Instant climbs #6 | Sente des Valézys > Ruelle Classon

The Porte de Soissons closed one of the main entrances to the west of the medieval town. Built around 1200, and despite its deterioration, it remains a fine example of medieval military architecture. Just below it is Laon's "Tower of Pisa", the Tour de Dame Eve, a corner and flanking tower of the medieval rampart. A landslide of its base due to the clay soil gives it its distinctive appearance...

This steep climb, running alongside the former Foch barracks, whose construction began in 1912, is very steep and largely shaded.It has had several names, such as Ruelle des Valizys, or even Ruelle des Loups or Ruelle du Calmand in its upper section, and leads to the Square de la Tour Penchée and the fortified gate of Soissons. It is said that this path - probably one of the oldest in Laon - was the scene of a resurgence of pagan cults in the first centuries of Christianity at the time of the summer solstice: a flaming wheel (or rouelle) was sent down the slope in honour of the deity of the Celtic pantheon Taranis...

This is an old path that starts with a staircase at the Ernst Jünger roundabout. It used to link the Foch district to the vast area of land under the Pointe Saint-Martin in the upper town, known as Classon Park.It was from here that Blücher's cannons fired on Napoleon's armies in March 1814... Note that just below this platform was once the Laon swimming pool, now demolished and moved to the lower town.  

Between 1783 and 1788, the barracks of the Dragons de la Reine (destroyed in the 1917 bombings) were built on the site of the current Lycée Paul-Claudel. The fountains and drinking troughs, located outside the enclosure, were designed to meet the needs of the military. They were enlarged in 1811 and used throughout the 19th century, and even before the First World War horses still came to drink there. If you look back over the water troughs, you can see on your right an old fortified town gate - now walled in - known as the Porte de la Sainte Fontaine.

René Sorbon (1900–1940) was a flight lieutenant whose aircraft was shot down over Laon at the start of the Second World War on 20 May 1940. Here is the citation for this soldier, who was based at the Mondésir air base in Essonne: "Army citation awarding the CGP: Sorbon René, lieutenant in the 2/13 night fighter squadron, mechanical officer, always volunteering for the most dangerous missions. Was killed while leading a detachment tasked with repairing an aircraft that had landed after combat near enemy lines." He left behind his wife and two children, all three of whom lived in Etampes...