Editing Compiègne

{{France}}
{{City
    |name       =Compiègne
    |country    =France
    |region     =Picardie
    |nickname   =
    |group      =11318
    |wikipedia  =Compiègne
    |wikivoyage =Compiègne
    |image      =
    |imagetext  =Blason of the City
    |ambassadors=[[Liste_des_Volontaires_CS_en_France#En_Picardie|CS Ambassadors in the Area]]
    }}
[[Image:St Jacques Church 2.jpg|thumb|250px|right|St Jacques Church]]
'''Compiègne''' is a city in [[France]], which is a little town of southern '''Picardy''', in the east of the '''Oise department'''. '''Oise''' is also the name of the river that flows through the town. The population is about 70.000 including the small suburbs. The activity of the city is all around local industries and the UTC (Université de Technologie de Compiègne) engineering school and its research center. There are also lots of horse activities like races or jumping, with national and international contests. The forest of Compiègne, all around the east and the south of the city, is the third biggest in France.

==Presentation of the City==
'''Compiègne''' is closely linked to the history of France from its very beginning. That makes that place especially interesting if you like lovely old buildings, monuments, history and all that stuff. Examples : '''three Kings of France were crowned here during  the 9th and 10th centuries''', '''Jeanne d'Arc''' were caught by the English in Compiègne, '''many kings and emperors of France''' have lived here at a time or another, the 1918 armistice finishing WW I were signed just next to Compiègne. <br/>
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Since 1968, '''Compiègne''' is the starting place of the '''«Paris-Roubaix»''', which is the most famous French bicycle race after the Tour de France.<br/>
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[[Image:Town Hall.jpg|thumb|250px|left|The Town Hall]]
===How to get there===

====By Car====
'''Compiègne''' is about 1 hour driving from Paris or 2 hours from [[Lille]] and [[Belgium]] thanks to the A1 motorway. 

====By Train====
It takes 45 minutes by train from the '''[[Paris]] Gare du Nord station''' which is clearly the best and cheapest way to come if you don't have a car. The '''Compiègne train station''' is just next the downtown, 5 minutes from the town hall and 10 minutes from the University.

====By Plane====
The '''Paris “Charles de Gaulle” airport''' is 40 minutes driving away, as well as the '''[[Beauvais]] airport''' (for low-cost flights).

===Transportation===

'''Compiègne''' has a FREE bus system. It's all free every day but  sunday (but you should be sleeping :) ), all the year. It's pretty efficient if you don't look to close at the time schedule. Look at the city map on each bus stop to know which bus you should take. The buses are easily recognizable : blue with the big “TUC” letters written on them. Nonetheless, if you just move between the '''train station''', '''the Castle''' and '''the University''' (high probability), I suggest you prefer walking as that area is small and not very traffic friendly.

===What to do/see===

There are many lovely monuments in Compiègne and around. First of all, see the '''town hall''' in which you'll find the '''tourism office'''. '''The two gothic churches St Antoine and St Jacques''' can be visited. Have a look on the '''Palace''' (Palais), also called Castle (Château) and '''its gardens that open to the « allée des Beaux Monts »''' (Beaux Monts Path), a several kilometers grass straight path through the forest. There are also various museums and interesting streets, ask the tourism office.

If you can move around '''Compiègne''', see the '''village of Pierrefond''' with it's castle which seems to come straight from a fairy tale. You can also visit the '''1918 armistice museum''' of Rethondes. The villages and the bike road in the forest are also very nice. The forest itself is really beautiful and worths a walk. It's all good for mountain bikes, horses, walking, running or mushroom harvesting (please be cautious to avoid any “definitive” mistake).

[[Image:Castle front.jpg|thumb|250px|left|The Castle]]
==Meetings==

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'''There are several Couch Surfer living in Compiègne''' or near, but at the moment no group is active and there are no monthly meeting to organize CS life. By the way, you should find easily a couch if you contact people early enough.

==CouchSurfers==
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===Meeting Organisers===
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===Coffee or a drink===
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==Useful Tips==
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* free food (is there a Food not Bombs?)
* free wifi internet spots?
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To reach the '''Internet''' : there is a '''Cybercoffee''' in the city down town, 1 minute walking from the town hall. It is called '''«L'Evasion»'''. The address is 5 rue Saint Martin. If it's closed and you really need to connect to reach your local CS contact, try to catch a nice student at the University (huge dark gray ugly building of concrete, you can't miss it) and ask him/her to use the web with his account on the university network. It's not 100 percent guarantee but it  has already been used successfully by a CSer.

To drink to best beers : if you like Belgian beers and want to spend the evening in a very nice wooden bar with cool music an cool people, I recommend « Au Cervoisier », 23 cours Guynemer.

For food : you'll find loads of kebab take away shops, supermarkets (there are two near the town hall), and many nice restaurants. If you have a bit of money (20-30€/person), I suggest « Le Bouchon », 4 rue d'Austerlitz. Nice room, nice French food, great wines, a funny owner who often makes the show with his jokes and the menu is available in English.

==In case of Emergency==
[[Image:110 F 5944636 1f9rXG7PRPiG210JXW9Jql5PCPR0x9Lo.jpg|thumb|250px|right|]]

* '''Police Station:''' 
* '''Health Urgency:''' 
* '''Hospital:''' 
* '''Fireman Station:'''
* '''Embassy:''' 
* '''Emergency Doctor:'''

==Media Mentions==
[[Image:The Beaux Monts path in the forest from the Castle.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The Garden of the Castle]]
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[[Category:France]]
[[Category:Picardie]]
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[[wikivoyage:Compiègne]]
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Many Thanks to [http://www.couchsurfing.com/profile.html?id=23EQ9QU Julien Lefebvre] to have helped to contribute to this page.

==Links==
[http://www.mairie-compiegne.fr/ The official city website]<br/>
[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compi%C3%A8gne Compiègne on wikipedia (in french)] <br/>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiegne Compiègne on wikipedia (in english)]<br/>
[[trash:Compiègne]]