Day 10: Compiègne

Today was a group field trip for all the Americans (from WHS, SHS, and MHS) to go to Compiègne, a  city of about 45,000 people on the Oise river in the heart of the Picardy region. Here's link to locate it on a map. The weather was beautiful and we, the Westmoore group, set off early from Montdidier.

Caroline and Valeria went to Amiens for the day to meet up with Sonia, one of the French students who came to Westmoore in October 2011. They would attend classes at her Career Technology high school and do some more shopping and exploring around Amiens:

 

This is the rest of our group in Montdidier at the train station preparing to board the train for Compiègne:

To help pass the time on the 30-minute trip to Compiègne, Madame Robillard returned to her favorite topic with Madame Worster: "Have you seen the horrible nail job I paid 45 euros for in Montdidier? Here, let me show you!" Madame Worster was a good sport about it all (for about 11.5 seconds).

Once we arrived in Compiègne, we went on a short walking tour and stopped on the bridge overlooking the Oise river. The bridge we were crossing was rebuilt after World War II. The bridge that had stood in its place was the bridge over which all of the French people passed who were sent to German concentration camps.

This is Genasee with a view of the Oise river and parts of the city of Compiègne behind her.

Katie and Carly ar standing at the commemorative sign which reads: "Remember! 48,000 French people deported towards the Nazi forced labor camps crossed on the bridge that stood at this point. This sad memory explains Katie's sad look. She agreed that we should not smile for such a sad picture.

This is the last vestige of what was once an tower of the royal castle which overlooked the Oise river in medieval times and served as part of the royal defenses of the city:

This plaque explains that St. Joan of Arc came to the help of the city of Compiègne in 1430 on the 23rd of May and engaged in a battle on that same day. She fell into the hands of the enemy during that battle at the walls of the city. The lord of the castle watched her from this tower as she was captured just across the river. St. Joan of Arc is quoted as having said: "Since God with help the city of Compiègne, I want to be there." So this is the city where Joan of Arc last fought and where she was captured. From here she was taken to the city of Rouen to be tried for witchcraft and it is there that she was burned at the stake. You can read more about Joan of Arc at this link.

Here is Allison at one of the tower's windows, perhaps the one from with the lord watched St. Joan of Arc being taken prisoner?

Our first place to visit was the Vivenel Museum. This collection was built by a wealthy French industrialist in the 20th century who built a magnificent collection of art from ancient times to the early 20th century. The entire collection was given as a gift to the city of Compiègne and the museum is in a beautiful home from the early 19th century.

Among the interesting site we saw at the Vivenel Musuem was the Egyptian mummy of a baby from the  5th century BCE.

Of course, Austin, Allison, and Katy had to ham it up for the camera when they saw the mummy!

Here are some other interesting art objects we saw at the Vivenel Museum:

This very old house, dating from the late Middle Ages, survived countless wars (including World Wars I & II) and stands today just across from the Vivenel Museum

Our next place to visit was the Church of St. Antoine:

This cathedral was build in the flamboyant gothic style and suffered some damage from wars, but it has been well-restored.

This is the very old baptismal font in the church. It is still used for baptisms.
There is a large basin under the brass covering

Michaela in front of an old door at the back of the church.

You really get a feeling for the age of the church when looking at the old, small doors there.

Allison kneeling in front of the Pietà in a decorated alcove in the corner at the back of the church.

While inside the church, Madame Robillard took a pause with the students and Madame Worster to explain the life and importance of St. Joan of Arc, the patron saint of France. Inside every French church there is a statue and memorial for St. Joan of Arc. Of course, the very next thing we came upon was this statue of St. Joan of Arc. There were also stained glass windows depicting her capture in Compiègne.

We met some lovely ladies from British Columbia, Canada in the church. Of course, they were thrilled to meet Chantal and to hear about our trip and our experiences in the May 20th tornado, which they had of course heard about.

After leaving the Church of St. Antoine, we walked a bit further towards the center of town and had a free half hour to shop and people-watch. Then, we went to have pizza for lunch. We were seated on the veranda of the restaurant. As you can tell, it was sunny and Madame Worster had to get resourceful. The pizza and dessert were delicious!

We then went to the Château de Compiègne, also known as the Château impérial, which you can read about at this link.

The rooms were magnificent and we wandered with hand-held electronic guides so we could observe and listen at our leisure:

This was a type of billiards-meets-pinball game from the early 19th century:

Since it was Napoleon who renovated and returned glory to this castle, his 

Madame Robillard would love a pair of sandals just like Napoleon's:

The decorative arts all over the castle were quite impressive:

Our next stop was the Cloister Museum (le Musée du Cloître) where many medieval gravestones, statues, and other art objets are on display. Honestly, we were so tired and thirsty by the time we reached this museum, and the students had clearly had they fill of churches and museums, that we did nit stay long. But what we did see at this museum was interesting.

The museum is housed in a cloister that dates from the first millenium.

The top sign reads: "Site of the Abbey of St. Corneille founded by the Emperor Charles the Bald dedicated to the Holy Mary in the 9th century."

The bottom sign reads: "Here were crowned four Kings
Louis II in 877

Eude in 888

Louis V in 979

Hugue II in 1017

Here were buried three kings

879, 987, 1025

and one crown prince 1417"

There is also a very touching and sad story of the Carmelite nuns from Compiègne who were guillotined during the Terror in 1794, after the French Revolution.
You can read more at this link.

Michaela with the gravestones of a husband and wife from the 15th century in the Museum of the Cloister.

On our way back to the train station, we came upon the town hall of the city of Compiègne, which was built during the Renaissance:

Across from the town hall was a statue of the victorious St. Joan of Arc:

For a bit of modern culture here a two signs we came cross in Compiègne:

"There is no [specific] age for being oneself."

And in a bathroom: "Please leave this place as clean as you would like to find it upon entering. Thank you."