THE NAPOLEONIC
Saga
An incredible six-week vacation through France and Europe to discover the destiny of Emperor Napoleon I: a man who rose to power and conquered Europe to become a legend.
"WHAT IS HISTORY BUT A FABLE AGREED UPON"
During his exile in Saint Helena, Napoleon shared his memories with Emmanuel, Comte de Las Cases. The Memories were published after the Emperor's death under the title The Memorial of Saint Helena. In it, Napoleon said: "What then is, generally speaking, the truth of history? A fable agreed upon".
When we started working on a trip about Napoleon Bonaparte, we knew we would have to search for the truth behind the legend of this incredible millitary, political and propaganda genius who used his pen to write history. And so we did, turning this trip into a one-in-a-lifetime immersive documentary to explore the secrets Napoleon buried himself during his reign.
From the moment we started creating this trip, we knew it would be a challenge because few historical figures have ever risen to the heights Napoleon did. Like Alexander the Great or Julius Cesar in the Antiquity, Napoleon left his mark on history and shaped our contemporary society in a way we often don’t even see. Our trip had to show the complexity of Napoleon’s personality and untangle the truth from the propaganda he created.
We created an extraordinary six-week-long tour through France and Europe, ending with the most memorable journey to Saint Helena. A trip articulated in nine intertwined chapters, each one to explore a different facet of Napoleon’s fascinating personality and destiny: Corsica and the early years, the French Revolution and his rise to power, the millitary genius and his incredible victories, he visionary statesman, Empress Josephine and their love story, the disastrous campaign of Spain and Russia, the Exile and the 100 days, Waterloo and the last years at Sainte Helena and finally, the legend and his legacy.
We worked for months to get privileged access to several famous cultural institutions linked with Napoleon, places that never open to the public (including private collections and museums reserves) and have world-renowned experts to guide us, from leading historians, journalists, and even high ranked generals and members of the Imperial Family.
In the end, we achieved an extraordinary, refined “one-off” tour that dazzled the family travelling with us. It was a trip that not only gave them access to some incredible historical treasures such as the Declaration of Human Rights (and many original drafts), Napoleon’s original will, “Napoleon’s Relics”, and even the keys to his coffin. It also took them to some battlefields to see how some famous battles really happened (including witnessing a reenactment of a battle) guided by a general expert in millitary strategy.
After travelling for several weeks in Europe, we flew to the remote island of Saint Helena for one of the most memorable weekends of their life as they had the privilege of staying in Longwood House, where Napoleon spent his last days and died in May 1891.
SIX WEEKS TRAVELLING
Our Napoleonic Saga trip started in Corsica and Elba, where we spent some relaxing days. Then we flew to Paris and spent ten days there before heading back to the French Riviera and then Northern Italy (Nice, Sanremo, Torino, Milan, Bergamo, Verona etc) and several other historic locations linked with the Napoleonic Wars of Italy.
Following Italy, we travelled to Austria and Czech Republic (Slavkov u Brna) to explore the battle of Austerlitz.
In Spain, we focused on Fransisco Goya's work about the Napoleonic wars, followed the Great Army to Poland and then Russia to learn about the disastrous campaigns which precipitated his downfall.
We then went back to Paris and Brussels before ending our trip in Saint Helena.
