1 hour away from Paris, 1 hour from Lille and Brussels
“310 kilometres of inland waterways. Magnificent forests covering 20% of the land. The Aisne is part of the real France - no industrial wastelands, no dormitory towns, no concrete housing estates.î Luc Balbont, Journalist.
Green pastures and hedge-trimmed, rolling meadows in the North with the Thiérache, cereal growing plateaus and state-owned forests in the Laonnois and the Soissonnais, wine-growing country in the South around Château Thierry. Marshes, lakes, rivers, canals and mooring-places are all characteristic of the Vermandois.
Laon, the mediaeval city, offers a relaxed rhythm of life in surroundings that are steeped in history. Its fine cathedral towers over the many villages of the Laonnais, with their churches and old wine-makers' houses. Coucy le Château has one of the largest fortified castles in Europe, a potent symbol of feudal times. The Chemin des Dames, a key position in the First World War, with its “Caverne du Dragonî museum; the fortified churches of the Thiérache; the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Michel, its superb organ still used for concerts today; ... there 500 listed buildings in the Aisne !
Maurice Quentin de la Tour, the renowned pastellist born in Saint-Quentin; Jean de La Fontaine who always stayed close to his roots in Château Thierry; Alexandre Dumas at Villeneuve sur Fère; Paul Claudel and his sister, Camille, born at Fère en Tardenois; the Le Nain brothers, painters born in the pretty village of Bourguigon sous Montbavin, south of Laon; Jean Racine... quite a parade of literary and artistic figures !
Dumas himself was a great gourmet. This is the place to come for the “Andouilletteî (chitterling sausage) of Villers-Cotterêts; Champagne is produced in the South of the department; apples and red fruits in the North are used in a traditional aperitif and to make wonderful cider; the local cheese, Maroilles, is justly famous; the legendary Jacquot bean from Soissons, is considered one of the finest in gastronomic circles !
Marne
( 51 )
An holyday rental for 200 €
A trip low price
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Tarn
( 81 )
From the Montagne Noire, the southern tip of the Massif Central, to the wide, tranquil plains of the Agout and Tarn rivers, and from the rugged unspoilt Ségala region to the rounded hills of the Vaurais, gateway to the sprawling plains of the Lauragais, the Tarn offers an enormou...
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Destination:
Aisne
