I've been here before, it's about 1.5 hours drive from my home, but I thought you would enjoy some pictures of these famous battle ground. For those of you who have been sleeping through the history class at school: Waterloo is of course where Napoleon met his Waterloo, he lost, was beaten, total looser, he's dead now, by the way.
Anyway, here some pictures
Wellington's headquarters in the center of Waterloo. His headquarters were considerably larger than Napoleon's.
The lion stands on an artificial hill, 40 meters high. It's erected on the spot where prince Willem, the later King Willem II of the Netherlands got wounded in battle.
From the hill, you've got a nice overview over the battlefield. Here one of the famous castle-farms, La Haye Sainte. They King's German Legion, fought an heroic battle in that farm, only a few survived. It's amazing that all those famous buildings are still standing. Especially Hougoumont, which will come in the next post.
From the hill you have a great view of the battlefield. Here looking to the south, towards Napoleon's headquarters. To the right, the road to Hougoumont. It's not very clear, but actually the fields here have a slope down to the south. The allies were, on higher ground, which is the benefit of being able to choose the place of your defense. So the French had to fight uphill.
On the road to Hougoumont. Here you can see that the field is dipping down in the back. This was the British line.
Anyway, here some pictures
Wellington's headquarters in the center of Waterloo. His headquarters were considerably larger than Napoleon's.
The lion stands on an artificial hill, 40 meters high. It's erected on the spot where prince Willem, the later King Willem II of the Netherlands got wounded in battle.
From the hill, you've got a nice overview over the battlefield. Here one of the famous castle-farms, La Haye Sainte. They King's German Legion, fought an heroic battle in that farm, only a few survived. It's amazing that all those famous buildings are still standing. Especially Hougoumont, which will come in the next post.
From the hill you have a great view of the battlefield. Here looking to the south, towards Napoleon's headquarters. To the right, the road to Hougoumont. It's not very clear, but actually the fields here have a slope down to the south. The allies were, on higher ground, which is the benefit of being able to choose the place of your defense. So the French had to fight uphill.
On the road to Hougoumont. Here you can see that the field is dipping down in the back. This was the British line.
. But you must admit that fictions sometimes leave a lasting impression on the masses and become 'truth' in their own right. See the negative comment from Wellington that actually comes from the imagination of Victor Hugo and all the Hollywood nonsense that is being believed now as truth.
