This region has the following Departments: [52] Haute Marne (Capital City: Chaumont); [51] Marne (Capital City: Reims); [10] Aube (Capital City: Troyes; and [8] Ardennes (Capital City: Charleville-Mézières).
We have traveled through different parts of the Region, and who knows, this Region, being right above the Bourgogne Region, could be the destination of a 2007 Wine and Champagne Tour as this is a region that is known for champagne.
The Region Champagne-Ardenne, is a region of forests, valleys and scenic towns.
We have this on our list of next visits as it is situation on a hill, overlooking the great plain of Champagne. With its medieval streets the town retains a feel of character. Its cathedral dates from the early Gothic period.
Located just 180 km from Paris, we stayed here on one of trips after touring part of the Ile-de-France Region. The town mixes ancient and modern architecture styles. The drive through some of the this region, I noted in my Journal, was almost like driving through Saskatchewan (Canada) - it was flat, with rolling hills. But every once in a while you would come across a town that would more than capture your interest.
The Notre-Dame-en-Vaux has stunning examples of 12th Century stained glass. The original cloisters were destroyed in the 18th Century but have been rebuilt between 1960 and 1980. There are rare carved capitals.
Walk along the Promenade du Jard - its most pleasant. For our dinner, it was great. This Region has great wine of course. We still remember the wonderful dinner we had - the asparagus served with a lemon-orange butter sauce were incredible! We stayed at the Hotel d'Angleterre and found the room to be nicely decorated, the price was reasonable and they had a good restaurant. Our meal was more than twice the price of our room, but it was good.
We were lucky that in the evening there was a pageant, this was like an out-door opera that moved from various locations throughout the centre. The crowd just followed from location to location.