History buffs should be there this weekend to attend the annual reenactment of the Battle of Montereau.
Saturday and Sunday, at the Parc des Noues in Montereau-Fault-Yonne, 600 re-enactors from all over Europe with weapons and luggage, horses, cannons and carriages, will make you relive the last victory of Napoleon I during the French campaign.
Among them, there will be 500 soldiers on foot or on horseback, in uniforms or period clothing.
A free event, one hour from Paris, by car or by train on line R.
For the first time this year, the famous painting by Horace Vernet entitled “Napoleon at Montereau” will be recreated at the Belvédère, a panorama overlooking the confluence of the Seine and the Yonne, the very place where the Emperor, responding to the concerns of his officers in front of his exposure in the face of enemy fire, would have uttered these words recorded in history: “Fear nothing my friends, the ball which will kill me is not yet melted”, details James Chéron, mayor (UDI ) from the community.
It was 210 years ago...
Led 210 years ago by Napoleon I, this battle is the last victory of the emperor.
“On February 18, 1814, Napoleon I won the Battle of Montereau against the Austrians and the Württemburgs.
Located in the gardens of the current André-Malraux high school on the heights of Surville, the Emperor aimed the artillery from the belvedere now known to all,” explains James Chéron, mayor of the town.
To comment on this reconstruction, David Chanteranne, historian, administrator of the Napoléon Institute, editor-in-chief of the magazine Napoléon 1er and the journal Souvenirs Napoléonien, will be there!
All weekend long, there will be reconstructions of epic battles with horses, cannons and carriages, bivouacs, entertainment, shows, a big parade, exhibitions...
Last November, Napoleon I's famous bicorne hat was sold at auction in Fontainebleau for the tidy sum of 1.932 million euros.
Proof that the figure of the emperor continues to fascinate.