Laon – medieval city and our first night in France
23 February 2013
Thank you to Chris and Paula Cadman for recommending we pay a visit to Laon for our first night in France, 230km from Calais. This seemed like a good little run for us and the MG and so we headed for Hotel des Chevaliers, right in the centre of the medieval town, which is perched on a hill-top with an imposing cathedral that can be seen from miles around.
The hotel was perfect and the manager there could not have done more for us. After a good night’s sleep and a hearty French breakfast of tartines (French bread with butter and jam), croissants, coffee for Chris and hot chocolate for me (as only the French can do), we headed out to see what Laon had to offer.
The traditional main square in the town, as always the location of La Mairie (town hall), was right next to the hotel and the ramparts offered fantastic views (well, they did the day before when we arrived but this morning it was misty and raining lightly so there wasn’t much to see!). The highlight of a visit to Laon is the triple-decker, gothic-style cathedral. Built between 1155-1235, it served as a model for many other famous cathedrals in France and Germany. The lighting inside the cathedral was lovely but the task of building such a substantial, three-floor building was enormous. The exterior was heavily sculpted and very ornate.