Daniel VILLAFRUELA, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Starting out as a royal hunting lodge, the Palace of Compiègne became an important place for the French Royal family before the revolution. Napoleon also took a shine to it and had it extravagantly redecorated. In the nearby Forest of Compiègne you'll find the Clairière (glade) de l'Armistice where the treaty that ended WWI was signed in 1918, as well as the Armistice of 22 June 1940 that followed the Battle of France.