NOTE: The following blog post is from the book "Parisian Postcards : Snapshots of Life in Paris" available at Amazon.com, Amazon.fr and Amazon.UK
Just an hour by car from Paris is the lovely town of Compiègne nestled along the banks of the Oise river. The history of Compiègne gave the world a glimpse of world peace followed by perhaps the darkest time in the history of mankind.
Like many towns in France we find a château. The one in Compiègne was the royal residence of King Louis XV and after the French revolution it became the imperial palace of Napoléon the first. However, a royal presence had not been new to Compiègne. Saint Wilfrid was consecrated Bishop of York in 665; followed by the crowning of Odo, Count of Paris and king of the Franks, in 888. The town became prominent again in the Hundred Years War when Joan of Arc traveled to assist the inhabitants of the town; only to be captured by the Burgundians; then sold to the English. This was in 1430. Two hundred years later, Marie de Medici was exiled in Compiègne until she was able to escape to Brussels in 1631.
