Meaux sits on a loop of the Marne about forty kilometres east of Paris, and its name is on two famous products: the Brie de Meaux, a soft, creamy cheese with a long history in the markets of Paris, and a grainy mustard sold in stoneware pots sealed with red wax. Either one makes a good souvenir if you have space in a tank bag, though the Brie is better eaten here.
The old episcopal quarter is the heart of the town. The Gothic cathedral of Saint-Étienne rises above the river, and next to it stands the bishops' palace and its garden, laid out in the shape of a mitre. Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, the great preacher of Louis XIV's court known as the Eagle of Meaux, was bishop here, and his study in the garden pavilion is a quiet spot. Walking among these old stones by the Marne gives the town a weight you might not expect.
Meaux is also a gateway to the battlefields of the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914, when French and British forces halted the German advance on Paris; famously, Paris taxis were used to rush reinforcements to the front. On the edge of town, the Musée de la Grande Guerre is one of the most comprehensive museums of the First World War in France, with uniforms, vehicles and life-size trench reconstructions. It is worth a visit if you have even a passing interest in the period.
The surrounding area is the Brie, a plateau of big fields, scattered woods and small villages. The roads are calm once you are out of the urban fringe, with gentle bends through farmland, along the Marne valley and across small rivers like the Grand Morin. The Marne valley itself, especially upstream towards Château-Thierry, gives pleasant, flowing roads with vineyards appearing on the slopes as you approach Champagne. Meaux has fuel, cafés and restaurants, and on a sunny day a coffee by the river under the cathedral is a gentle way to round off the morning.