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The town of Laon (02 Aisne, Picardie) is always an impressive sight, situated on the rocky promontory overlooking the plains of Picardy and Champagne, with the 12th Century Cathedral of Notre Dame as its focal point - a landmark on the otherwise rather uninspiring autoroute A26 from Calais to Reims.

View of Laon in Picardie

The town holds its Christmas Market (Marché de Noel) in the streets around the medieval Cathedral on 6, 7 and 10 Decembre 2008.

St Quentin (02 Aisne, Picardie) further north up the A26 autoroute holds its Christmas Market rather later - from 22 December 2008 to 4 January 2009 around the rather flamboyant gothic Hotel de Ville - and in addition offers a skating rink and a nordic skiing course with real snow!!

For more info on Laon see Office de Tourisme du Pays de Laon

For more info on St Quentin see Office de Tourisme de St Quentin

With the arrival of Spring comes a celebration of Birds and Wildlife in Picardie ( Festival de l’Oiseau et de la Nature) from 12 - 20 April 2008. Forget the stereotyped connotations of Picardy, the Somme and northern France, this is an area of lakes, sanddunes, cliffs and gentle river valleys which is a haven for birds and wildlife - fantastic walking country, glorious seascapes and plenty of paths for hiking and rambling, and an extensive network of cycle paths. Whilst it may lack the best of the weather and has few exciting towns, the countryside is well worth a visit - especially as it is so close to the Channel ports of Calais, Boulogne, Dieppe and Le Havre.
The festival itself will offer guided walks, exhibitions, films and workshops, but the landscape and wildlife are the main attractions.
For more info on the Festival see www.festival-oiseau-nature.com/
For more info on the region generally see www.picardietourisme.fr

For somewhere a little different to stay in Picardie you could try the Belle Dune self-catering Holiday Village.

Belle Dune is one of Pierre & Vacances’ most popular self catering holiday villages in France. Built in the 20th Century style of the Picardy region, the village nestles in a preserved natural area of sand dunes, is surrounded by a large lake and flanked by one of France’s finest golf courses. On-site activities are numerous, the beach is accessible by train plus a mini-market and an English pub.

For more info and special offers see P&V

Book your cross-channel ferry online -

Villers-Cotterêts(02 Aisne, Picardie) - Joigny (Burgundy) running to the eastern side of Paris via la Ferté-Gaucher (77, Seine et Marne, Ile de France)

for more info click here

9 April 2006 is the date for this year’s classic one-day Paris-Roubaix cycle race. Although it is a slight misnomer as it actually starts in Compiegne (60 Oise, Picardie), some 50 miles north of Paris - it does finish in Roubaix (59 Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais) which is part of the Lille conurbation, close to the Belgian border.
Somehow you can forgive the 50 mile cheat in starting in Compiegne, as the race is 260km or so in length and includes several notorious “secteurs paves”, cobblestone sections north of St Quentin (02 Aisne, Picardie), The problem is that this is essentially a fast road race, so the bikes they use are lightweight racing bikes, not the tough mountain bikes you would usually choose for such unforgivingly bumpy surfaces.

Compiegne is perhaps best known as the location of the Wagon-Lits carriage where both Germany and France humiliated each other at the end of the First World War and 20 odd years later when Hitler accepted the French capitulation. A replica of the famous railway carriage can be seen in a museum (Musee de l’Armistice) in the middle of a clearing in the impressive Foret de Compiegne near Rethondes, about 6km east of the town. For fans of art deco there are two important landmarks to visit near the route - In Lille there is a famous (and expensive but exquisite) Fish restaurant (L’Huitrière), and in nearby Roubaix there is an art deco swimming pool which has been converted into a Museum of Arts and Industry

For cheap cross-channel ferry crossings see Cheap4Ferries.com

Keywords: France, Cycle,Compiegne,Paris,Roubaix,Lille,St Quentin,Nord, Picardie