Meaux and Museum of the Great War

Begin your morning in the medieval Episcopal City of Meaux, where the soaring Gothic cathedral of Saint-Etienne dominates the main square with its five carved portals and rare wooden bell tower. Step next door into the Maison du Brie de Meaux to discover the centuries-old craft behind France's celebrated King of Cheeses, then explore the Musee Bossuet, an art museum set inside a 12th-century bishop's palace filled with works from the Renaissance to the Barbizon school. A stroll through the adjacent Bossuet Garden, its boxwood parterres shaped like a bishop's mitre, leads along ancient Gallo-Roman ramparts before you head to the outskirts of town for the day's highlight: Europe's largest museum dedicated to the First World War, built on the very site where the Battle of the Marne halted the German advance in 1914. The Musee Bossuet and the Museum of the Great War are both closed on Tuesdays, so plan accordingly.