Stage 1
Château-Thierry
Bar-sur-Aube
14 August 2020
The map
The town of Château-Thierry, located in the south of the Aisne, is halfway between the Paris and Rémoise regions: a real meeting point between town and country, modernity and tradition, where agriculture, wine-growing and know-how coexist with a rich architectural and natural heritage.
The area is characterized by a peaceful but dynamic rurality! Its 55,000 inhabitants live and work between the Champagne hillsides and the hilly countryside, on the banks of the river Marne. Here, everything is conducive to discovery and sharing, you will be surprised by the charm and attractiveness of the landscapes.
Château-Thierry, birthplace of the famous fabulist Jean de La Fontaine, is the town centre of the agglomeration from which radiate roads full of history : One strolls there in turn to Jean de La Fontaine’s home, to the convent of the Augustinian sisters at the Hôtel-Dieu, to the ramparts of the medieval castle to admire the spectacle of the Eagles, to the Champagne cellars, in the footsteps of Camille and Paul Claudel, to the American monument on Hill 204 and to Belleau to pay tribute to the American soldiers who fell in the fighting that saved Paris in 1918.
A land of artists and history, it offers you the opportunity to recharge your batteries and discover its many riches by combining heritage and gastronomy.
Bar le Duc, city of the Dukes of Bar and Lorraine labelled Ville d’Art et d’Histoire (one of the 13 cities and territories of the Grand Est, along with Reims,
Troyes, Metz, Strasbourg…)
Two emblematic vestiges of the old castle: the Clock Tower and the pavilion which nowadays houses the museum among the 36 listed or registered monuments.
Remarkable works of the Renaissance: The monument in the heart of René de Chalon sculpted by Ligier Richier (quotation from Simone de Beauvoir).
Richness in quality and quantity: the Barrois Museum with the Musée de France label preserves 22,500 works.
An upper town classified as a remarkable heritage site (SPR) since 1975 and which preserves around the church of St Etienne and Les Halles an architectural ensemble of the Renaissance that is unique in France.