Further up the Oise, and a possible day-trip from Compiègne, 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 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's still like that, though the Cathedral, to which Stevenson warmed, 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 journées du patrimoine). On the south side of the cathedral, the old episcopal palace now houses the Musée du Noyonnais (daily except Mon 10am–noon & 2–6pm; Nov–March closes 5pm; €2.50, including admission to Musée Calvin), a small, well-presented collection of local archeological finds and cathedral treasure. Close by, signs direct you to the Musée Calvin (daily except Tues 10am–noon & 2–6pm; Nov–March closes 5pm; same ticket as Musée 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. There's a tourist office in the town hall (Mon–Fri 9am–noon & 2–6.15pm, closed Mon morning; in summer also open Sat & Sun 10am–noon; tel 03.44.44.21.88). 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; €40–55; restaurant €19.50–36.50), just off the roundabout between the train station and the cathedral. The nearest campsite, La Montagne (tel 03.44.76.98.29; open April–Sept), is 5km out of town along the N32 to Compiègne. 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'Hôtel-de-Ville, and the first Tuesday of the month, when a livestock market takes over virtually the entire town centre.
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