The Chateau de Compiegne and its forest near Paris

The Compiègne forest is, together with the Fontainebleau and Rambouillet forests, one of the three old royal hunting forests of France.

Sixty kilometers North of Paris by the A1 freeway, not far from Charles de Gaulle airport, the huge Compiègne forest (right) has superb oak and beech trees and  magnificent perspectives.

The forest is very popular with horse and bicycle riders. A perfect destination from Paris for a day rest.

At the edge of the forest, in the city of Compiegne, the Chateau de Compiegne (left) was a favourite of Napoleon III.

Napoleon III, the nephew of the great Napoléon, was emperor of France between 1852 and 1870.

In the middle of the forest, the massive medieval Pierrefonds castle (tel 33 (0)3 44 42 72 72) was superbly restored in the 19th century by Viollet le Duc. At Pierrefonds, you are really brought back to the Middle Ages

Viollet le Duc was the architect who restaured, among other great monuments, Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris.

The Compiègne forest is especially recommended in the fall, when the colors of the leaves vary from yellow to red.

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