You see Laon long before you reach it. The town sits on a long, narrow ridge that rises abruptly from the flat plains of Picardy and Champagne, and the five towers of its cathedral stand on top like a crown. Approaching from any direction, the silhouette grows and grows, and it is one of the great arrivals in northern France.
The upper town, enclosed by medieval walls, is a world of its own. Laon was a royal seat under the late Carolingian kings, and the cathedral of Notre-Dame, built in the second half of the twelfth century, is one of the early masterpieces of Gothic architecture. Look up at the towers and you will see stone oxen peering out from the tops, a tribute, legend says, to the animals that hauled the building materials up the hill. The streets around the cathedral are full of old houses, small squares and views over the plains, and walking the ramparts at dusk is pure pleasure.
The climb to the upper town is fun in itself, with several roads winding up the steep slopes in a series of bends. They are short, but they give a sense of drama to the arrival. Once at the top, parking is usually easy, and there are cafés and restaurants around the cathedral and the town hall. The lower town, spread around the base of the hill, has the supermarkets and fuel stations.
South of Laon lies the Chemin des Dames, a ridge road that became one of the bloodiest sectors of the Western Front, above all during the failed French offensive of April 1917. Today it is a quiet road with memorials, cemeteries and the remains of underground quarries, and riding it is a sobering experience. Further south, the Aisne valley offers gentle, flowing roads through woods and farmland towards Soissons. Weather in this region can be changeable; even in summer, a grey day with low cloud can wrap the hill in mist, which is atmospheric, if a little damp.