Night road - Unmissable Napoleon road
In this year marking the bicentenary of the death of the Emperor, a work allows you to (re-) discover the magnificent Napoleon road, which connects Golfe-Juan to Grenoble. It is a mythical road, which...
18/12/2021
In this year marking the bicentenary of the death of the Emperor, a work allows you to (re-) discover the magnificent Napoleon road, which connects Golfe-Juan to Grenoble.
It is a mythical road, which unrolls its 337 km through some of the most beautiful landscapes in France, from the Mediterranean shores of Golfe-Juan to Grenoble. The Napoleon route takes its name from the route taken by the Emperor in 1815, from his return from exile on the island of Elba to Paris where he managed (temporarily) to regain his throne.
Of course, this road did not exist at the time. Bonaparte only took more or less practicable paths to regain the capital, but no matter.
The route will be materialized from 1927, when the mule tracks will begin to be widened and covered with tar to become the "Napoleon road", or RN85.
Through the Alpes-Maritimes, the Var, the Alpes de Haute-Provence, the Hautes-Alpes and the Isère, the traveler will cross seascapes, forests, mountains, and enjoy the thousands of bends that present themselves to their tires.
One thinks of the bends of the Bayard pass, the Lecques pass (1,146 m.), the Gleize pass, these great alpine curves on the road to Gap, and of course all these sumptuous panoramas which are offered, as by example these views of Obiou, in the Dévoluy massif, or even the citadel of Sisteron. Real treasures.
Richly illustrated and served by a text that skilfully combines historical considerations and (numerous) practical information allowing you to prepare your trip, the book by Jean-Paul Naddeo gives you only one desire: to set off to discover this mythical route, and ideally behind the wheel of a roaring roadster.
Eternal Napoleon road, by Jean-Paul Naddeo, ed.Gründ, 219 pages, €24.95