Square du Père Marquette

This monument, the creation of which was decided in 1937 to commemorate the tercentenary of the birth of the Jesuit Jacques Marquette, was intended to recall the memory of this Laonnois who, in the company of the geographer Louis Jolliet, discovered the Mississippi River in 1673.
This was previously located in the square around the Porte de Soissons, and only the stele representing Père Marquette was moved to its current location in 2003.
And even if the memory of his name has faded in France, you should know that he remains an eminently well-known figure in the United States.

When you stand in front of the stele, read the dedication on it:
"How beautiful the sun is, Frenchman,
When you come to visit us".