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Further up the Oise, and a possible day-trip from Compiegne, is NOYON , another of Picardy's cathedral towns. Its quiet provinciality belies a long, illustrious history, first as a Roman prefecture, then as seat of a bishopric from 531. Here, in 768, Charlemagne was crowned king of Neustria, largest of the Frankish kingdoms; in 987, Hugues Capet was crowned king of France; and, to cap it all, John Calvin was born here in 1509. Rowing along the Oise on his Inland Journey of 1876 , Robert Louis Stevenson stopped briefly at Noyon, which he described as "a stack of brown roofs at the best, where I believe people live very respectably in a quiet way". It is a bit like that, though the Cathedral , to which Stevenson warmed - "my favourite kind of mountain scenery" - is impressive, at least in passing. Spacious and a little stark, it successfully blends Romanesque and Gothic, and is flanked by the ruins of thirteenth-century cloisters and a strange, exquisitely shaped Renaissance library that contains a ninth-century illuminated Bible (only open to the public on the two days of the year, normally the third weekend of September, known as journees du patrimoine ). On the south side of the cathedral, the old episcopal palace now houses the Musee du Noyonnais (daily except Tues 10am-noon & 2-6pm; Nov-March closes 5pm; 16F/?2.44, including admission to Musee Calvin) , a small, well-presented collection of local archaeological findings and cathedral treasure. Close by, signs direct you to the Musee Calvin (same hours and ticket as Musee du Noyonnais), ostensibly on the site of the reformer's birthplace. The respectable citizens of Noyon were never among their local boy's adherents and tore down the original long before its tourist potential was appreciated. If you intend to stay , your best option is Le St Eloi , at 81 bd Carnot (tel 03.44.44.01.49, fax 03.44.09.20.90; 300-400F/?46-61; restaurant from 160F/?24.39), just off the roundabout between the train station and the cathedral. The local campsite is 4km out of town along the N32 to Compiegne. Local buses leave from outside the gare SNCF . Big days in Noyon are Saturday morning, when a colourful market spills out across place de l'Hotel-de-Ville, and the first Tuesday of the month, when a livestock market takes over virtually the entire town centre.
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