It was, of course, General de Gaulle who put this village on the map for people the world over. Born in Lille in 1890, the man who would save France half a century later before becoming President of the Republic in 1959 moved to La Boisserie in 1934. General de Gaulle died in…

The etymology of the name Chaumont, 'Calvus Mons' or "Bare Mountain", refers to the site on which the town was founded in the 10th century - a sheer-side spur of rock overlooking the Suize and Marne Valleys. Feudal in origin and once the residence of the Counts of Champagne…

Brottes was the birthplace of Jean Perrot, a monk from Le Val des Escholiers. It is overlooked by the Corgebin Forest whose paths are set out in a star pattern converging on St. Liberius' Spring. From there, there are several footpaths. The old Commandery near the woods is…

From the Middle Ages to the 17th century, Biernes, built on the hilltop, formed a single parish with Harricourt. At that time it was called Sainte-Bierne. The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is decorated with two fine 16th-century statues, a Madonna and Child and St. John the…

The château, decorated with statues of Pomona, Apollo and Flora, was designed by Jean-Baptiste Bouchardon. The luxurious residences that line the main street were built during the same period, as was St. Vallier's Church, which contains a statue of St. Nicholas and a very old…

Oral tradition has it that Julius Caesar, who was camping on a hill to the west of Montsaon (where graves have been discovered), was wounded here and that, as his blood poured out, he declaimed "This is the mountain of my blood" (hence the name Montsaon, or "mon sang", meaning…

St. Didier's priory was founded in the 10th century and the village grew up around it. Like the fortified castle built near the Corgebin Forest, the priory has since disappeared. A magnificent font (15th century) and two low reliefs depicting Christ's Passion in nine scenes…

The village depended on Clairvaux in the 12th century and the River Blaise rises here. The 17th-century Church of St. Bénigne, built in the Romanesque style but with a belltower surrounded by a stone balcony, overlooks the village. There is also a 19th-century Entombment, an…

The village lies on the River Marne, in a steep-sided valley flanked by wooded hillsides. The 18th-century Notre-Dame Church contains a super painted stone statue of the Holy Trinity (16th century). The château, a vast bourgeois mansion, has been turned into a retirement home.…

The definition of the town given by Denis Diderot in 1759, is still valid today: "It is a small village on the top of a hill with the Marne flowing past the foot of the rise." In addition to Haut-de-Mormont, and the Champagne-Burgundy Canal with its port, dam and locks, …