Why this ride
360 km round from Paris - plan on about 5 h 47 of riding. It goes by way of Crépy-en-Valois, Laon, Nanteuil-le-Haudouin and Chevreuse. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Laon Ridge and Aisne Valley + Chevreuse Valley Dawn Loop
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 360 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 47
- Journey
- Loop
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Paris
It is a gift from the ruler of Egypt, about three thousand years old, and it was set up here in 1836 on the spot where the guillotine stood during the Revolution. Louis XVI was executed on this square in 1793, and so, in the Terror that followed, were over a thousand others. Now the square is a roundabout with fountains, ringed by traffic and framed by the Tuileries gardens on one side and the Madeleine church on the other. The banks of the Seine in this part of the city are UNESCO listed.
2. Crépy-en-Valois
Crépy-en-Valois was once the capital of the Valois, the old county whose name passed to a whole dynasty of French kings. Today it is a busy market town of some fifteen thousand people on the plateau north-east of Paris, a natural place to refuel before heading on to Laon and the Aisne valley.
3. Laon
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.
4. Nanteuil-le-Haudouin
5. Chevreuse
6. Paris
Return visit. Read the place description above.