Travel France: Aisne
From the town of St-Quentin in the north with its medieval abbey and Art Deco town architecture, the department of Aisne (pronounced ‘N’) stretches southwards to gently sloping champagne-producing vineyards that touch the region of Champagne-Ardenne.
Nestled in the south of Picardy, Aisne is a xx-hr drive from the port or can be reached, as I did, by taking the Eurostar to Paris. You can then take one of the services to either Laon, the departmental capital, or Château-Thierry in the south of the department. Trains to Château-Thierry are more regular and take less than one hour from Paris Gare de l’Est.
With no large cities to speak of, Aisne has a number of important towns within its borders, including, right at its heart, Laon which rises up from surrounding flat, lush farming country. At 2,000 metres high, the soaring upper town, know as the Haute-Ville, cuts quite a dash against the skyline as you approach and you can imagine the feelings it inspired in those who came from all over France during the Middle Ages to see its treasures.
The Nôtre Dame cathedral is one of Laon’s ‘seven wonders’ as declared by writer Charles Westercamp. Built between 1150 and 1235, it’s a harmonious and excellent example of Gothic architecture, which inspired some of the great cathedrals of Europe, including those at Chartres and Lausanne. At the top of the towers stand carved oxen, a reminder of a local legend. According to folklore, during the construction of the cathedral an ox appeared from nowhere to help cart the heavy stone up the hill, mysteriously disappearing once the backbreaking work was complete. I wasn’t sure about this ox tale but, with such a steep climb to the Haute-Ville, I would have been grateful for any invention, divine or otherwise.
With a population of 26,000, Laon is a modestly sized town but boasts more than its fair share of historical architecture, in fact Aisne ranks fourth in France for its number of historical listed buildings. The tourist office is handily located in le cité, as the centre of the upper town is known, so pop in and ask for the Pays de Laon leaflet, which features all the significant buildings in the town.
The Haute-Ville is undoubtedly the most picturesque part of Laon, 80 per cent of its buildings were constructed before the eighteenth century so it retains an authentic old-fashioned feel making it perfect for an afternoon of aimless wandering through the narrow streets. Just minutes away from the cathedral is the citadel, which was built at the request of Henri IV. Vauban is said to have remarked that he’d never seen such a badly constructed citadel and we’ll have to take his word for it, for only the door and arches remain of the original structure. Within the citadel you can discover Laon’s underground quarries on the Circuit des Souterrains. The limestone layer on which Laon is built was used in the construction of some of the great châteaux and churches of the area. At the ripe old age of 40 million years old, it’s possible to see trilobites embedded into stone as you descend among the different layers of rock.
Commercial vines
From the top of the Haute-Ville you can see across this rural department. Vines once grew around Laon making it the most northern part of France to cultivate commercial vines, however this came to an end in the nineteenth century when phloxera took its toll and it was decided that beet was a better bet. Until the First World War a hectare of vines producing champagne remained but unfortunately were destroyed during heavy bombing.
With a winegrowing past, it’s not surprising then to find vendangeoirs or wine growers houses among the pretty villages in the Laonnois, as the area surrounding Laon is known. You can follow a marked route des vendangeoirs, which takes you through forests and sleepy villages such as Orgeval, where Nathalie Vinçon has created a must-see floral display in the walled garden of her eighteenth-century winegrower’s mansion. Designed in the Italian style, the three terraces of extraordinary colours are the fruits of a 12-year-long labour of love.
Bulbous box in pots sit next to climbing clematis and bright, floppy old varieties of rose (of which there are more than 170 varieties here). All plants are meticulously labelled and there are plenty of quiet nooks in which to sit and appreciate the display. The best time to visit is in May and June when the garden is truly a gentle riot of colour and a pleasure to behold (for more on this garden see Living France October 2006 issue).
The Association des Parcs et Jardins de Picardie was created to open the region’s gardens to the general public and to safeguard them for future enjoyment. Its president, Bertrande de Ladoucette, like Nathalie Vinçon, believes in sharing her passion and creativity. In 1991 Bertrande began a thoughtful and deeply personal project to transform the grounds of her family home at Viels-Maisons into a spectacular display of colour. Les Jardins de Viels-Maisons in the Vallée de la Marne in the south of Aisne is another of this departments’s floral must-sees.
Bertrande has created a series of gardens within the grounds, including the charming Parish Priest’s Garden, which sits in the shadow of the village church. This garden contains seven elements: vegetables for the priest’s table, flowers for the church, medicinal plants for healing the sick, vines for the communion wine, box hedge as the symbol of eternity, water for the birds and a statue of the Virgin. In another section of the garden, the Grandchildren’s Wood, Bertrande has planted a tree for each of her grandchildren, a fruit tree for each granddaughter, and for each grandson a tree with splendid autumn foliage.
If you prefer a gentler pace of life you should visit this rural department, full of charming villages, fascinating tales of medieval skullduggery and echoes of the First World War. Those interested in visiting the war memorials follow the Chemin des Dames to the south of Laon. Originally named because the trail was used by the daughters of Louis XV to travel to and from Paris, the ridge became a front line in the war. Today you can discover war cemeteries and memorials and visit La Caverne du Dragon war museum at Oulches-la-Valée-Foulon.
The town of Soissons was at one time the capital of France under Clovis. Heavily bombed during the First World War, its reconstruction resulted in a proliferation of Art Deco buildings. An important religious centre in the Middle Ages, the Bishops were extremely powerful and owned most of the land in the surrounding villages. The wooded 25km-long Crise Valley southeast of Soissons cradles fields of buttercups, huge stone farmhouses, villages with twelfth-century churches and one-thousand-year-old keeps and fortified ruins from a time when local seigneurs took advantage of the instability of the French monarchy to extend their local pockets of power.
Historical ruins
At Droizy we met yet another Aisne resident who had put his heart and soul into a personal project that would bring pleasure to many; the story has a rather fairy-tale-like quality. Once upon a time there stood in Droizy a fine medieval keep dating from the twelfth century that had been the residence of important local lords and historical figures; indeed it was rumoured that Joan of Arc herself had stayed there. Over the years, with no one to care for it, the keep fell into disrepair and was even used as a free-for-all quarry by local farmers who plundered the historical ruins if they needed to repair a wall. One day, an esteemed international architect and town planner by the name of Louis Bachoud happened to be passing and caught sight of the keep. Having spent his childhood in many countries around the world M Bachoud was on the lookout for a place where he could give his own children a sense of permanence. ‘What better than a historical monument?’ thought M Bachoud and so he vowed to restore the keep to its former glory. To the amazement of the villagers, M Bachoud bought the pile of stones and spent many years restoring it; visitors will soon be able to climb up inside the keep to learn how feudal lords lived nearly 1,000 years ago. M Bachoud has also converted the crumbling farmhouses that had sprung up around the keep into smart dwellings – the result is the Château Fort de Droizy.
While restoring the farmhouses into stylish accommodation, the inspired M Bachoud created something new: the Relais Heritage association. Any accommodation with the Relais Heritage means that visitors can stay in quality accommodation with a historical significance.
Aisne is genuinely is unspoilt: the roads are almost empty, the villages charming and the people friendly. Travelling around the department is a delight. Making our way south through the department we headed for the Retz Forest in the southwest corner, stopping first for lunch in the garden of the Hotel de l’Abbaye in the lovely little village of Longpont on the edge of the forest.
Once a Cistercian church the size of Soissons Cathedral, the remains of Longpont’s Gothic abbey, founded by St-Bernard, still dominate the village. Covering more than 13,000 hectares, the Retz Forest is one of the largest forested areas in France and hidden in the dense greenery are deer and wild boar, as well as peaceful lakes and even a royal palace. Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers, was born in the town of Villars-Cotterêts, which is surrounded by the woods. He lived there until the age of twenty, spending much of his childhood in the forest. Another famous forest dweller was François 1er, who built a château in the forest between 1528-1532; for more details on visiting the château, ask at the Villars-Cotterêts tourist office.
Before leaving Aisne, we couldn’t resist sampling some champagne at the Pannier cellars at Château-Thierry in the Marne Valley. The Pannier cellars, which are 2.5km in length, were originally dug as quarries during the eleventh to fifteenth centuries, with the extracted stone used to build churches and important buildings in Château-Thierry. The Pannier family began producing champagne in 1898 and moved to this site in 1937; today they produce 4 million bottles of bubbly a year. After taking the tour, which enlightened us as to how the famous fizz is produced, we were able at last to raise a glass to this unspoilt department and toast all that’s good about this peaceful part of Picardy.
Getting there:
Eleanor O’Kane travelled to Paris with Eurostar. From Paris there are regular trains to Laon and Château-Thierry
For more details visit www.eurostar.com and www.raileurope.com
Tourist Information
Aisne Tourist Board www.evasion-aisne.com
Laon Tourist Board www.tourisme-payedelaon.com
Château-Thierry Tourist Board www.otsichateau-thierry.com
Things to see
Le Jardin du Vendangeoir d’Orgeval, 13 Grande Rue, F-02860 Orgeval. Tel: 00 33 (0)3 23 24 79 01 www.vendangeoir-orgeval.com Stunning terraced rose garden. Open 30 April-9 July and 10 September-15 October; Sundays and Mondays 2-6 pm. Entry: €5. There are also charming chambres d’hôtes on site.
Les Jardins de Viels-Maisons, 02540 Viels-Maisons. Tel: 00 33 (0)3 23 82 62 53 www.chateauxcountry.com
Over 3 hectares of themed gardens in the grounds of a nineteenth-century château. Open: First weekend of June to third weekend of September. Entry: €6
Champagne Pannier, 23 rue Roger Catillon, 02406 Château-Thierry. Tel: 00 33 (0)3 23 69 51 33. Telephone ahead to arrange a tour of the cellars and tasting.
Places to stay
Château Fort de Droizy, 5 place de la Marne, 02210 Droizy. Tel: 00 33 (0)3 23 75 33 80
www.relais-heritage.com. Fabulous apartments with a historical twelfth-century keep on site as well as pool and spa. From €149 per night for a studio sleeping 2-4 people.
Hotel Ile-de-France, Rue de Soissons, 02400 Château Thierry. Tel: 00 33 (0)3 23 69 10 12
Comfortable Best Western hotel with new wellness centre and popular restaurant.
Places to eat
Hôtel de l’Abbaye, 8 rue des Tourelles, 02600 Longpont. Tel: 00 33 (0)3 23 96 02 44. Pleasant traditional restaurant with garden. Menus from €18.
Auberge Jean de la Fontaine, 10 rue des Filoirs, 02400 Château-Thierry. Tel: 00 33 (0)3 23 83 63 89. Cosy traditional restaurant with menus from €26.