palace served as his residence from 1799. While there, he added a Louvre Museum wing, providing space to publicly display more artwork and war trophies from Italy, Austria, Netherlands and Spain. Nowadays, a glass pyramid rises amid Place Napoleon, the Louvre’s courtyard.
To link the Tuileries to the left bank, he constructed Pont des Arts, an innovative iron bridge. We instead proceed along Rue Rivoli, a street he had widened.
Below lies Fontaine du Palmier recalling the Egyptian offensive meant to sever Britain from India. Four sphinxes surround a Romanesque column and fountain. His funding also created several neoclassical buildings, like this district’s Palais Brongniart, a Parthenon-style stock exchange. Pausing at 17th century City Hall, we consider how he ended post-revolution terror. Replacing the elected mayor, he appointed a Prefect of the Seine and established a Prefect of Police.
Crossing Napoleon III’s Pont d’Arcole to Ile-de-France, we soon behold magnificent Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris.* This magnificent 14th century gothic cathedral hosted Napoleon’s Imperial Coronation in 1804. Altering the traditional ceremony, Napoleon rose beside the Pope to crown Josephine Empress and himself Emperor. Josephine retained her title, even after his remarriage.
Walking south, we visit 17th century Luxembourg Palace. His post-revolution government welcomed the public into its extensive lawns and gardens dotted with sculptures. The palace encompassed Napoleon’s First Consul office and new Senate. Through his leadership, Paris developed into Europe’s political, diplomatic and social hub.
Another morning, a train takes us 40 kilometres southeast of Paris to Château de Fontainebleau, Napoleon’s favourite residence. Inside, audio guides introduce this World Heritage palace. Larger-than-life family portraits line an extensive gallery alongside his apartments. In the first chamber, we admire the painting of his second wife, 19-year-old Austrian archduchess Marie Louise… and now Queen. Two further rooms celebrate their son and needed heir, christened King of Rome. Beside a gilded bassinette, a small portrait shows their healthy baby. A glass case exhibits his little sword and working rifle, among other toys.
Following the French Revolution, this 12th century palace was stripped of furnishings and became dilapidated. Emperor Napoleon rehabilitated Fontainebleau’s previous grandeur. Admiring the 15th century work of Italian artisans, Napoleon refurbished Francois I’s art treasury. This included restoring the gallery’s mythically themed frescoes and ballroom’s oil paintings that convey moral narratives.
Royal chambers were upgraded. Louis XIV’s former bedroom became Napoleon’s throne-room. Replacing Bourbon fleur-de-lis, industrious bees dot the rich blue velvet draperies embracing his platformed throne. Two golden eagles perch above; wreaths encircle the letter N. The Queens’ boudoir boasts gilded, white paneled walls and Egyptian-style furnishings. In the bedchamber, silk wall coverings and dazzling red roses embellish exquisite furniture. Marie Louise enjoyed the sumptuous canopied bed created for, but never used by, cousin Marie Antoinette. In contrast, Napoleon’s room contains his preferred tent-style bed.
In the last room, plush, red chairs surround a small round table. Here, in April 1814, Napoleon signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau. From the chateau’s horseshoe staircase, he restated his love for France and bid adieu to Old Guard officers. His wife and son eventually moved to Austria, where Napoleon II developed into a successful Austrian army officer. Napoleon’s exile to Elba lasted less than a year. At Château-du-Malmaison, he reassembled an army. One hundred days later, he was defeated at Waterloo and exiled to remote Saint Helena.
Our visit ends in the baroque chapel where Napoleon’s nephew Louis was baptized. When Napoleon II died of tuberculosis at age 31, Louis adopted “Napoleon III” as his name. France overwhelmingly elected this new Napoleon president and later passed a referendum making him Emperor. Thus, he became Fontainebleau’s last royal resident.
Back in Paris, we learn that with Prefect Baron Haussmann, Napoleon III carried on his uncle’s work. Beautifying and enhancing Paris, they created new parks, aqueducts, fountains, squares and widened roadways. They also saved and refurbished Notre Dame Cathedral, Sainte-Chapelle and conical towered Conciergerie, and the ancient jewels of Ile-de-France. And in 1850, he fulfilled his uncle’s wish to be interred along the Seine.
Our last amble skirts the left bank to his resting place in the gold domed chapel of Place des Invalides, a 17th century army hospital. Amid its immense rotunda, we gaze upon Napoleon Bonaparte’s colossal quartzite sarcophagus. Other military leaders lie in surrounding crypts. One honours older brother Joseph, who led the army that captured Italy.
In the downstairs chamber, a series of white marble friezes surround Napoleon’s tomb. Several show him as first consul, reorganizing the Grand Écoles to train engineers and administrators, who improved the roads, canals, water supplies and sewers. Another pictures him developing extensive wharves and warehouses. Another panel portrays his appointment of judges, who established France’s Napoleonic Code. Other friezes picture him ending feudalism, protecting freedom of religion, press and association. And from a central niche, the statue of Emperor Napoleon watches over his own son’s tomb.
Thanks to two Napoleons, France progressed and prospered. And due to their many civic-minded projects, Paris became the magnificent city travellers like us love visiting!
*Due to fire damage incurred on April 15, 2019, Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris is closed to visitors and worshippers until further notice.
IF YOU GO:
- Check out direct flights to Paris with Air France: www.airfrance.com
- See Eurorail schedules and book tickets at: www.raileurope.ca
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