Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Compiegne

Compiegne is a city 60kms north of Paris.
Here are some sights:

Hotel de Ville / City Hall - in front of which there is a statue of Joan of Arc.
On 23 May 1430, Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) was captured at Compiegne by the Burgundians, who later sold her to their English allies.


Chateau de Compiegne, Royal Palace of Napolean III (1852-70)

 Chateau Gardens


Compiegne was the site of the armistice that ended WWI, the French surrender in 1940 & a major Nazi transit camp. 
The armistice came into force on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month (1918), inside the railway carriage of the Allied supreme commander, Marechal Ferdinand Foch.
On 22 June 1940, in the same railway car, the French - with Hitler looking on - were forced to signed a 2nd armistice that recognised Nazi Germany's domination of France.
Taken for exhibition to Berlin in 1945, the carriage was destroyed on Hitler's orders - there is a copy in the museum:




Compiegne city centre:





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