troops from the napoleonic wars have. it's a great day. the likes of these men have not been seen here for the past two hundred years it's almost as though a full parade has travelled through time bringing with it all the splendor of the people bred horses weapons and but with typical of the day. russian cossacks are here again marching towards paris. believe it comes from a family of cossacks and he's learned to sing the old version of the. when his horse became the journey vassily had to trail behind the procession he still believes the question of who won the battle is relevant. ended in a draw but it was an honorable droll there's no doubt the french emerged victorious they did override the battlefield and whoever sees the battlefield was the victor but even if it was a victory it was a. good

morning. well over. at least for. the excitement of paris has still a long way in the future for the cossacks are just beginning to get ready for the journey. and it all started here exactly one year ago. hats on. vassily is making ready to ride his horse is called. come over here for a ride down. just like a member of the family they often joke that the horses are even more dead than their wives and children. need to talk to him all the time you see he's just like a toddler he sees the world the same way. from all over the area have come to

take part in the journey none of them has their own horse they haven't even seen. until now. tamed only a short while ago refused even to allow anyone to enter his stable. his head greatest concern is to keep his head out of homes away if he lets me do that means he likes and trusts me. with separation. leading up to the continental journey consisted of nothing but intense training. used to stay in summer camps to learn riding tricks and how to shoot. straight. the chief to. spend a lifetime teaching me how to handle horses. he's one of the few to teach how to

keep steady in the saddle riding at full speed and. as well as how to do spectacular horseback. my wife says to me why on earth do you need all that talk and i explain it to a woman they don't understand it. all men are warriors at heart some more than others some don't have much of it others have quite a lot but i think i have a good deal of it. the regions of the homeland for the cossacks but true a few and far between even here. today cause like villages are becoming deserted with young villages moving to big cities whether in no horses or old ways of life because a hole. in the russian don't horse breed or in need of protection. there are only about two hundred sixty mares of this breed left in the world they are on the verge

of extinction. every cousin is supposed to be good at handling a whip and a sort. in the old days every cause that carried them. thank the french audience at the final performance in fontainebleau enjoyed the cossacks outstanding ability to juggle with songs today this looks like a circus act but two centuries ago cossacks who couldn't pull off such feats were regarded as a failure even cossack women demonstrated outstanding skills. these horsemen from the kremlin riding school it's the world's only school to teach these traditional equestrian skills. after a detailed analysis of his defeat napoleon noted that the cossacks have ensured russia's success he said cossacks were the best like troops of the day and if he'd had them in his army he could have marched across the whole world is.

that old as you are good morning cossacks gratings. it was pavel marshall cough who came up with the idea of the march from moscow to paris. the businessman and stud farm owner spends all of his earnings on horses his main ambition is to revive the dawn breed. they are a beautiful. pavel owns a large stable and past as well he's also building a cossack settlements for tourists to go horse riding. despicable because this lovely little mare is only two years old should need to wait another three years before she can fold her more of a beauty. oh look they've been you all over poor thing. believes these horses are russia's best asset and something to be proud of. it hurts when people say bad things about cossacks they may call drug lords fools

layabouts all sorts there really is sad and what's worse some people even write off our most recent victories in world war two my grandfather commanded a division during that war so i know the hardships people went through. the starting point for the march was. killed in oldest twenty twelve it was here in eight hundred twelve on the second of september the napoleon waited in vain to be given the keys to the capital they never. go was plundered and raised to the ground. two years later russian troops led by the chieftain plot of approached. napoleon dreaded the backlash the field the russians would do to paris the friendship done to moscow.

this ground one hundred twenty kilometers from moscow is almost as familiar to the french as it is to the russians the battlefield of. the cossacks raced across the field where some one hundred thousand people died in a single day over forty thousand russians and nearly sixty thousand frenchmen. this is what an attack by the men of celebrated russian chieftain plus might have looked like. the russians launched an assault to gain the breathing space they needed to bring up there was. men one to alice to regroup overwhelming the french on the left flank. the cossacks ahead and.

it's those events. he described. of his fifty s. he fails to achieve superiority even the french are confident that. russia was victorious. how you look at it there were all sorts of situations but at the end of the day. took place in the twentieth century. divides the car into two sections. of the russian offensive from two hundred years ago. the legend of a hasty french retreat has been passed down here from generation to generation.

still time to fill in the french turn tail they hid napoleon's golden carriage to look for it as you can see we too are trying to find it's ours we call it the belorussian treasure belongs to the. locals have left no stone unturned in search of the prize even in swamps and people. they have never found the golden carriage. in the local villages only a few elderly residents remain. i don't think more than a dozen young people live here. pensions only income twice a week they come to the bus stop to wait for a shop trailer this time the mobile shop is late and instead of the residents are greeted by cossacks approaching on the horizon. welcome with bunches of flowers. such handsome horse. hello there.

comes close on the heels of the cossacks the old people form a queue to buy the basic necessities of life but it's the pork you order to see if you're. stopping here on their journey to paris will be the topic of many conversations for a long time to come nothing so exciting has ever happened here like such a long way to paris it might be difficult to travel on horseback there. on the fifteenth day of the journey the cossacks have made it to poland in two weeks they've covered the same distance as russian troops did during this two month long pursuit of me.

in december eight hundred twelve napoleon into the russia with a fifty thousand strong in the tell me but he left with only fifteen hundred. frostbitten troops. was no foregone conclusion. is more than a cossack he's also a historian and writer his latest book will tell the story of this journey is keeping a diary. in a lifetime chance i couldn't turn it down. you know the love. of your dog. will be enough the french won nearly every battle but as the russian army increased in number it was quite apparent that the french would win doing by the time napoleon was retreating to poland he's only had almost run out of artillery provisions and even forces.

buzz off it's mine you've got yours finish it you i like vassileva rennick alexei never sets of does not hail from the dawn area even though he's from bloody mia he still has cause like blood in his veins. aside from being a music teacher he also leads a caustic troupe in his village and teaches caustic writing skills to local children. we his name is when he was an unruly stallion he wouldn't let anybody into his stable but now he is quite gentle such horses except only tender treatment the horse of the dawn breed is his master's horse once you've established a bond with him he'll be devoted to you for as long as he lives he'll fight for you .

leipzig germany is just as legendary in europe as but i do know is in russia. historians describe a battle of nations austrian prussian and swedish troops joining the russians in their fight against napoleon. around a hundred thousand died in the battle which forced napoleon to flee back to france with what remained of his army. we cover some forty kilometers a day early in retreat it is about the same pace again leaving momentum with time. was simply lagging behind only plots of his men had skirmishes mccarley and regard . although the forests here look much as they do back home the cossacks already feel homesick they've covered more than two thousand kilometers in over a month. this journey is making me homesick. i miss my kids my wife my parents. yes.

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i am. a. front says the final leg of the journey the last stop before a final push towards napoleon's residence at fontainebleau. they've already covered almost three thousand kilometers all the way from moscow all these riders have followed the route that the russians took as they drove napoleon out of russia and then pursued him across the whole of europe. the emperors pointing at us rio the

heroes. two hundred years later russian cossacks lay flowers at the monument to the greeks napoleon bonaparte. before his invasion of russia napoleon had made the call sites out to be monsters to scamper resumes propaganda of the day painted them as bearded giants raping robbing and even eating people he went so far as to claim that a parisienne woman with her little daughter had full on her knees before plot of the chieftain begging him not to eat it. two hundred years ago russian cosmonauts could hardly imagine the warm welcome that greets them now. in eight hundred twelve it was immediately evident that the cossacks behave decently despite their tough and

uncouth reputation as our example the first was noble in victory to clamp down on my role as and rapists even released prisoners of war. today. march side by side. a french businessman. is diplomatic in his assessment of the. you're going to see anyone who. has to be. both sides of their goals the french wanted to reach moscow when they did the russians wanted to halt the french advance and prevent there are. going to get rid of.

the russians. and his fate. because we're very disciplined. very decently in front. of. it was. neither he nor his descendants. he had given up his intention to fight victory and. quite historically. grounds. there's a case. to

create a greater france he traveled in under russian. returns to from. just a hundred years later when many emigrated seeking refuge from the bolshevik revolution. this woman says her grandfather came to france with the white army. and this child in the picture is her father was taken in one thousand nine hundred his name was nikolai which. it's great to meet such people so far away from your homeland you. the day after the occupation of the cossacks head to the famous russian cemetery at. lowick and they're off their horses in the they're from a horseback perception yes i heard about them they're fine bunch they're here to celebrate the battle of. many famous russian immigrants are buried here they

include literary nobel prize winner. and the celebrated ballet dancer rudolf nuria . this commemorates the cossacks and army officers who left russia after the nine hundred seventeen revolution. the. would. be. close to one million russians fled to france though many lived to ripe old ages their thoughts remained with their last homeland. there was still a depressing thought is that true russians are buried here at the russia that came after them was not their russia or to war with their russia is gone forever.

when russia's white came to france the country was still in ruins reeling from the devastation wrought by world war one in which over a million frenchmen died. i read a story in a mixed pantry of magazine about a migrant talking about a year he said the cost would make the rounds of local farms he was employed as a farm hand that was just a cover. he liked saying that his real job was reviving the local population of one summer with probable. with the journey reaching its aims the cossacks take a sightseeing tour of paris as it turns out the traditional habits of population revival still very much alive in modern attention yeah this is the so-called sex quarter there are six cafes and sex shops everywhere and this is the famous

erotic museum. hey guys let's get off here. two hundred years ago when the russians took paris not a single painting went missing from the roof though it's true that some cause acts tore up the floors from french homes to burn on camp fun us. they also caught all the famous cup in the fontainebleau poms. the modern cossacks led by alexander and decided to march along one must in dress uniform. no gold my eyes for. the eight hundred twelve cossacks had little time to meet and often use the russian word a beast to tell the famous mother kathy to be quick. a corrupt version of the word subsequently took linked in french culture as the archetype will be stroke cafe. there's a feeling inside me of deja vu i've got

a sense that i've been here before. maybe it's genetic memory or something. waiting for a lunch of oysters and the anxious about the unfamiliar dishes making vassilieva even more homesick. but let's go home as soon as i can and when i get back i'll eat russian food just potatoes without all these fancy vegetables or did like me always to but this cuisine isn't for me. is the high point of the parisien two of the heavily built in their predecessors first came to the city because i've only seen it on t. before and now here i am in paris it's fantastic a dream come true. and right next to the eiffel tower the cossacks met a few russian speaking french money one point five ten.

because sex adopted many french practices off their return to russia in eight hundred fourteen women spoke to tight fitting blouses to triumph were built in the coastal town of no bitch a cask that stole shaped streets were laid out in the paris model one of the how minutes was even called promise. yes. of. course x. will be cossacks on the eiffel tower all anywhere else once kosek start to sing as just no stopping the. earth itself will over your head i doubt that us are things like uk i think that a lot of it out. of. the journey has come to an end alexei never said seth brings his horse for the last time before setting off home.

let me have your leg but you need to brush you pretty easy now bubble that good boy . the noble beasts will with his. will travel with the others by coach he's in high spirits because he won't be homesick for much longer but his joy is monitored by the prospect of pouncing with his beloved holes in his arm will still i'm so attached to him i can't bear the thought that will have to eventually part with him he's very tender and and beady. i call him my little lamb sometimes. the. more you'll be missing me too i don't know whether he'll be able to get used to a new master. and

finally because x. performed with the horses for the very last time before going to. displace the bloody conflict the napoleonic walls brought france and russia closer together the soviet union had a special relationship of france despite being a member of nato the. today hundreds of thousands of cars that descendents still live in france and many frenchmen stayed on russia. the cossacks bid farewell to fontainebleau but this they will return for another friendly invasion. of the. you know how sometimes you see

a story and it seems so for lengthly you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm charming welcome to the big picture. and.

or.