Napoleon's boots walk tall at Paris auction

A pair of boots worn by Napoleon during his final exile on St. Helena sold in Paris on Friday for 117,000 euros ($128,000) - more than twice the initial estimate.

The size 40 boots (roughly seven in British measure) were saved for posterity by General Henri Gatien Bertrand, who had followed the French leader into exile on the far-flung South Atlantic island after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, auctioneers said.

The general later gave the shoes to a sculptor working on an equestrian statue of Bonaparte. The relics were expected to fetch between 50,000 and 80,000 euros, but bidding at the Drouot auction rooms was brisk. Like Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines, Napoleon had a large collection of footwear, which he bought from the Paris shoemakers Jacques in Montmartre.