The Action Nationale des Elus pour la Route Napoléon, created on 4 February 1969 on the initiative of Prefect Jacques BIGET, Mayor of Saint-Vallier-de-Thiey, seconded by Don-Jean BELLON, Conseiller Général, Mayor of Saint-Auban and Honoré LIONS, the Mayor of Grasse, was conceived from the wish of the elected officers to defend the Route Napoléon, which at the time was in a state of obvious decay.

This association groups together 42 communes on the route, covering 5 départements and 2 régions. Its task is to enhance, from the point of view of town and country planning, the basic national character of this route taken by Napoleon, and to devote it to tourism. So it is a task of general interest.

From the start, the A.N.E.R.N. has dedicated itself to the safeguarding and the promotion of the Route Nationale 85, as the roadworks for its improvement and the numerous information campaigns launched for the public testify. It also obtained road markings which are both for providing directions and to give out information, the first of which, in 1986, was the first "Relais Information Service" (Information Service Stop). Specific "Aigle" ("Eagle") road signs have been put up (which is something unique in the national network) at the approach to our towns and at the motorway exits. In all, over the last ten years, over 30 million francs have been invested to improve the R.N.85.

The A.N.E.R.N. continues its efforts so that the Route Napoléon remains a great European tourist route. While being at the heart of the national road network, this road is an asset for the structuring of the economy of the areas it goes through, while being an indispensable link between Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, complementing the Alpine thrust of Motorway A51 from Marseilles to Grenoble. 

So A.N.E.R.N. remains faithful to the commitments of its
founders: to safeguard and promote this prestigious
route called the ROUTE NAPOLÉON.