France's Route Napoléon follows the 1815 route of which leader?

France’s Route Napoléon follows the 1815 route of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The historic route traces Napoleon’s return from exile on Elba. He landed at Golfe-Juan near Cannes on 1 March 1815 with roughly 1,000 men, then moved north through the Alpine foothills toward Grenoble. He reached Grenoble on 7 March, beginning the dramatic political comeback known as the Hundred Days.

Today’s Route Napoléon is a marked tourist road rather than one unchanged historic roadway. It follows sections of modern roads including the N85, D1085, D4085 and D6085, passing places such as Grasse, Castellane, Digne, Sisteron, Gap and Laffrey. At Laffrey, troops sent to stop Napoleon famously joined him instead.

A common mix-up is confusing this route with Napoleon’s later route to Waterloo. The French Route Napoléon concerns his 1815 journey from the Mediterranean coast to Grenoble; a separate Route Napoléon in Belgium commemorates his campaign toward Waterloo. The French tourist route was officially inaugurated in 1932.