Compiegne

Compiegne was rebuilt as a palace under Louis XV and became a favourite residence of Napoleon I and later Napoleon III, whose court held long autumn house parties here; the apartments survive furnished, and the palace also holds a museum of carriages and early motor cars. The forest beside it covers around fourteen thousand hectares. In a clearing at Rethondes on 11 November 1918 the armistice ending the First World War was signed in a railway carriage; in June 1940 Hitler had the same carriage brought back to the same spot for the French surrender, then removed and later destroyed it. A replica stands in the memorial there.

History

In 665 Saint Wilfrid came to Compiègne to be consecrated Bishop of York by Agilbert, Bishop of Paris, and in 757 the Byzantine emperor Constantine V sent Pepin the Short the first organ in France here; Louis the Pious was deposed at Compiègne in 833, and Odo, Count of Paris, was crowned king of the Franks here in February 888. On 23 May 1430, during the Hundred Years' War, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians outside the town while trying to relieve it. In 1624 Richelieu concluded the Treaty of Compiègne with the Dutch, the golf events of the 1900 Olympic Games were played here, and on 11 November 1918 the armistice that ended the fighting of the First World War was signed in a railway carriage in the forest nearby; the University of Technology of Compiègne was founded in 1972 (Wikipedia, Compiègne).

What to look for

• The imperial apartments - furnished rooms from the two Napoleonic courts.
• The carriage museum - historic coaches and early automobiles.
• The armistice clearing - the site of both the 1918 and 1940 signings.
• The forest - fourteen thousand hectares of woodland beside the town.

When to go

April to October; the palace closes on Tuesdays and the armistice memorial has its own hours. Autumn colour in the forest is good. November brings commemorations.

Things to know

The palace and the armistice site are several kilometres apart and need transport between them. The original carriage no longer exists; the one displayed is a replica. Some palace wings close in rotation.

Nearby

Pierrefonds lies east; Senlis is southwest.