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www.tourisme-meuse.com
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La Meuse is possibly one of France’s best kept secrets, but take a closer look and you will really wonder why. In the Lorraine, between the rolling hills of Champagne and the Vosges Mountains with the Ardennes to the north, you really are in the heart of Europe.
The magic of the Meuse
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The strategic location of the Meuse explains in part why so many defining events in European history have been played out in this relatively small area. It also explains the rich diversity of landscapes from forests to hills, lakes and river valleys which can be enjoyed in so many different ways.
In the land of good living, many of France’s regions lay claim to their own particular speciality. In the Meuse, you can take your pick from several. For an area lying between Champagne and Alsace, the Meuse has both vines and hops and produces a fine range of its own beers and wines. Lorraine was France’s major truffle producing region long before the Perigord or Dordogne and words like Mirabelle, madeleine and dragée are second nature to any self respecting francophile “foodie”. Getting to the Meuse is surprisingly easy. A little over 3 hours by motorway from Calais, access by car from the major channel ports and the tunnel could not be more straightforward. The completion of the TGV Est in 2007 puts the area within an hour’s journey of the French capital.
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June 2007 signals the opening of the TGV Est Europeen linking Paris with Luxembourg and Strasbourg. With brand new trains travelling at up to 320 kmh the Meuse will be just 1 hour from the French capital with its connections to the Eurostar. Travelling via Paris couldn’t be easier. From the Eurostar Terminal at Gare du Nord, it is just a short walk to Gare de l’Est and the TGV. There is also a service from Marne la Vallée (Disneyland).
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Arrival in the Meuse is at the purpose built station midway between Verdun and Bar-le-Duc on the famous “Voie Sacrée”. You can literally travel from the future back into history in just a few steps. The new TGV Meuse Station is almost in the dead centre of the county meaning you only have a short distance to travel in any direction. The Argonne Forest to the west, Verdun and Stenay to the north, due east to the Lac de Madine or south for Bar-le-Duc and Vaucouleurs, the lands of Joan of Arc. You don’t even need a car to be waiting on arrival. Footpaths and cycle ways fan out in all directions from the station so you can get right on with enjoying stay before the train has even pulled away.
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David Howard
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After 10 long years in France’s deepest south, tired of summer scorched earth, burning heat and the incessant winds that blow throughout so much of France’s south, which no guide book ever alludes to, I was tired of it all. I longed for the greenness of grass, for the morning dew and forest, not of inflammatory pine but real forests of all the trees of my childhood: oak, beech and elm to name but a few. I longed for brooks and rivers of clear running water, not the brackish yellow stagnant water holes of midsummer in the ‘midi’. As luck would have it, my work took me travelling through northern France I discovered a magical, almost mystical corner of this incredible country, lost from the madding crowd, known but to a discerning few. I stopped my car at a small village inn and asked which department I was in. “You’re in the Meuse”, the patron declared, thus my romance with the Meuse began. Five years later, living in a land of forest, meadows and streams, the rolling hills swathed in forest green, where cows seem to outnumber people and where often in country lanes tractors outnumber cars, I cannot imagine living anywhere else. The rustic charm of village life, the yellow sandstone, the brick and timber used so often in construction, the absence of the curse of concrete warms my heart. The Meuse is a land of seasons, the snows of Christmas lead to spring flowers. The summers are generally long and dry, nostalgic of childhood summer memories revisited. Autumn, my favourite season: mauves, orange and golden brown of the forest, home to deer and wild boar, clear autumn morning light, the slight crispness of the meadows underfoot, each day a new and unfolding pleasure; each day with a promise. The Meuse for all its singular charms is totally accessible. Calais is close enough to encourage the British to spend long lazy weekends sampling the cuisine, wandering down country lanes, discovering lost villages, but most of all just chilling out. The Meuse is just that kind of place; a land where quality of life comes first.
Penny Woods
After years of reading French Lifestyle magazines, visiting property exhibitions and watching endless life changing, “no going back” style programmes on TV, we finally decided to make the move to France. We decided to look for where we could run a Bed & Breakfast and perhaps a lake for fishing within an optimum travelling distance of 3-4 hours from Calais. Not only did we find the exact property we were looking for in the Meuse but we immediately fell in love with the area because of the feeling of space, freedom and clean air that the countryside and forests here give you. The small country towns like Stenay remain largely uncommercialised and traditionally French. We left our jobs, sold our house and moved with our children pets and furniture to our new life in rural France in January 2005 and haven’t looked back since.
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land of history :World Centre for Peace and Human Rights -Underground Citadel - American cimetery at Romagne - Marguerre Camp
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The Ossuary at Douaumont
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For centuries, the natural frontier between France and the Holy Roman Empire, history has left its imprint on the Meuse in the shape of its wonderful architecture. The renaissance style of Bar-le-Duc, fortifications designed by Vauban and Séré de Rivières and the grand style of the Dukes of Lorraine and their summer residence at Commercy. Conflict has never been far from the history of the Meuse. It is from Vaucouleurs that Joan of Arc began her rallying march to support the French Dauphin in Chinon while it was in Varennes that the fleeing Louis XVI was apprehended, just yards from the waiting Austrian troops. But it is at Verdun where the Meuse’s name is most closely linked to tragedy and conflict. During one of the most bloody periods of the First World War, the German advance on Verdun was held up and finally repulsed over a 300 days period from February to December 1916. Over 700,000 soldiers and French civilians were killed or injured and the physical effects can still be clearly seen by simply driving around the area today. The rolling hills and fields are quite literally shaped and pot marked from the intensity of the bombardment. 2006 has witnessed the 90th anniversary which has been commemorated by a series of events based on reconciliation and understanding. Since 1987 Verdun has been the UN World Capital of Peace, Liberty and Human Rights. Joan of Arc - The arrest of Louis XVI at Varenne in Argonne
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Gourmet Heaven : some flavours of the Meuse
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For an area so at one with nature it is not surprising that much of the local cuisine is heavily based around the fruits of the forest and the stream. Game such as boar and venison feature frequently on the menu as do trout, pike or zander. Nothing more typifies the “goût de la terre” than the truffle – the black gold extracted from the forest floor using sniffer dogs. The forest also means berries and for a taste of the exotic, there is the “Meuse caviar” – a redcurrant jelly made to a 14th century recipe removing the pips with a quill! Beyond the forest, the orchards groan under the weight of fruit, especially mirabelles (cherry plums), the basis of both jams and the famous “eau de vie.” Of course being in Lorraine means eating “quiche” but have you ever tried “potée lorraine” – a stew made from smoked pork, cabbage and potatoes? The Madeline cake is an invention of the Meuse. There are conflicting stories as to its origin but what is no doubt is that
Some specialities of the Meuse
this breakfast delicacy was, and still is made in Commercy. No wedding, christening or communion is complete in France without the gift of sugared almonds – dragées – and this is one of Verdun’s other claims to fame. The Meuse has a beer making tradition which dates back centuries. Today, it is mainly the micro breweries which keep production going, many of whom willingly open their doors to visitors and fellow aficionados alike. One of these breweries in Verdun not only makes its own but stocks around 250 others brews which can taste under one roof. Meanwhile, the wines from the Côtes de Meuse have their own fans around the world. Light, fruity yet full of flavour, these fines, once the staple “vin de table” throughout France, have now evolved their own individual tastes and are the perfect compliment to the strong flavours of Meuse regional cuisine.
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Leisure pursuits in the Meuse
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As you might expect from an area which encompasses a Regional Nature Park, 37 forests, a lake, 2 canals and 4,500 km of rivers, the choice of outdoor pursuits is limited only by your imagination. Follow your nose on a network of 4,500 km of footpaths or one of 25 prepared cycle routes; take to the saddle at one of 16 horse riding centres; take to the water on a gentle canal boat holiday or a little quicker with wind surfing or water skiing. Golfers will not be disappointed nor will anglers with over 8000 acres of lake and some of the best fly fishing rivers in Europe. If your pleasure is simply admiring beautifully laid out parks and gardens, then in the Meuse you can choose from country parks to chateau or abbey gardens. For those with a sense of the unusual, the Meuse can also provide you with everything from pot holing to astronomy or wild boar hunts.
The great indoors
You can live the life of baronial splendour or get really close to nature when choosing your accommodation in the Meuse. There are chateaux which have made the transformation into comfortable hotels or restaurants which uphold the region’s fine culinary heritage and there are campsites right on the water’s edge or in the heart of the forest. The Meuse’s strength lies in its family sized hotels, chambres d’hôtes and gîtes. Here you will find individually styled rooms above a fine restaurant or a bed and breakfast with its own swimming pool, converted from an old fortified mansion – each has its own particular character and charm but all are graded by the local authority for the quality of their welcome.
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Remembrance Tourism
Guide to Museums
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Short stays and Excursion ideas 2007
Tourism and Fishing Guide
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