Stage 4
Tomblaine
Bar-sur-Aube
11 August 2020
Tomblaine is a young, sporty and dynamic city of more than 9,000 inhabitants, located in the Far East. With its islands, lakes and bridges, Tomblaine is the ideal place to enjoy activities related to water and water sports. The large lake of La Méchelle, straddling Nancy and Tomblaine, also offers pleasant and instructive walks and cycle paths. Around the nautical pole, many water sports (rowing, canoeing, kayaking, …) can be practiced. Sport in general is a real priority so that the population can express itself, have fun and blossom. There are 2,249 members of local clubs without counting school sports.
Tomblaine also has a site classified as a Sensitive Natural Space (ENS) which welcomes more than 400 species of birds and whose ornithological trail allows, over the seasons, to cross water hens, falcons and grey herons. By following the signs along the path, you can also observe many protected species of trees and flowers.
In terms of heritage, in the old village of Tomblaine, there is the farmhouse of medieval origin and an adjoining chapel. Also to be admired: the laboratory of bridges and roadways and its building designed by Henri Prouvé.
An important cultural event, the theatre festival Aux Actes Citoyens takes place every year in May. This festival programs many modes of theatrical expression, mainly at the Espace Culturel Jean Jaurès and on the Place des Arts, a public space dedicated to culture.
Crossed by the river Aube, the town is situated at the foot of a spur on the Côte des Bar, the “mountain” Sainte-Germaine where the patron saint of the town was martyred by the Vandals. In Celtic times, the hill sheltered an oppidum of which there are still ditches and embankments, near the chapel and the orientation table from where one can admire a superb panorama: wooded plateaux, wine slopes, alluvial deposits, grassy or cultivated areas.
Under the Counts of Champagne, the city was famous and prosperous with the famous fairs.
The 12th century also saw the rise of the monastic economy of the Abbey of Clairvaux. From this medieval golden age, Bar-sur-Aube has preserved a rich architectural and historical heritage with notably the remarkable Saint-Pierre church (12th century) and its wooden gallery, the halloy, which was probably used by merchants at the time of the great Champagne fairs.
From the castle of the Counts, destroyed after the League at the end of the 16th century on the orders of Henri IV, the keep (12th century) remains the present bell tower of the church of Saint-Maclou.
An architectural centre of great interest, Bar-sur-Aube also offers a quality environment with the charm of its river full of fish and clear waters. You will be able to stroll along the water thanks to the shaded walks of Mathaux, the Chevillottes, the Pont d’Aube and the Gravière.
The town can also be proud of its superb flowering, which has been rewarded with three flowers at the national level.
Bar-sur-Aube is resolutely attractive and dynamic, a town where life is good and where there is still so much to discover. The Circuit de la Paume will guide you in a playful and exotic way.
