Paris to Soissons (0 km to 100 km) The RN 2 starts at the Porte de la Villette in north-east Paris. Called the Avenue Jean Jaurès to
Le Bourget crossing the
A 86 autoroute and then
A 1 autoroute (Paris to
Lille). The road passes the
Aéroport de Paris - Le Bourget. Where it turns east leaving the
N 17. The road then crosses the A 1 and
A 3 autoroute. The N 2 merges with the
A 104 autoroute briefly as it passes south east of
Charles de Gaulle Airport. The original road ran through the airport site and is designated by the D 902 to the south and D 401 through
Dammartin-en-Goële. The road now by-passes many of the villages and small towns on the original route such as
Nanteuil-le-Haudouin. The road then passes through the
Forêt de Retz. The road passes open country and war cemeteries to the town of
Soissons on the river
Aisne. The road crosses the
N 31 (
Rouen to
Reims).
Soissons to Laon (100 km to 130 km) North of the town the countryside is more wooded the road passes the
Monument des Crapouillots. The road reaches the ridge on which the walled town of
Laon sits. The road crosses the
N 44 (Reims to
Cambrai).
Laon to Maubeuge (130 km to 224 km) The road heads north east over the
A 26 autoroute (
Calais to
Troyes). The countryside is now flat and open. The road turns north after the small town of
Vervins. The road then crosses the upper reaches of the
Oise. At
La Capelle the road meets the
N 29 to
Le Havre and the
N 43 (
Calais to
Metz). The countryside becomes more hilly on its way to
Avesnes-sur-Helpe. At
Maubeuge the road crosses the river
Sambre, and also the
N 49 (
Valenciennes to
Belgium). The road continues north to the frontier with
Belgium and
Mons becoming the N 6. The route eventually reaches
Brussels. ==References==