Page 215 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

Cheerful flower beds in
place Ducale at the heart
of Charleville-Mézières

The Musée du Château has citadel of Mézières merged Musée Rimbaud
a fine collection of armour, with the neat Classical town " ⌂ Quai A Rimbaud
brought here by Napoleon of Charle ville in 1966. Mézières § 03 24 32 44 65 # Tue–Sun
Bonaparte. There are also has irregular slate-covered ¢ 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec
tableaux of wax figures houses curving around a
illustrating medieval life. bend in the Meuse. Battered
The bastion is surrounded fortifications and gateways
by 17th-century slate-roofed are visible from the avenue
houses, which hug the banks de St-Julien. Tucked into the
of the Meuse. These reflect ramparts is the much EAT
the city’s earlier prosperity remodelled Gothic Notre-
as a Huguenot stronghold. Dame de l’Espérance. La Cave à
Further south is Fort de A model of Louis XIII urban Champagne
Villy-la-Ferté, one of the few planning, the centrepiece of
Tasty classic
forts on the Maginot Line to Charleville is place Ducale, Champenoise dishes
have been captured in combat which echoes place des and plenty of excellent
with the enemy in 1940. Vosges in Paris (p99). The poet local fizz at this buzzy
Arthur Rimbaud was born
Musée du Château near by in 1854. No 12 rue local favourite.
" ⌂ Château Fort du Sedan, Bérégovoy, his modest birth- ! E2 ⌂ 16 Rue
cours du Château § 03 24 29 place is still there, along with Gambetta, Épernay
∑ la­cave­a­
98 80 # Daily his childhood home on the champagne.com
Meuse at what is now 7 quai
Arthur Rimbaud. ¡¡¡
12 Just along the quayside is Art Deco Café
the Vieux Moulin, the town
Charleville-Mézières house whose view inspired du Palais
“Le Bateau Ivre”, Rimbaud’s Authentic bistro food
! E2 ⌂ Ardennes £ @
n 4 pl Ducale; www.charle­ greatest poem. Inside is the and a great wine list
Musée Rimbaud, which has
ville­sedan­tourisme.fr served under an
a collection of handwritten exquisite Art Deco
This riverside ford used to manu scripts and photographs stained-glass ceiling.
be two towns. The medieval by the poet. ! E2 ⌂ 14 Place Myron
Herrick, Reims
∑ cafedupalais.fr
This riverside ford used to be two towns. ¡¡¡
The medieval citadel of Mézières merged
with the neat Classical town of Charle­
ville in 1966.
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