Noyon / Compiègne

Leaving the little cathedral city of Noyon, the Oise Valley proves bucolic. It’s easy to weave your way along in these parts, seeking out major sites near the route. Nestled at the confluence of the Canal du Nord and the Canal Latéral à l’Oise lies the charming old mariners’ village of Pont-l’Evêque. Soon after, spot the majestic ruins of the Cistercian abbey of Ourscamp rising from the edge of the forest. Next, waterways and lakes act as so many reflective mirrors in any sunshine. The route then continues along magnificent wooded alleys through Laigue Forest and beside the Aisne River’s meanders, up to this waterway’s confluence with the Oise. This is an area where river mariners once ruled the roost!

The route

Partly on greenway (along the canal-side towpath), partly on minor roads with little traffic, from  Pont-l’Evêque to Janville. Signposted EV3.
Alternative to the Scandibérique: a cycling circuit from Compiègne to Pierrefonds, passing via  Saint-Jean-aux-Bois and Vieux-Moulin.
Surfacing smooth: asphalt.

Links
Connection with Véloroute Nationale 30 via the Trans’Oise de Noyon at Frétoy-le-Château, then following the signposted cycle route through the county of Somme (heading for the Bay of the Somme).
Link to the Clairière de l’Armistice at Rethondes (a French national war memorial, where Germany surrendered at the end of World War I, but where Hitler returned to humiliate the French in 1940) via the track along the banks of the Aisne River.

Trains 

• Noyon train station : regional TER line ⇄ St-Quentin, Compiègne, Creil, Paris
• Compiègne train station : Intercités train ⇄Paris, Saint-Quentin, Maubeuge, regional TER line ⇄Amiens, Noyon, Saint-Quentin, Creil, Chantilly

Don't miss

• Noyon: the cathedral and adjoining Chapter Library; the Musée du Noyonnais (on local history); the Musée Jean Calvin (about the famed Protestant from here); La Goële micro-brewery 
• Pont-l’Evêque: a traditional mariners’ village with its port 
• Longueil-Annel: the Cité des Bateliers, the mariners’ port quarter
• Chiry-Ourscamp: the Cistercian abbey 
• Laigue Forest
• Compiègne: the Château de Compiègne; the Hôtel de Ville, or town hall (with its ornate figures, the Picantins); the Allée des Beaux-Monts, an impressive wide grassy avenue with vistas, created for Napoleon I; Compiègne Forest; Musée Vivenel (on art and archaeology); Musée de la Figurine Historique (collections of miniature military soldiers in set-piece scenes)