Stay:Pont Sainte Maxence - 3km from town, near lakes 49.3184, 2.63138
Visited:Compiegne
After a stroll through the village, admiring the Chateau, we followed the front line route to Tracy le Mont.
We stopped at a German and then a French war cemetery and read the info panels regarding WWI battles fought here.
Saw our first wild deer in France in this forest.
We then decided to go to see the town of Compiegne. We have previously just skirted around it and of course, looked at the Armistice Clearing in the woods nearby.
We were pleasantly surprised at quality of the buildings here, this was helped by King Louis XV building a Royal Castle here before the revolution. Later Napoleon enhanced the palace.
The gardens were lovely to walk around and there were numerous statues.
In the centre of town, we admired the gothic façade on the 16thC town hall.
Joan of Arc played a role in defending the town in the 1430’s.
Unfortunately it was here that she was captured and then sold to the English.
She said her last prayers in the 13thC church of St.Jacques, with its beautiful timber panelling.
We walked along the Oise River and past the remains of the medieval ramparts.
After our explorations it was time to do some laundry, so we drove to Intermarché in Pont Sainte Maxence that has washing machines and dryer in the car park. Then we spent the rest of the day just out of town next to a lake in the hope of a quiet night.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We would love to hear from you...leave us a message below.