Page 213 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

Cafés spilling out on the 9 mystical powers. Virtually the
cobbles at the centre whole town is enclosed by well­
of pretty Langres Langres preserved medieval ram parts,
undoubtedly Langres’s best­
! F3 ⌂ Haute-Marne
£ @ n Square Olivier known attraction. A succes­
gabled portals are offset Lahalle; www.tourisme- sion of towers and parapets
by floating tracery, a gauzy langres.com provide glimpses of the roman­
effect remini scent of Reims tic town gates and sculpted
Cathedral. All around are gar­ Set on a rocky spur, Langres Renaissance mansions, with
goyles, symbolizing evil spirits lies beyond Chaumont, in panoramic views of the Marne
and deadly sins, chased out the backwaters of southern Valley, the Langres plateau,
by the holy presence within. Champagne. This ancient the Vosges and, on a clear
Unfortunately, the most bishopric was one of the gate­ day, even Mont Blanc.
risqué sculptures were ways to Burgundy and the Near Porte Henri IV is the
destroyed, judged obscene birthplace of the encyclopedist much­remodelled Cathédrale
by 19th­century puritans. Denis Diderot (1713–84). St­Mammès. In Burgundian
The subdued Gothic interior Langres promotes itself as a Romanesque style, the
contains a 15th­century rood land of springs, claiming that gloomy vaulted interior is
screen and the venerated its proximity to the sources of redeemed by the sculpted
statue of the Virgin. the Seine and Marne grant it capitals in the apse, reputedly
taken from a temple of Jupiter.
The town’s Musée d’Art et
CHAMPAGNE TIMBER d’Histoire presents archae­
CHURCHES ological finds from the region,
An hour south of and has some inter esting
L’Epine lies a region collections of paintings,
of woodland and water engrav ings and sculpture.
meadows, containing Langres’s lively summer
12 Romanesque and season includes historical
Renaissance half- re­enactments, theatre
timbered churches with and firework displays. Its
curious pointed gables nearby lakes, Lac de Charmes
and caquetoirs, rickety and Lac de la Vingeanne, offer
wooden porches. Set in excellent opportunities for
rural spots, they feature fishing and birdwatching.
intimate and often
beautifully carved Musée d’Art et d’Histoire
interiors with stained- " ⌂ Pl du Centenaire 52
glass windows designed # Apr–Sep: 9am–noon & 1:30–
in the vivid colours of The 16th-century timber 6:30pm; Oct–Mar: 1:30–
the School of Troyes. church at Bailly-le-Franc 5:30pm ¢ 1 Jan, 1 May, 1 Nov,
25 Dec ∑ musees-langres.fr
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