Every design for Meaux

Have you ever swum in the Marne? In Meaux you can: the town is one of the few able to boast river water clean enough for bathing, and it has its own beach, Meaux plage, right on the bank. Meaux sits in a hollow the Marne has cut into the Brie plateau, east of Paris, and the river curls through the centre in a short loop, joined by the Canal de l'Ourcq and the medieval Canal Cornillon.

Memories here tend to involve water and gardens. There is the rowing and canoe club on the Marne, the marina, the locks that let the barges through by the Jardin Ceccaldi. North of the river, the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne stands beside the old episcopal palace and its garden laid out in the shape of a bishop's mitre; south of it lies the Market Quarter. The Musée de la Grande Guerre and the Maison du Brie de Meaux bring in visitors from far beyond the valley.

Whether you rowed on the Marne or simply crossed it every day, this loop of river is yours.