Four pilgrimages to the Waterloo battlefield, from the 1980s through the first decade of this century. This is where Naploeon I fought his last battle on June 18, 1815. Each side lost close to 25,000 in killed and wounded, but aferward, Napoleon abdicated his throne and was exiled to St. Helena until his death. Of my immediate circle, I got there in 1983; my parents and later my friend Evan toured the ground in the 1990s; and my friend San Antonio Bill devoted a lot of time there in 2005. But a little more on these trips soon.
Above is the Lion's Mound / Butte du Lion, finished in 1826, a large earthen memorial you can scamper up. The battleground is easy to get to from Brussels, Belgium, by train, car, bike or foot: it's only about twelve miles away. No wonder Napoleon exclaimed, "Now on to Brussels," or maybe something more like, "Maintenant, maintenant mettez le Garde Vieux en avant, et puis, à Bruxelles!" as the back of Evan's 1998 post card suggests . . .
2015 will mark the 200th anniversary of the great battle, something maybe to aim for in the way of a return . . .
Today's Rune: The Mystery Rune.
2 comments:
Erik, as a political and historical idiot, I learned of Waterloo from the Abba song with the same title. Dufus, right?
Another one of those events that started out with a specific and ended up in the language to mean in general a defeat. Yes i do believe real democracy is seeing it's Waterloo.
Post a Comment