Thanks to those who provided the Mairie (French Town Hall) pictures. Now I have a basic concept of the outside, but since I plan the thing to have been hit with a couple of artillery shells, I wanted to know what the inside would be like, namely a floor plan and what would be in the rooms.

Also, did they have pull-down shades years ago? Easiest to scratchbuild obviously.

Hi Tom,
in a French townhall you'll find at least the following rooms :

Mayor's office
Mayor clerk office
Wedding room with the portraits of the president of the French Republic
Meeting room (often the same as the previous in small towns)
You may add a "waiting room" and some rooms for archives, offices for deputy mayors, heads of various town services and so on.
The name of the building can be Mairie in small town or Hotel de ville in larger ones. A French national flag must be raised above the main entrance.
Outside the building you also have some placards with public announcements, they are usually found on each side of the main door.

Olivier

Hi Tom,

You're welcome, that's the purpose of this forum.
As far as you new request is concerned, there could be lot of things.
First there would be a marianne bust (representation of the french republic)
http://www.google.fr/imgres?q=buste+de+marianne&hl=fr&sa=X&rlz=1C1GGGE_frFR400FR400&biw=1280&bih=709&tbm=isch&prmd=ivns&tbnid=ohC_AkZzD2pVCM:&imgrefurl=http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne&docid=Dppx9Eocygz-fM&w=220&h=388&ei=hDBSTuvCAYKf-wb9sbjYBg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=312&page=1&tbnh=129&tbnw=73&start=0&ndsp=38&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=57&ty=72

a french flag is also likely to be in a french town hall.
You would also have admisnistrative stuff like desks, chairs, racks.
Some pictures to illustrate:
http://archives.somme.fr/ark:/58483/a011261413480BB9o1P/1/1
http://www.tourisme-cambresis.fr/page-12630.html
http://www.google.fr/imgres?q=hall+mairie+1914&hl=fr&rlz=1C1GGGE_frFR400FR400&biw=1280&bih=709&tbm=isch&tbnid=D-xrf8FLWar9cM:&imgrefurl=http://www.ville-etain.fr/01/histoire.html&docid=HjAZ0MBwlYdTFM&w=300&h=225&ei=yFNSTtSlJoGe-Qb2utjdBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=845&vpy=244&dur=221&hovh=180&hovw=240&tx=103&ty=115&page=1&tbnh=126&tbnw=170&start=0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0
This one represents tyhe Reims mayor that transferred his office in a cave
http://www.notrefamille.com/cartes-postales-photos/cartes-postales-photos/cartes-postales-photos-REIMS-dans-ses-annees-de-bombardements-1914-18---La-Vie-dans-les-Caves--M.le-Dr-Langlet-Maire-de-Reims-assiste-de-ses-adjoints--51100-REIMS-51-Marne-406376-70261-detail.html

Best,
Julien

http://longtom.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=scraps

Would this be an acceptable ground floor, with major offices on the second?

Damn, you plan to build it n 1/1 scale ?
Yes this would work.
You would have a lot of furniture to store all the adminsitrative paper (birth/wedding certificates etc).
Some more example of the interior :
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQciEqJe28wdDgZ661UDSa2FrUZJWqCTEjsUiU6c0D8GRxxjCFX
http://www.ville-faulquemont.fr/pages/image/image/anciennemairie1934.jpg
Best,
Julien

That's why I'm only showing part of the interior (the building has some war damage on the east side.)

http://longtom.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=scraps#/d496f93
Second floor

http://longtom.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=scraps#/d496fg1
Top floor

Though I should note that I remember reading that French buildings are typically compartmentalized in a number of small rooms. Is that so?

Yes. No "open spaces" there

Here's the Mairie of Jonquieres (Gard) :


Frenchy

I wanted to show an archive room, but what would but how would it look? FIling cabinets, shelves, etc.? I was hoping I could scratchbuild these things.

Frenchy

Frenchy's pics of a city/town/etc archive are spot on.

Matt aka "captnenglish"
an unemployed archivist (honestly)

Thanks! The reason I wanted to do an archive room is, because if an artillery shell were to hit it, WHAT A MESS!