Located 150 km North-East of Paris, the Champagne region includes more than 31,000 hectares of vineyard. Troyes (pronounced trwa and not troy) is a Medieval town around 160 km east of Paris on the shores of the Seine river.

	It is the capital of Aube, which is one of the 3 départments (administrative counties ) of the Champagne region with Marne and the Haute Marne.  One of the curiosities of the area is the shape of the town, it has the shape of a champagne cork. In the 11th century Troyes was the capital of the Champagne region.
© CDT Aube

An industrial town, where merchants came from all over the world to attend its annual fairs. During the 12^th century international trade in Troyes flourished and it became an important international center for commerce.

Today a pedestrian haven with many restaurants and a shopping center, history is here told through each stone, wood and glass piece that make up the beautiful architecture of the town.

Known as the « city of art and history » Troyes is today the capital of the Départment of Aube, which is one of France's richest in works of art. After the Hundred Years War, and the fire of 1524 that destroyed almost everything, Troyes rebounded from the ashes during the sixteenth century again as the center of commerce and industry. Wealthy merchants, renovated or built churches with donations, and adorned them with works of art from the ateliers of local artisans, stained-glass makers, painters, and sculptors. It is during this period of great economic expansion that stained-glass works spread in Troyes.

Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Paul © CDT Aube / R. Bayon

Today, almost a quarter of all French stained-glass creations are here.

In the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul (13^th - 16^th centuries), 1500m² of stained glass from the period between the13^th and the 19^th centuries, tell the stained-glass story.

Not too far, the world's most important collection of handmade tools form the 18^th and the 19^th centuries are well kept in the «Maison de l'Outil» (the house of tools).

The Museum of Modern Art, next to the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, houses some of the richest collections of twentieth-century, some 2000 works by painters who marked the beginning of the 20^th century, such as Courbet, De Staël, Dufy, Braque, Cézanne, Matisse, Delacroix, Picasso.

Do not miss Arcis-sur-Aube, the birth city of Danton,
and Brienne-le-Château with a museum devoted to Napoléon Ist (Castle of Brienne) as well as the famous abbey of Clairvaux (Saint-Bernard) and the castles of Chacenay, Rumilly-les-Vaudes, Motte-Tilly.

Charleville-Mézières is the capitale of Ardennes; this département located in the nothern part of the Champagne region.

 

 

In Châlons-en-Champagne, in the departement of Marne, you could enjoy the lovely checkerboarded buildings fronts when going up to the Notre-Dame-de-Vaux church with its romanesque style collegiale, its lits and its choir which foreshadows Gothic Art (12th century).

At some streets of there, you could see the mansion of the governors of Châlons   (front from 17th century) as well as the town hall (Louis XVI style - 18th century) and the Saint-Alpin church (12th century) partly fit in the houses (North front).

You should visit the museum of Oeuvre du Cloître de Notre-Dame-de-Vaux for its archological and fine Arts collections.

Reims is well known for its magnificient Notre-Dame cathedrale in where kings of France were crowned with its Smiling Angel. You should also see :  The Gate of Mars (Triumph ark Gallo-Roman from the 3th century), The town hall which Louis XIII front has been entirely restored The Place Royale (with sculptures of Pigalle)  and the Saint-Denis museum (ancient abbey from the 18th century where are conserved tapestries, statues and paintings)

It is finally the Champagne’s vineyard with its notorious great wines all over the world (Reims and Épernay).

With 50 meters high and 600 meters long, the viaduct of Chaumont (Haute-Marne) is one of the most remarkable achievements of the 19^th century. The landmark doesn't go unnoticed, as it is the most important viaduct of stone in Europe.

Within the old city, the architecture consists of mostly 15^th and 16^th centuries buildings and middle-class houses of the 17^th and 18^th centuries.
Sites of interest are the dungeons of the Champagne Counts, and the Basilica of Saint-Jean.

From the Sabinius grotto, symbol of the Gallic resistance face to the Romans to the Boisserie museum-castle devoted to General de Gaulle’s souvenirs, it’s a part of the French identity which remains here.

You can have a quick tour in Langres (the ancient capital of the Lingons, a gallic tribe), and a stopover at Nogent to visit its Museum of Cutlery.

the lake of Der-Chantecoq, in the Champagne-Ardenne area, was created to prevent devastating floods in the Paris area and to provide the city and its suburbs with water during summer. It attracts each autumn about 40,000 migrating cranes, offering visitors a grandiose sight at dawn.

	Thermal cure You can also visit a spa at Bourbonne-les-Bains. The beneficial virtues of its waters must have been known during the roman era, as the presence of the Gallo-Roman remains in the thermal park indicates.  Every year, Bourbonne-les-Bains attracts 13,000 cure seekers, placing this town among the top resorts of France.
Bourbonne-les-Bains