Compiègne itself is plain disappointing, though that shouldn't come as a surprise, as a platoon of German soldiers burnt it down in 1942 to provide their commander with evidence of a subjugated community. Several half-timbered buildings remain on the pedestrianized rue Napoléon and rue des Lombards, south of the main place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville. The most striking building, as so often in these parts, is the Hôtel de Ville – Louis XII Gothic – its ebullient nineteenth-century statuary including the image of Joan of Arc, who was captured in this town by the Burgundians before being handed to the English.By the side of the town hall is the Musée des Figurines (Tues–Sat 9am–noon & 2–6pm, Sun 2–6pm; closes at 5pm in winter; €2), which features reputedly the world's largest collection of wafer-thin military figurines in mock-up battles from ancient Greece to World War II. Also of specialist interest is the Musée Vivenel, on rue d'Austerlitz (same hours and price), which has one of the best collections of Greek vases around, especially a series illustrating the Panathenaic Games from Italy – a welcome dose of classical restraint and good taste compared with the palace. There's also a section on the flora and fauna of the Forêt de Compiègne, which includes a wild boar the size of an armoured car. But Compiègne's star attraction is two blocks east of the town hall down rue des Minimes. For all its pompous excess, there is a certain fascination about the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Palais National, particularly its interior which can only be visited on a guided tour (daily except Tues: March–Oct 10am–5.15pm; Nov–Feb 10am–3.45pm; €4.50; €5.50 for combined ticket with the Musée de la Voiture). The lavishness of Marie-Antoinette's rooms, the sheer, vulgar sumptuousness of the First and Second Empire and the evidence of the unseemly haste with which Napoléon I moved in, scarcely a dozen years after the Revolution, are impressive. The palace also houses the Musée du Second Empire and the Musée de la Voiture (same hours as Palais National; €4; €5.50 combined ticket), the latter containing a wonderful array of antique bicycles, tricycles and fancy aristocratic carriages, as well as the world's first steam coach. The Théâtre Impérial, planned (but never finished) by Napoléon III, was finally completed in 1991 at a cost of some thirty million francs. Originally designed with just two seats for Napoléon and his wife, it now seats 900 and is regularly used for concerts. If you don't want to take the guided tour, a visit to the palace gardens or petit parc (daily: summer 7.30am–8pm; winter 8am–6.30pm) is a pleasant alternative. Serene and formal, they include a long, straight avenue extending far into the Forêt de Compiègne, which touches the edge of town.
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