Blérancourt is a village of about twelve hundred in the Aisne, in the green country between Soissons and Noyon, and it houses an unexpected museum: the Musée national de la Coopération franco-américaine, in the remains of a seventeenth-century château. It was founded by Anne Morgan, the daughter of the American banker J. P. Morgan, who came here after the First World War to help the villagers rebuild, and the museum tells the story of the friendship between France and the United States, from the American Revolution to the world wars. A fine garden and a pair of pavilions survive from the old château.
Folembray, a village of about fifteen hundred, lies on the edge of the forest of Saint-Gobain, a large area of oak and beech woodland, and not far from the medieval castle of Coucy, which once had the largest keep in Europe, a cylindrical tower fifty-five metres tall, before the retreating German army blew it up in 1917. The ruins of the walls and towers still make a dramatic sight above the village of Coucy-le-Château. The country is a mix of woodland, farmland and small valleys, in the shadow of the First World War, with cemeteries and memorials scattered across it.
The point is part of a ride that centres on Paris and the Île-de-France, and it is tagged for swimming, with lakes and ponds scattered around the forest, though you should look for signed and supervised places. Laon, the hilltop cathedral city, is about thirty kilometres to the east, and Soissons and Compiègne are within easy reach. For fuel and food, Chauny, Noyon and Soissons are the nearest places of any size, and the villages may have only a bakery.
Roads through the Saint-Gobain forest are among the best in the region for a quiet ride, with long, gentle curves under tall trees and little traffic. The surface is mostly good, although forestry vehicles can leave mud, and deer cross the road without warning, especially at dusk. In autumn the colours are rich, with the smell of leaf mould and woodsmoke, and in spring the woods ring with birdsong. Fog is common in winter, and the shaded roads can be icy. Please treat the memorials and cemeteries with respect.