Just a little more ABC.

Thursday 12th July

Another tricky hotel to find last night with Dora not having the street name in her roadbook, but a tiny map and a nearby street, and we found it. The hotel was right next to the motorway, and noisy when we arrived, but during the night we heard nothing.

Today we have travelled further north and west and are now in a town called Rozoy sur Serre. In this area there are a couple of tourist drives, one of them around fortified churches in the area, and another viewing some WWI sites. We are here for two nights and will just drive around tomorrow taking in the sights.

We had a great lunch today in a village called Launois sur Vence which we happened on at exactly the right time. Added bonus was the tourist information centre where we picked up information on the drives in the region. We were near to this area on our last visit to France but didn't quite get here.

In the town of Launois sur Vence, this was the staging place
for the mail delivery in the region when they still used horses.

The stables and the blacksmith shop have been restored.

Friday 13th July

When booking accommodation a few days ago we came upon a reference to a fortified churches trail. These are churches in the area that had keeps and watchtowers added during the 15th and 16th centuries to protect them against the horrors of warfare. We decided that we'd have a look at these churches today and also visit the medieval city of Laon.

A very impressive city. The cathedral alone was pretty amazing but there were also a lot of other medieval buildings to catch our eye. The city sort of had two ends. We were at one end and were planning to drive to the other to see the sights there, but ended up doing the Petit Train ride around the whole city.

This oxen sculpture is on one of the towers of the cathedral in Laon. Apparently the story goes that a team of oxen was having trouble hauling the stone up the hill and an oxen appeared and helped them haul the load, then disappeared as soon as the wagon reached the top. So they commemorate the miracle with the sculpture.

Notre Dame cathedral, 1150 - 1235, at Laon.

One of the gates to the city - the Ardon gate.

Our little train heading out through the gate.

The Soissons gate.

This is called the Leaning Tower of Lady Eve
- the tower partly slipped off its foundations in the 12th century.

Notre Dame cathedral - Laon.

After leaving the city we picked up the fortified church trail and visited a few of the churches. Some were open but they were pretty ordinary inside, it was about the towers and keeps that made the churches look like a cross between a church and a castle.

Just a few of the fortified churches in the area. Apparently there are over 60.
This one was in the first town along the road this morning
and was probably the most impressive.

In this area we are seeing a lot of red brick, rather then the typical stone,
 not just in the churches, but also in the houses.

Our hotel is right on the busy main road junction in the town and as well as lots of large trucks passing through, there are tractors with trailers loaded with hay, headers, and lots of other farm machinery.

This little church is across the other side of the valley from our hotel.