The best traffic-free bike rides around Tracy-Le-Mont

In the heart of the Compiègne forest, the Armistice Glade marks the place where the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, and then that of June 22, 1940. The site today includes the memorial with the “Armistice Wagon” (recreated car), the statue of Marshal Foch and the Alsace-Lorraine monument.

Can’t say I noticed it

Rethondes is of course linked to the nearby Clairière de l'Armistice and the passage of General Foch. but it also has a typical French village character with narrow streets, old houses in natural stone, and a peaceful atmosphere.

Rethondes is associated with the armistice of 1918. On Sunday 10 November, Foch and Weygand attended mass in the small church. Outside hangs a commemorative plaque. Inside, the portraits of the two commanders are included in the stained glass window of the apse.

The Château du Francport is an historic château in Choisy-au-Bac, Oise, Hauts-de-France. It was built in the 19th century. A photograph taken by Count Olympe Aguado is in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California. According to photographer Edward O. Haars for the War Department, this building is where German emissaries were housed during the Armistice negotiations in November 1918 at the Forest of Compiègne. See photos attached with NARA source on the images. Acquired by the Anglo-French Hotel Management Limited to turn it into a luxury hotel, the project fell through in 2009. However, by 2014 it was owned by Terres de Kéops and run as a restaurant known as the Château des Bonshommes.

The Aisne is a river in northern France that rises in the Argonne massif and joins the Oise near Compiègne in the Oise department. The Aisne department is named after the river. The Romans already knew the river in ancient times as the Axona; in 57 BC, Caesar defeated a large Belgian coalition in the Battle of the Aisne during the Gallic War. Battles were also fought there during the First World War.

The Église Saint-Rémi in Ribécourt is a neo-Gothic church originally consecrated in 1887. During the First World War, the building suffered severe damage, as so many others in this region close to the front. Between 1927 and 1930, the church was rebuilt almost identically, as a symbol of resilience and reconstruction. Architecturally, the church is a fine example of neo-Gothic, with clear references to the Gothic style of the 13th century. Inside, the pillars are particularly striking, each made up of four half-columns, with capitals decorated with leaf motifs. The five-lobed rose windows and the high pointed arches reinforce the vertical character of the building. A special feature are the stained glass windows, dating from 1954-1955. They were designed by the French master glassmaker Pierre-François Chevalley and give the church a colourful, spiritual atmosphere that reinforces the liturgical character of the building.

Built by Count Nonant de Raray in the 18th century on the remains of an old castle, Ribécourt Castle was used as a prison camp in 1919. Its last owner, Miss Alyette de Lareinty Tholozan, was awarded the Croix de Guerre, then the Croix de la Légion d'honneur. In 1920, she donated the property to the Ministry of Veterans Affairs for the rehabilitation of the disabled. The residence, located in the commune of Ribécourt-Dreslincourt, now houses the Horticultural High School.