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Getting Here and Around

Trains from Paris (Gare du Nord) leave for Beauvais every hour (€12.40); the 80-km (50-mi) trip takes around 1 hour, 15 minutes. Buses run by the CAB’ARO line (03–44–48–08–47 | www.cabaro.info) run between Amiens and Beauvais six times daily (50 mi; 1 hr, 20 mins; €12). The Beauvais airport shuttle stops in the town center and train station daily (20 mins; €4 for 48-hour ticket).

Visitor Information

Beauvais Tourist Office.

| 1 rue Beauregard | 60000 | 03–44–15–30–30 | www.beauvaistourisme.fr.

EXPLORING BEAUVAIS

Soaring above the town center is the tallest cathedral in France: the Cathédrale St-Pierre.

You may have an attack of vertigo just gazing up at its vaults, 153 feet above the ground. Paid for by the riches of Beauvais’s wool industry, the choir collapsed in 1284, shortly after completion, and was rebuilt with extra pillars. This engineering fiasco proved so costly that the transept was not attempted until the 16th century. It was worth the wait: an outstanding example of Flamboyant Gothic, with ornate rose windows flanked by pinnacles and turrets. It’s also still standing—which is more than can be said for the megalomaniacal 450-foot spire erected at the same time. This lasted precisely four years; when it came crashing down, all remaining funds were hurled at an emergency consolidation program, and Beauvais’s dream of having the largest church in Christendom vanished forever. Now the cathedral is starting to lean, and cracks have appeared in the choir vaults because of shifting water levels in the soil. No such problems bedevil the Basse Oeuvre (Lower Edifice; closed to the public), which juts out impertinently where the nave should have been. It has been there for 1,000 years. Fittingly donated to the cathedral by the canon Étienne Musique, the oldest surviving chiming clock in the world—a 1302 model with a 15th-century painted wooden face and most of its original clockwork—is built into the wall of the cathedral. Perhaps Auguste Vérité drew his inspiration from this humbler timepiece when, in 1868, he made a gift to his hometown of the gilded, templelike astrological clock (€4 | Displays at 10:40, 11:40, 2:40, 3:40, and 4:40; English audio guide available), which features animated religious figurines that emerge for short presentations. | Rue St-Pierre | 60000 | www.cathedrale-beauvais.fr | May–Oct., daily 9–12:15 and 2–6:15; Nov.–Apr., daily 9–12:15 and 2–5:30.

From 1664 to 1939 Beauvais was one of France’s leading tapestry centers; it reached its zenith in the mid-18th century under the gifted artist Jean-Baptiste Oudry, known for his hunting scenes. Examples from all periods are in the modern Galerie Nationale de la Tapisserie (National Tapestry Museum) located next to the cathedral. | 22 rue St-Pierre | 60000 | 03–44–15–39–10 | Free | Apr.–Sept., Tues.–Sun. 9:30–noon and 2–6; Oct.–Mar., Tues.–Sun. 10–noon and 2–5.

One of the few remaining testaments to Beauvais’s glorious past, the old Bishop’s Palace is now the Musée Départemental de l’Oise (Regional Museum). Don’t miss the beautifully proportioned attic story, Thomas Couture’s epic canvas of the French Revolution, the 14th-century frescoes of instrument-playing sirens on a section of the palace’s vaults, or the 1st-century brass Guerrier Gaulois (Gallic Warrior). | 1 rue du Musée | 60000 | 03–44–11–43–83 | www.cg60.fr | Free | Wed.–Mon. 10–noon and 2–6.

WHERE TO EAT AND STAY IN BEAUVAIS

Le Zinc Bleu.

$ | FRENCH | This lively brasserie opposite Beauvais cathedral (ask for a table under the glass veranda, or on the sidewalk terrace if the weather’s good) offers a choice between sturdy if unadventurous fare (salmon with tagliatelli, duck, various types of steak) and a wide choice of fresh seafood (crab, lobster, Normandy oysters). The Picardy Salada (warm beef with raw vegetables) makes a copious starter. The dining room has light wooden tables and bright modern pictures, but the openwork metal chairs can be a bit tough on the back, so mark this down as a lunch spot more than a place