Compiegne France
France

9 Cruises availables At departure or passage at this port

CroisiEurope (9 Cruises)


Frequently Asked Questions

On the Oise near the town centre, a few minutes' walk from the monuments. Mostly hotel barges and small vessels come up the river from the Seine. The Oise is no tourist highway: you meet freight convoys and herons.
The palace, the town hall and the church of Saint-Jacques, yes, all within minutes. The Armistice Clearing, however, is seven kilometres away and needs a coach or taxi.
You must choose. The palace and its two museums need a good two hours; the Armistice Clearing needs at least as much with travel. Doing both on a short call means rushing both.
World history turned there twice. Germany signed the armistice of 11 November 1918 on this spot; in the same place, in a carefully staged reversal, France had to surrender in June 1940.
No. The original was destroyed in Germany in 1945; the carriage on display is a sister car. It stands among period objects, photographs and films at the memorial, alongside the central slab, the rails and the statue of Marshal Foch.
The largest neoclassical palace in France, built by Louis XV and Louis XVI as a hunting residence. The visit runs through imperial apartments, ballrooms, the Second Empire Museum and the Carriage Museum, where coaches sit beside early steam automobiles. Allow a good two hours.
It was beneath the walls of Compiègne, in 1430, that the Maid was captured by the Burgundians before being sold to the English. She had prayed that very morning in the church of Saint-Jacques, and a 12th-century tower near the bridge bears her name.
Three automata housed in the town hall belfry, striking the hours since the 16th century. The town hall itself is a gem of Flamboyant Gothic, at the heart of the shopping streets.
Often, yes. So many Canadian forebears served in nearby Flanders and the Somme that the stop at the clearing lands personally. It is a solemn place, where visitors naturally lower their voices.
The euro, cards accepted at the palace, the memorial and in shops. French is spoken; the palace and memorial provide English material, but the town is not especially English-speaking day to day.