Napoleonic Travel

We did visit places in Paris particularly due to their Napoleon I connection. The Milan opera house has a sword of his.

https://terreborromeo.it/en/isola-bella
has a bed he slept in

Not to miss is Château de Malmaison in one of the suburbs of Paris, once his home with Josphine de Beauharnais.

Ofcourse Waterloo, south of Brussels in Belgium. Where, think it's original but not really sure, one of his coaches is on display in the museum. He used it as a mobile command post.

Musée Napoleon in Brienne-le-Château where he had his first (if I am not wrong) military education as a teenager.

Château de Fontainebleau with the table in the room where he signed his abdication before he was exiled to Elba. In the same room, one of his thrones to see too.

Last fall in Ajaccio, Corsica - Napoleon's birthplace. Several tourist attractions there loudly hype their connection to him, the city claims him as their own hero. Restaurants, bars, museums, monuments, a previous family residence, probably more.

We stumbled across "Napoleon's House" in Ajaccio's old town, just steps from our hotel, as we were exploring, looking for a place to eat. I was skeptical, it looked like an ordinary building, it emanated grotesque made-for-tourist vibes, ticket hawkers and sellers all dressed in period costumes, powdered wigs, that sort of thing. My wife wanted to check it out. I want a happy wife, so I held back all my snark and sarcasm, and just reminded her that there was a Thai restaurant on the next block. But it was hot outside and she wanted to give it a try. We handed over our euros and went in. It was pretty much as I expected. An old apartment flat with some displays of old documents, maps, paintings of Napoleon and his victories. I think they had a lock of his hair in a glass case. It was boring, and there was no air conditioning. My wife quickly tired of the dusty displays and asked me how far away was that Thai restaurant again? We left "Napoleon's house" and went out in search of spicy food and aircon.

My most interesting Napoleon-related experience in Corsica was chatting with the petite young woman at the reception desk of our hotel that evening after we returned from dinner and exploring the old city. Our hotel was an elegant and ornate 17th century palace (which I had not realized when I booked it - price was surprisingly reasonable for a comfy place in the center of the old town). The smiling young woman in reception was friendly, charming and seemed to be in the mood to chat. It turned out our hotel had belonged to a close relative of Napoleon (cousin or uncle?) - who was her ancestor! (shocked emoji goes here). Every time she said Napoleon's name, her face looked like she had just smelled something bad and was about to spit on the ground. She went on to rant about how the city glorified Napoleon to promote tourism, but he was a traitor to Corsica and a disgrace to all France, she said she shouldn't be telling me this but she hated him, he was an expletive-filled so-and-so, on and on, full of vitriol. Maybe she had been drinking (she was working the reception desk, but things were quiet...). I was a bit shocked initially, but also amused - her rant came completely out of left field, and left me chuckling (after we had excused ourselves).

So lesson learned: if something smells like a tourist trap, it usually is. And not everyone loves napoleon - including some members of his family. Go figure.

While not specifically places where he was, there are numerous fortifications, such as Cuidad Rodrigo, in the Spain that have been turned into "Paradores" where you can vacation. These were battlefields in the Napoleonic era.

https://paradores.es/en

I've visited the Monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal) in Leipzig - very impressive.

https://english.leipzig.de/leisure-culture-and-tourism/tourism/leipzigs-tourist-attractions/monument-to-the-battle-of-the-nations

Not gonna lie - when I saw your post’s title my initial thought was, “Oh, they want to go rampaging through and conquering Europe?” Ha!