Napoleon's Tomb at Les Invalides

I cannot count how many times I heard people who visited the tomb of Napoleon at Invalides say this: "This is the tomb of a megalomaniac!".

This is one of the reasons I became a tour guide: to explain things to people who assume things and rush to conclusions without having any knowledge of what they are discussing.

Had they read the monument's captions, they would have had a better understanding:

Napoleon did NOT commission his own tomb! All he asked for in his testament was "I wish to be buried along the Seine, amidst the French people I have loved so much".

Louis-Philippe - last King of France - is the one who asked England to return the body of Napoleon and commissioned the spectacular tomb for the Emperor! Undoubtedly the most majestic tomb any ruler of France! The last King of France commissioned that tomb for Napoleon! What does that tell you?

This is one of many myths I can debunk during my new tour of the Invalides! That and so many others told by the British and bad movies...