Hiking Oise

Some forty meters wide and 4.5 km long, the allée des Beaux-Monts was cut from the Imperial Palace at Napoleon's request. The idea was to offer Empress Marie-Louise a perspective similar to that of Schönbrunn Palace. The driveway ends in a hill with a splendid view of the forest and the Imperial Palace in the background. At the bottom of the hill begins the signposted "Les Beaux Monts" trail (4.1 km, medium difficulty). A path with steps makes for a less steep ascent of the hundred or so meters of difference in altitude. Once you've reached the top, at an altitude of 130 metres, catch your breath and enjoy the view all the way up to the château (even more romantic with twilight in front of you; for photos, take advantage of the light and frequent morning mist). Then follow the signposted path, or try a variation: take the old asphalt road (closed to cars) as far as the unmistakable Marie-Louise cedar. Turn left to pass the amazing grafted pines, then right again along the signposted path. The narrow path offers changes of gradient and pace before returning to the Beaux-Monts viewpoint and descending via an impressive oak tree that towers proudly over you at the top of its four centuries of age. These 240 hectares are among the best-protected and most-visited areas of the Compiègne state forest. Les Beaux-Monts is an emblematic site!

With over 250 members, this association organizes a hiking on the third Sunday of every month within a 20-minute drive around Beauvais over a distance of 8 km to 10 km. It has the particularity of integrating disabled persons with valid walkers during these walks. Means of locomotion are proposed for all types of disability. The association has, for example, adapted bicycles: the "joëlette", a single wheeled device such as a chair chair, the tandem for the visually impaired or even tricycles for the elderly who are subject to the falls… To take part in these hikes, membership is not compulsory. A participation of € 2 is requested per person.

It is not strictly a randonneurs association. What counts for members is not the physical expenditure but the observations of wildlife and flora on the ground. Michel Meline, the nature facilitator, proposes km loops throughout the northwest of the department: wetlands, groves of the country of Bray, calcicoles lawns with little ordinary vegetation around Saint-Julienne-de-Fly, etc. These hikes take place every year once a month. On the last weekend of April, the association also organizes a festival "Nature in Bray" with exhibitions and workshops nature and environment. Lydia and Michel Meline also offer the cottage: 13 beds in four rooms for € at night.