The Paris Marathon runs in early April - the second Sunday of the month - finishing where it started on the Avenue Foch. By Monday morning, the city has absorbed the race entirely and is proceeding at its normal speed. The exit north and east on the TGV, into the quieter landscape of the Champagne region, is the sensible response.
The TGV from Paris Gare de l'Est to Reims takes 45 minutes. Buy TGV tickets in advance at SNCF Connect - prices rise significantly closer to departure.
Nights One and Two: Reims
Reims station is ten minutes' walk from the cathedral on flat ground. The city centre is almost entirely level - Reims was rebuilt on a regular grid after the First World War, during which 80% of the city was destroyed.
The Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Reims is where 25 French kings were crowned between 816 and 1825. The cathedral is Gothic in its second, fully developed phase - built mostly between 1211 and 1275 - and its west facade, with over 2,300 stone figures, is the most elaborate surviving example of High Gothic sculptural programme in the world. The interior is level stone. Entry is free.
The Champagne cellars are the other Reims institution, and they are specifically designed for post-race legs: underground, cool, flat-floored chalk galleries (crayeres) carved from the Roman quarries that run beneath the city. Ruinart (the oldest Champagne house, established 1729) has some of the most atmospheric crayeres, accessible by guided tour. Veuve Clicquot and Taittinger both offer visitor experiences at different price points. Book ahead.
Where to stay: The Hotel de la Paix near the cathedral is the classic Reims choice. The Chateau Les Crayeres, 1.5 kilometres south of the centre in its own park, is the grand option - a Relais and Chateaux property with a two-Michelin-star restaurant.
Where to eat: Le Millenaire on rue Bertin is the current benchmark for serious Reims cooking. For something less formal: the Brasserie Le Boulingrin (1925) on the Rue du Mars is the classic Reims brasserie - zinc bar, red banquettes, pied de cochon on the menu, and Champagne by the glass from the local cooperative.
Nights Three and Four: Compiegne
The regional train from Reims to Compiegne runs through the Aisne valley via Soissons, taking approximately 50 minutes. Compiegne station sits at the edge of the town, a flat 10-minute walk from the palace.
Compiegne is an 18th-century royal palace on the edge of the Foret de Compiegne - one of the largest state forests in France, at 14,500 hectares. The palace (entry approximately €8) was rebuilt by Louis XV and used as a summer residence by every subsequent French ruler, including Napoleon and Napoleon III. The Imperial apartments and the hunting trophies are the main attractions; the interior is flat.
The Clearing of the Armistice (Clairiere de l'Armistice) is 6 kilometres north of the town, accessible by taxi. The original railway carriage in which the 1918 Armistice was signed was destroyed by Hitler in 1940 after France's second capitulation in the same location; a replica carriage is now in the memorial museum. The clearing in the forest - flat, surrounded by beech trees - is one of the more historically weighted quiet spaces in Europe.
The Foret de Compiegne around the palace is flat enough for easy walking on the wide forest paths: the same rides and allees that the French kings used for hunting are now open to the public and extend for kilometres without significant gradient.
Getting Home
Direct TGV services from Compiegne to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) run in approximately 40 minutes, stopping at the airport's TGV station. This bypasses Paris entirely - you go from the forest to your departure gate without re-entering the city.