Photo : P.poschadel / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Compiègne
A royal residence since Merovingian times, Compiègne, in the Oise, reached its peak under Napoleon III, who made it one of his favourite imperial residences, holding a brilliant court in the château that still dominates the town.
The town hall, a masterpiece of 15th-century Flamboyant Gothic, is topped by a tall carillon belfry listed by UNESCO among the belfries of Belgium and France, whose automata, the Picantins, still strike the hours. The town is also linked to national history by the nearby Armistice Clearing, where the 1918 armistice was signed in a railway carriage now reconstructed as a memorial. Surrounded by the vast Compiègne state forest, it offers wonderful walks between imperial heritage and unspoilt nature on the edge of the Île-de-France.
