In his latest film ‘Napoleon’, noted filmmaker Ridley Scott has retraced the many verses of the First French Empire in an exquisite journey through France.

Noted British filmmaker Ridley Scott’s latest film Napoleon takes audiences on a captivating journey through the emperor’s life. With the meteoric rise of the soldier Bonaparte, the coronation of as Emperor, his passion for his first wife Joséphine and the Homeric battles, the immersive visuals plunge audiences into the world of the supposedly most romantic hero in French history. 

From his birthplace on the picturesque island of Corsica to the grand Château de Fontainebleau, the site of the Empire’s downfall, the film beautifully retraces the steps of this legendary figure. Explore France, the national tourism agency, takes the readers on a tour to discover the movie locations that have been exquisitely captured.

Ajaccio, Corsica: the origins

Four years ago, Ajaccio celebrated the 250th anniversary of Napoleon’s birth, which was on August 15, 1769. The imposing ochre-coloured house with green shutters in a narrow street in the old town was Bonaparte’s birthplace and today it houses a national museum. On a hill at the top of the Cours Grandval, Ajaccio’s elegant boulevard lined with 19th century villas, a chaos of granite blocks forms the Grotte du Casone. 

It is said that the young Bonaparte retreated here to read and imagine his future. At the top of a grand staircase, a statue of Napoleon 1st wearing a bicorne commemorates the man and his work. The Town Hall, with its Napoleonic salon and its collection of coins and medals telling the history of the Consulate and the Empire and the Fesch Museum, home to the Imperial Family Chapel, where visitors can admire the largest gallery of family portraits.

Toulon: Consecration of a soldier between Provence and Mediterranean

The port of Toulon, lined with forts, bears witness to the siege of 1793, when Bonaparte was promoted to general at the end of the final battle. In the footsteps of retracing Napoleon’s many expeditions, the port can be explored by boat or on foot. On the shores of the Mediterranean, Fort Balaguier, one of the most important defensive works of the period and now a museum of local history, is the starting point for a trip to La Seyne-sur-Mer, from the botanical gardens to the Corniche Michel Pacha and its sumptuous oriental-style villas of late 19th century. Fort Napoléon, built in 1821 to replace the Mulgrave redoubt, the main English stronghold during the siege of Toulon, stands on the Caire hill. In summer, concerts are held in the main courtyard, far from the thunder of the canons of yesteryear.

Domaine national de Saint-Cloud: Memories of a coup d’état

Nothing remains of the Château de Saint-Cloud from Napoleon’s heyday, after it was destroyed in the war of 1870. But the history of the estate on the outskirts of Paris is written behind every tree. On one of the terraces, a large marble inlay shows the layout of the palace and its outbuildings in 1811, the Orangerie, where Bonaparte took power as First Consul during the coup d’état of 18 Brumaire and the Apollo Gallery, where he was officially proclaimed the Emperor of France in 1804. 

At the entrance to the main gate, a museum presents the history of the château and the estate. Listed as a historic monument and awarded the label of ‘remarkable garden’, its 460 hectares illustrate four centuries of garden design, in particular the art of the French garden, with its ponds, fountains and groves.

Château de Malmaison: Most ‘intimate’ of the imperial residences

A stone’s throw from Paris, the Château de Malmaison embodies the halcyon days of Napoleon’s adventures. The seat of government from 1800 to 1802, it was, along with the Tuileries, the most intimate of the imperial residences: Josephine, who inherited it in 1809 after her divorce, put her own stamp on it, including the gardens, laid out by the greatest botanists of the time. 

Political meetings, balls and theatrical performances punctuated daily life, which was reflected in the richly decorated rooms in the style of the period, inspired by antiquity and the Renaissance. The mahogany library where Napoleon worked, Josephine’s oval bedroom, draped in red cloth and decorated with gold embroidery, where she died in 1814. The most moving part is the top floor, dedicated to the last six years of the deposed emperor’s exile on the island of St Helena.

Tuileries: the garden of remembrance

The home of kings, the official residence of the Emperor from 1802 and the birthplace of his son, the King of Rome, the Tuileries Palace was burnt down during the Paris Commune in 1871. But the memory of the Empire hangs over the gardens of this magnificent French-style park, which is a listed building. 

Commissioned by Napoleon I to celebrate the victory of the Grande Armée at Austerlitz, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, with its quadriga of horses, still stands opposite the Louvre Pyramid, while the rebuilt Flore and Marsan pavilions are now part of the Louvre Museum.

Notre-Dame de Paris: Napoleon I’s coronation

On 2 December 1804, the emperor crowned himself with the imperial crown in the nave of the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris. It was only in the second half of the 19th century that it underwent a major renovation under the aegis of Viollet-Le Duc. Following a massive fire a few years ago, the monument is currently undergoing restoration and will reopen on December 8, 2024. 

A collection of the ‘Trésor de Notre-Dame’ can be admired at the Musée du Louvre, which is devoting an exhibition to it until January 29, 2024, with more than 120 works displayed. Also on display is the famous coronation crown, known as the Crown of Charlemagne, made in 1804 by the goldsmith Martin-Guillaume Biennais, a magnificent work with 40 cameos and engraved stones.

Château de Fontainebleau: the splendour and decline of the Empire

Home to the kings of France from the 12th to the 19th centuries, the Château de Fontainebleau, near Paris, holds a special place in the Napoleonic fascination in view of the fact that it witnessed the Emperor’s dazzling rise to power and also the scene of the Empire’s fall. The opulence intended by Napoleon I, who made it his second country residence after its restoration, has been preserved. 

Among the 1,500 rooms with their refined interiors, the sumptuous apartment of Napoleon I features gilded panelling, crimson brocade and dark green fabrics and in particular the Abdication Room, where Napoleon signed his resignation from power on April 4 and 6, 1814.