Also with respect to the fork being for 27" rims, Peugeot typically made these forks quite a bit longer than many a typical Italianesque-style fork, with like a full inch of "fender" clearance atop the front tire.

Just as on my UO9 Super Sport from 1979, still with 27" rims, and where the brake pad bolts had to be positioned at the very bottom of the slots even with the stock, long-reaching calipers (see below)!
So this would be much more like a touring fork imo, not to say that a suitably-long replacement "touring" fork will always have cantilever studs on it, but just that the fork would be for a 27"-wheeled sport-touring bike like this one.
A chromed 27" replacement fork would not look at all out of place on this bike, in fact many of Peugeot's mid-range and better 1980's models came with fully-chromed forks.

Congrats on the bike find!
The geometry of these in the 57cm and smaller frames rings of the familiar triathlon/multisport recipe, with a steep (aggressive) seat tube angle and a more-relaxed (stable) head tube angle, just as was also adopted by Peugeot when they redesigned their U0-series bikes going into 1979.
It really made for a new breed of Peugeot, as the rider could achieve more of an aero position but without having to bend more sharply at the waist, since the rider's lower body was effectively rotated forward about the bottom bracket.A chromed 27" replacement fork would not look at all out of place on this bike, in fact many of Peugeot's mid-range and better 1980's models came with fully-chromed forks.
And, since your bike has stem shifters just like mine, the steeper seat tube angle moves the entire top tube and head tube further forward of the bottom bracket, helping to prevent unwanted contact between the rider's knees and the shift levers while climbing steep hills (while riding off of the saddle).

What size frame is yours, and what is the exact headtube length? Someone here, possibly myself, may have one laying around.




Here's my old Raleigh, just back from a local road race in 1975 wearing 27" rims and the long-style replacement fork it eventually was fitted with.
I remember that the front wheel was also a (27") replacement, and that the bottom bracket was rebuilt by yours truly using Vaseline.