Bike tour to Compiègne and parts unknown

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Time for another bike day trip from Paris into the countryside. The trip starts in Crépy-en-Valois, a pleasant little French country town north of Paris that is far enough removed from other popular day trip destinations from Paris to be completely overlooked and forgotten by tourists. Not that it should be put at the top of the list of popular day trips from Paris but if you're looking to find that quintessential little countryside town with old buildings, windy cobbled streets, perhaps some impressive gothic ruins, maybe a medieval castle and someplace that's been overlooked by other tourists and still retains that air of small town country life then Crépy pretty much fits the bill. Maybe it's not the kind of place to spend a whole day but there are some other worthy day trip destinations from Paris on the same rail line that it could be combined with. You could also visit the historic and stately town of Soissons or the beautiful perched medieval town of Laon and its spectacular cathedral. Combining Crépy with a visit to one of those other places would make a wonderful and slightly off the beaten path day trip from Paris.

Like most places I visit I did no research before I arrived and just sort of showed up to see what was happening. Not that I didn't have a rough idea of what I was doing, however. I had scoured my Michelin map looking for good rides and picked a route more or less planned to begin in Crépy-en-Valois and finish in Compiègne. The map highlighted a couple of places that looked interesting and through my knowledge of the area around Paris I noticed some worthy stops that could be included on the ride. I knew I'd pass through some scenic countryside, take in several small villages likely with some medieval churches and old buildings, some Gallo-Roman ruins, a forest and the town of Pierrefonds to see its spectacular and renowned (but not highly visited) château.

Exiting the train station I looked for the signs for ''Centre Ville'' and started riding.






I didn't know where I was going and just started to ride randomly around town seeing what I would find. After pedaling around the downtown I followed a road that seemed to be leading towards what must be the old ramparts.




I followed a path uphill behind the ramparts that led to a sleepy little square with some old buildings and cobbled streets and the 11th to 12th century medieval church, Eglise Saint-Denis.





Next to the church were the remains of the 11th century Abbey of Saint Arnoul, which housed the relics of this saint who was the bishop of Tours in the 6th century and godfather to the first Frankish king, Clovis. My cat is named Clovis in honor of the aforesaid king. I once saw a wax figure of Clovis at the Musée Grévin in Paris and he looked so cool the Mrs. and I decided our next cat would be named Clovis. Pretty fitting since our cat is fearless, dominant and takes crap from no one, although unlike the king I don't believe our cat has murdered any kinfolk. I wouldn't put it past him though.




Off to wander some lovely old streets and see what I find next.




I came to a big iron gate at the entry of an impressive looking building with some towers and lovely grounds. This was a place known as La Corandon. The name is a contraction of the name La Cour Randon and dates to the 13th century when the Lords of Crépy would gather their vassals here. It was also the residence of the Prior of Saint Arnoul. The present building dates to the 16th century. Unfortunately the gate was locked so I couldn't explore the grounds but I sneaked a photo through the gate.




This one little square I had been exploring was packed with historic sites, and charm. Turning around from La Corandon I headed up a gorgeous little cobbled street. On the right in the above photo is the only surviving entrance to a 17th century convent called The Ursulines, named after the religious order. In 1620 Louis XIII gave a plot of land, on which stood an ancient fortress, to a congregation of spinsters from Crépy to found a convent to instruct the young girls in town. Its status required that it be open to all girls, regardless of class. It lasted until the Revolution when it was sold as national property. Here is the doorway.

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Moving just a couple of blocks from The Ursulines I came to an impressive medieval castle perched on a small cliff overlooking the valley below. I walked to the edge of the cliff to get a look.




To my right I could see The Towers of Valois, the old keep/donjon, and behind me was the 13th century Château of the Ducs of Valois. It is known as Le Vieux Château (old château) and is attached to the 12th century Saint Aubin Chapel. The Old Castle was part of the Mansion of the Keep, the seignorial dwelling of the younger branch of the Valois family, and is what remains of a larger palace complex. Later it served as the Bailiff's Office for the Duchy of Valois.







The château is now the home to the Museum of Archery of the Valois Region. It's open every day, except Tuesday, from 2:30PM to 6:30PM. I was too early for a visit but I would have liked to have gone inside.




The above building doesn't seem like much to look at but it is a 16th century Hôtel Particulier known as La Maison de la Rose and apparently has a lovely courtyard and gardens as well as remarkable architectural detail from its epoque. I would have liked to have gone inside but it is private and can only be visited with arrangements made with the tourist office.













After exploring some of the quaint streets you saw above I crossed back through the center of town to make my way towards a large steeple I could see poking above the rooftops. I arrived at the steeple, which sat on top of half of a church.

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I was standing in front of The Collegiate Church of Saint Thomas. In 1182 the church was dedicated to Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury who had been murdered in 1170 by Henry II King of England. That Henry sure did know how to get himself involved in some significant historical events, not least of which were marrying Eleanor of Aquitaine and having a son by the name of Richard the Lionheart, whom you've perhaps heard of. The church was founded in remembrance of Thomas Becket's brief visit to the town. Unfortunately it was sold in the early 19th century and used as a stone quarry. A stone quarry! What were people thinking? The inscription above the door is worth noting. Here it is.





It is a rare example of an inscription from the Revolutionary period on a church building. It dates to 1793 and is credited to Robespierre. It says ''The French people acknowledge the existence of the Supreme Being and the immortality of the Soul''.

Moving back into the center of town I noticed some streets I hadn't yet explored and found some more history. Here is l'Hôtel d'Orléans.



Local legend has it that Joan of Arc passed her last night of freedom here before being arrested in the nearby town of Compiègne. Of Crépy Joan was reputed to have said ''What good people here. I would be happy when my days end to rest in this land of 500 years in age''.







Before leaving Crépy behind here's a little bit of background history on the town to round out the visit. The town is perched on a rocky promontory and is believed to have been first fortified in the 10th century. It became a seat of power for the local Counts, under whose reign many of the buildings you've seen were constructed. Through connection to the local Valois Dynasty it became attached to the crown of France in 1213. The village prospered due to its position on the trading route between Flanders and Champagne but suffered the ravages of the Hundred Year's War, when it was sacked despite its fortifications. After the war the local counts moved their seat of power to the nearby town of Villers-Cotterêts and Crépy started its slow retreat from importance.

Nonetheless, Crépy had earned its reputation as the kings of France were all from the Valois dynasty starting with Philip VI in 1328 through to Henry IV in 1589, thirteen kings in all. A local legend recounts an interesting tale involving Henri IV. During medieval times Crépy became noted for its important pork market. One night in 1588 Henri of Navarre and his army, tipped off by a traitor to the lack of guard duty at the garrison, attempted a surprise attack but instead were surprised themselves when they stumbled into a pack of pigs whose frightened squeals alerted the towns army who forced Henri and his men into retreat. The local archers and arquebusiers regiments to this day wear a patch with an emblem of a pig in a cage to commemorate this event. So that's it for Crépy. Let's have one last look.



While visiting Crépy I stopped at their tourist office, which is always the first thing I do when arriving anyplace that I'm touring. What an amazing wealth of information I found there. It never ceases to amaze me the abundance of free information some of the smaller town's tourist offices have in relation to larger towns. Often the larger towns have less free information and are more involved in the business of selling you information in the form of books, brochures etc. Crépy was no exception to the small town rule and had a multitude of brochures, map, booklets, leaflets, pamphlets etc. that were all on offer. I walked out of the office with at least 25-30 of the aforementioned brochures etc. Much of the info in my report came from info supplied by the tourist office but I also got info that described all kinds of historic sites/villages/attractions in the area as well as themed walks with maps, plus maps of the area forests and their hiking trails and leisure activities.

Moving on from Crépy I entered a forested area leading me into the Valley of the Automne river, an area of fields, marshes, meadows and poplar trees dotted with villages touting churches designated as historic monuments. The churches in the area villages comprise a group known as The 35 Bell Towers of the Automne Valley.

The history of the Valley of Automne begins with a legend. Two fairies, named Urca and Altona, were sisters who looked upon a vast and fertile plain from the top of the Mountain of the Fairies. They watched over the local people, who lived happily and content without desire. Nearby was a spring, called The Fairies Spring, and each night a young virgin girl called Nora was said to block the source of the spring with a very heavy stone which only she could move. But one night as she was going to move the rock a young man approached and begged her to listen to his story about his father, a king, who died and lost his crown in battle. As the sun was setting the spring started flowing heavily and the girl realized she had forgotten to move the rock over the spring. She rushed to put it in place but it was too late. The rock was immobile and would not move, therefore, the water flowed violently and heavily and flooded the surrounding plain. All the local people, including Nora, were killed in the flood.


The two fairies prayed to the gods, but in vain, as the water kept rising and flooded them too. They were washed away, Urca to the east (or Orient) and Altona west, to the setting sun. The Queen of the Fairies flew over the mountain in an attempt to stop the spring from flooding but a violent wind blew her away. This was the end of the realm of the Fairies.

Lightning pierced the darkness and when the storm ended, as the waters withdrew they formed various valleys where now flow numerous streams. The two main rivers in the region were named after the two fairies. Urca gave her name to The Ourcq and Altona gave her name to the Automne. But Nora's soul had not risen to the sky. Thus, her shadow could be seen through the watery plants that grew in the marshes. The region is full of other local legends and various places take on evocative names, such as Pierre Sorcière (Witch Rock), Château Fée (Fairy Castle) and Cave au Diable (Devil's Cave).




The first town I entered was Séry-Magneval, a place where I found that nothing of importance had ever occured.






The town, however, was ready in the event that something might occur here and equipped themselves with a parking lot for the potential onslaught of tourists (as though one would otherwise have trouble finding a parking place somewhere in town).






They do have a lovely church, however.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Moving further up the road I looked to my left and noticed the peaked roof and spires of a château poking up behind some trees.






The château was set far back from the road and had no obvious driveway leading to it. I noticed the private property signs on its perimeter and resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be able to get a closer look. I tried in vain to uncover some background info on this château. I learned that it was called the Château de Glaignes (named after the town) but could find nothing about who built it or when. The only thing I was able to uncover was that for 30 years, up until 2006, it was the home of a choral group known as Les Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois. This is a boys choir founded in 1907 that achieved notoriety and has performed before popes, dignitaries and television cameras. They are well known in France and the mayor of Paris, Betrand Delanoë, is a former member. I found some video footage of the group if you want to have a look:




Time for look around the village of Glaignes.










Here's another one of the little churches for which the region is renowned.




Next to the church I spied the entry to the château after one of its residents opened the gate and exited in their car. This is just one of the buildings on the grounds, not the actual château.

[frenchmystiquetour]

And now, back to the road.




Arriving in the town of Orrouy I found it to be one of those towns that's worth cruising around to check out its rustic quaintness. It even had a château, some apple orchards, the prerequisite ancient church and a nice little park next to a river.

















In my research I was unable to uncover any info about Orrouy, other than at the château in the above photo numerous artists from the 19th century were welcomed by the owner, including Millet and Corot.

Finishing up in Orrouy I was headed to see some nearby Gallo-Roman ruins shown on the map. Had no idea of what to expect to see but the map told me I could expect an uphill climb to get there.




Going uphill usually means a good view.



And then your arrive at the flat as a pancake plateau. The present agricultural terrain in the area was created through the clearance of forest. Timber harvest and hunting in the forests are still active and large tracts of forest still remain. In between the forests are large agricultural plains where the primary crops are wheat, corn, beets, rape seed, peas and some orchards.

[frenchmystiquetour]

I entered a little hamlet which was formerly a fortified farm that dominated the plain.






Here are the ruins of an 11th to 13th century church. Still no sign of the Roman ruins though.






Moving on to the next set of ruins.





And voilà!



Okay, now that is a little more like what I had in mind, a clearly recognizable amphitheater.





Behind the amphitheater were the remains of a Roman bath.



Just across from the amphitheater were the remains of a temple.




Movin' on.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Further up the road I came to an area with a little memorial.








The above sign more or less says ''O' passer-by stop and take off your hat for it was here that tanks were born''.

Adjacent to that memorial was another.



This memorial is in commemoration to a certain General Estienne, known as The Father of Tanks, who set up here in 1916 a training camp for tanks. This site was chosen for tank training as it was close enough to the battlefront to deploy the tanks yet isolated enough to remain hidden from the view of the enemy. I managed to find a few old photos of the tank training in action.







Here is an official order of commemoration to a Commandant Bossut, killed April 16, 1917 at the head of his squad of tanks at the heart of the front line of the enemy. The order announces the official renaming of the road near the tank camp as Boulevard du Commandant Bossut.




Leaving the agricultural plains behind I entered the Forest of Compiègne, through which I would travel for the rest of the day on my way to Pierrefonds, Compiègne and a few small villages in the forest.



For centuries the forest was a prized hunting ground for all the kings of France and it is criss-crossed by some 350 roads and paths comprising over 600 miles of trails. It is a huge forest and quite easy to get lost in, as attested by the red trail markers which point the way to the Château of Compiègne and were put in place after The Empress Eugénie got lost in the forest. In the 12th century the 14 year old future king Philippe II also got lost in the forest and almost died. Upon his recovery his father, Louis VII, made a pilgrimage to England to The Shrine of Saint Thomas of Canterbury to offer thanks for his recovery.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Emerging from the depths of the forest I suddenly found myself entering the small village of Saint-Jean-aux-Bois.












It was a charming little village. It must attract some tourists, probably all French, as it had two restaurants, one of which was also an auberge.





The restaurant for the auberge had quite a few official recommendations.



Wherever you go in France you'll always find buildings with a sign announcing ''So and so was born/lived/died/did something in this building''. On the facade of the auberge hung this sign.



In this particular auberge Emile Carrara composed a well known typical French chanson called Mon Amant de Saint-Jean. It's one of those accordion tunes that so typically evokes images of Paris. You can listen to it in this video:








The history of Saint-Jean-aux-Bois is intimately linked to its unique location in the forest and the presence of its ancient abbey, which for 6 centuries provided secure work for the villagers who served it. The village comes to prominence in 1152 when an abbey was founded by the wife of king Louis VI. Protective walls around the town and a defensive fortress were also built. Benedictine Abbesses were responsible for the construction of the abbey and after a few centuries it passed to another religious order. During the Revolution it was sold as national property. The forest always played an important role in the lives of the villagers, who earned a living through various forest related activities as well as hunting and the harvest of hemp, up until the middle of the 20th century.

If the preceeding paragraph sounds like it might have been plagiarized: 1) from a history book, or 2) perhaps from a historical sign that was posted in the town, then you'd be right if you guessed number 2. The town is so small it doesn't have its own website and I didn't find much in the way of historical info in searching the web (although I didn't try too hard). Since I don't have an extensive collection of books devoted to the history of obscure 12th century French villages plagiarism was my only option.






Allow me to continue plagiarizing so you can learn about what you saw in the previous photo. The ancient village was of the fortified farm variety, with surrounding walls and a defensive fortress. Shown above is one of the 16th century fortified gates. Here's the 12th century abbey church.

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The church was captured in painting by the early 20th century artist Maurice Utrillo. From 1911 to 1917 he frequented the nearby village of Vieux Moulin and produced 8 canvases depicting scenes in Saint-Jean-aux-Bois. Here's Utrillo's perspective of the church.
















Here's the entry gate to the fortified farm portion of the abbey.












After Saint-Jean-aux-Bois I picked up a bike trail through the woods leading to Pierrefonds.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Arriving in Pierrefonds.






We're going to to see the fabulous Château of Pierrefonds in a moment but let's get the history out of the way first. The château was constructed starting in 1393 by Louis d'Orléans, brother of King Charles VI. With the latter's slide towards dimentia and mental instability uncertainty developed in the royal realm and rival factions with aims at claiming the throne were set at odds. Louis and his supporters, The Armagnacs, were put up against The Burgundians, whom were allied with the English (who had claims to the throne of France).The area where the château was built was situated along the trade route between Burgundy and Flanders. It was built as part of a series of defenisve fortresses Louis had built in the region, to keep an eye on the movements of the Burgundians and as a place to collect tolls along the trade route. It was fought over during The Hundred Years War with England and throughout later royal struggles until Louis XIII ordered its destruction in 1617. With a force of 3,000 men, 500 horses and 4 pieces of artillery Louis' army reduced it to a shell within a week. The curtain wall, roofs and many building walls were demolished but parts of the structure remained standing.

In the mid 19th century Napoléon III sought to undertake the renovation of the château and charged the project to the famous 19th century architect and restorer of French monuments, Viollet-le-Duc. The latter is known for freely transposing his gothic, fairytale romantic vision of how the past should look into the architectural features of his projects. So if he was going to rebuild a wall, why not make it a beautiful wall with some flamboyant gothic detail, or gargoyles or perhaps a tower or turret which was never part of the original. In other words, he didn't let the facts get in the way of a good story. But he was also quite skilled and possessed a scholars knowledge of medieval architecture. He extensively researched his projects and made detailed blueprints of both what he found of the original and what he would recreate. What we see of the château today is a result of his work and his vision, and it is quite astounding to behold. The château has been featured in numerous films and is presently the set for the BBC television series Merlin.

Before we see the château here are a few more pictures of what lies at the foot of the château.
















Okay, first pix of the château.

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The rest of my Pierrefonds photos are pretty much arranged in order of where I rode my bike around town.




















I've been inside the château before so I didn't go back in today, since I was really out to take in a good bike ride as opposed to paying visits to sites. I picked up the road out of town and soon after picked up one of the bike trails into the woods.




There was one more tiny village in the forest to visit before reaching Compiègne and that was Vieux-Moulin. Like Saint-Jean-aux-Bois it sits isolated in the midst of the forest. It's been around since medieval times and was once the place of residence for an order of Celestine monks. The painter Maurice Utrillo lived here from 1911 to 1917. There's not much more you need to know than that.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Here's the existing historical highlight in the village, the church of Saint-Mellon de Vieux-Moulin.



In 1817 the church was destroyed by Cossacks stationed nearby in Noyon, following Napoléon's defeat at Waterloo. Napoléon III undertook its restoration at the request of the Empress Eugénie in 1860. Further modifications were made around 1904 but these were pretty much eliminated when it was shelled by the Germans a couple of times in WWI. Without getting into further minutia let's just say it got fixed again. I went inside to have a look.







I was walking around inside when one of the two ladies you see in the above photo approached me and asked me if I'd like some information about the church. Sure I would. This place was so tiny it would be next to impossible to find out anything about it on the internet. She gave me a little brochure about the church and some other places nearby, such as the ruins of an ancient priory, a little hamlet outside the village and an old military guardhouse on the shores of a nearby lake that Eugénie had renovated and turned into her little pleasure cottage.

The Emperor and Empress were quite busy in this area, what with renovating a little church, an old guardhouse, Pierrefonds and the equally enormous renovation of the Château of Compiègne, which we'll see shortly. I suppose after having gotten lost in the forest the Empress wanted to make sure she'd always have someplace nearby to find her way back to.

In other trip reports I've written you may remember me mentioning that many of the little villages I visit often seem to have a village lunatic. And they always seem to find me. And there he was when I stepped outside of the church. I was taking some pictures and noticed my every action was being scrutinized by Mr. Lunatic. I tried to pretend I didn't notice but I knew he was going to start talking to me. Slowly I moved towards my bike to make my getaway but it was too late. He was moving in for the kill. The dialogue went something like this:

Mr. L – What are you doing?

Me – I'm taking some pictures of the church.

Mr. L – The church?

Me – Yes, the church.

Mr. L – What for?

Me – I think it's kind of pretty.

Mr. L – What's that in your hand?

Me – That's my camera.

Mr. L – It's a what?

Me – It's a camera.

Mr. L – You like this church?

Me – Yes, I think it's pretty.

Mr. L – Where are you from?

Me – I'm from The United States.

Mr. L – Ah, America...(pauses and think for a second)....The American way!!!

Me – Yes, the American way. I agree with you.

Mr. L – What are you doing?

This went on for a few more seconds until one of the locals came along and gave Mr. L a big pat on the back and a friendly handshake and engaged him in dialogue. Now was my chance so I said goodbye to my new friend and quickly pedaled off.













Like Saint-Jean-aux-Bois, Vieux-Moulin had a little auberge so they must get some tourists here. It also appeared to have a bunch of official recommendations.

[frenchmystiquetour]

I finished exploring all the streets in town and headed back towards the bike trail, along the way passing once more by Mr. L and thanking him for making my stay a memorable one.






My entry to Compiègne, the final destination for today's journey.



Compiègne has been associated with being a place of royalty since Odo was crowned King of the Franks here in the 9th century. Louis XV had a large château built here and it was during his reign one of three royal seats of government, the other two being Versailles and Fontainebleau. The château was restored under Napoleon. Compiègne was traditionally a summer residence of royalty who frequently hunted in the nearby forest, which still covers a large area near the city today. Lots of historical events occurred in Compiègne. More than I care to recount. So I won't.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Here is the Hotel de Ville, constructed in the 16th century under Louis XII its belfry houses three figurines known as The Three Picantins, whose mallets ring small bells sounding the hours of the day. I have no idea what a Picantin is, except that its name was related to a specific type of chocolate candy manufactured here beginning in 1920. The three figurines named Langlois (English), Flandrin (Flemish) and Lansquenet (?German mercenary pikesman?) symbolize the enemies of France during the Hundred Years War and have been striking their bells every 15 minutes for nearly five centuries (except for the periods of time when the clock was in disrepair).










Here are the ruins of a 12th century donjon, known as the Grosse Tour du Roi (The Big Tower of the King), apparenty the oldest known example of a circular donjon. The château to which it was once attached has long since vanished. It is also nicknamed the Tour Jeanne d'Arc in remembrance of her being captured on the side of the river opposite the tower. I guess now is a good time to mention that Compiègne is where Joan of Arc was captured.






Here's a nice little park along the river. On the left you can see the arches taken from the cloister of an old convent.



I grabbed a bench in front of this building and sat down to eat a late lunch, enjoying a view over the park and adjacent river.




Here's the old Salt Storehouse.






There are a couple of impressive churches in town, The Saint Antoine Church and the Saint James Church. The former was closed so I visited the latter.








The stained glass windows in the church seemed to be full of scenes of people on their death beds.

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The death theme continued as I noticed several little sanctuaries with reliquaries full of the bones from different body parts; fingers, toes, femurs, carpals, skulls etc. Everything to remind you that church is a happy place.








Walking behind the altar I noticed there were a series of storyboards set up depicting the life story of some woman I had never heard of. I figured she must have been important since there were about a dozen storyboards. Intrigued, I started to read them. Her name was Claire of Castelbajac.




Since there was a photograph it was obvious she lived in recent times. The question written above her photo asks ''A saint for our time''? Hmm, I thought to myself, not too many modern day saints. I wonder what miraculous thing she might have done to be considered worthy of sainthood. She even has her own website.



In reading the storyboards about Claire it seems that she was very nice. People all talked about how nice she was. Word of her niceness spread and reached its way to important persons in the church establishment who discussed it amongst themselves and concurred that she was indeed very nice. One day she went to Lourdes and prayed very hard. A few days later she got sick and then died at just over 21 years of age. I'm taking some liberties in my brief recounting of the story but I was reading to find out about what miracle she may have performed, not how nice she was. I mean, there was discussion of sainthood for this young woman so surely she must have done something incredible. Nope. Just niceness. Her niceness lives on in the form of numerous websites devoted to perpetuating her legacy of niceness. That's a really nice thing to do.



Here is the château. It was constructed in a neoclassical style under Louis XV, modified to the First Empire style under Naploeon and to the Second Empire style under Napoleon III. Today it houses three museums, The Apartments, The Museum of the Second Empire and The Museum of Cars.













There are several museums in Compiègne and they all seem interesting. Certainly there is enough of interest in Compiègne to make it a worthy day trip from Paris. But I didn't have time to visit any of the museums in town since it was late in the day and I needed to catch my train back to Paris. The sun was setting so that was my signal to get to the train station. Another successful day of biking in the French countryside comes to an end.

[PariS]

Bruce--as always, GORGEOUS photos! Sure makes me wish I was there right now...

[mossie]

An exalt for another real "tour de force", or rather two. One on your bike and the other on your keyboard

[sunshine817]

Not so much today, Annette -- it managed about 58 with a grey foggy drizzle all day today...not nearly as nice as B's photos!

[Sandy M]

Another beautiful photo bike tour so soon!! Thanks for all your effort to post this for us - wonderful report!

[frenchmystiquetour]

Annette - The weather today was kind of lousy but if the forecast is to be believed (always questionable) then the next few days are supposed to be really nice. Which means more bike riding!

mossie - An exalt to you for for the exalt to me.

Sunshine - I'm still waiting for you to give us a trip report. They just opened that new WWI museum in Meaux, which isn't far from you. Any chance you'll tell us about it?

Sandy - The effort is always worth it if there are readers to enjoy it.