Aisne Valley France

Day 58 Wednesday 1 July 2026

After a bit of research we decided on our route for today. As we have extensively visited the area around Beauvais, we drove about 100km east past Soissons to begin our explorations.

Our first stop was at the junction of the Aisne and Oise canals in a little village called Bourg et Comin. The 48km Oise Canal, built in 1890 it took 10 years to finish. It starts at Abbécourt and ends here. The  58km Aisne canal runs from Berry-au-Bac to Condé-sur-Marne.

On the notice board it mentioned troglodytes villages near Paissy, so we thought we would drive through there. It was a cute little residential village that had an information board explaining that the ‘caves’ were created by the exploitation of the stone for building. The ‘holes’ left behind were then used by the villages for various purposes.

There was also an unusual natural water feature with a small manmade channel.

Moving on we stopped at a WWI museum called the Dragon Cave. Once an underground quarry called it was turned into army barracks during WWI by the Germans. During the fierce fighting along the Chemin des Dames in 1917, it was briefly retaken by French troops and became the scene of underground battles within the galleries. Each side held its own territory within this vast labyrinth and was defended fiercely.

Close by out in the middle of the fields stood a statue of Napoleon, commemorating a battle fought between the French and the Prussians/Russians in 1817. It appears this area has been of strategic importance over many centuries (later we learn even the Romans battled to achieve dominance here aswell as others in history).

The California Plateau was another essential position during WWI. The Germans fortified the plateau, transforming it into a formidable stronghold linked by underground tunnels to their other key positions, notably the Caverne du Dragon(Dragon’s Cave) beneath the Creute farm. 

Like other sites along the Chemin des Dames, the recapture of the Plateau de Californie was part of the disastrous Nivelle Offensive of April 1917. 

This failed offensive, one of the deadliest on the Western Front, resulted in considerable casualties and profound disillusionment among the French troops, leading to a series of mutinies.

We walked up to the huge wooden lookout tower and climbed the 120 steps to the top. There were more information panels and of course great views over the valley.

Just before we reached Berry au Bac we stopped at the Monument national des chars d’assaut. This national memorial pays tribute to all the tank crews who fell during the Great War. It is located at the starting position from which for the first time French tanks were engaged en masse on April 16, 1917 in the direction of Juvincourt. The monument was erected by the group of veterans of the assault artillery and inaugurated on July 2, 1922 in the presence of Marshals Foch and Pétain, Generals Mangin and Weygand and General Estienne, “inventor” of tanks. Since April 2017, a replica of a Schneider CA1 tank has been installed on this site.

We then settled ourselves on the banks of the Aisne Canal in Berry au Bac.

Taking the weed out if the canal

132km