Let’s talk about your Champagne education. No, not the neighborly kind offered at your local wine shop. Nor the delightful kind that you can get on a wine bar tour with me in Paris. I’m talking about the well-advised independent kind that a curious traveler—you—can get by visiting the vine-growing area and production zone of the world’s most famous sparkling wine. Yes, I’m talking about your Champagne daytrip or overnight.

For most destinations in the Champagne wine region your coursework on the making and variety of tastes and styles of Champagne requires a road vehicle, whether a rental car, a taxi, a car service or an organized car/van/bus tour—in any case a designated driver.

Let’s say that you’re either setting out from Paris or heading to the Champagne region directly after arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport. A driving tour can start with the Marne Valley producers around Chateau-Thierry, a zone where pinot meunier vines dominate or by going directly to the heart of the region that lies between and within the two capitals of Champagne: Reims, the historic regional capital, and Epernay, the capital of bubbly itself. Beyond Epernay there’s the Côte des Blancs, especially known for the prestigious chardonnay grapes that grow in its chalky soil. Then there’s the lesser traveled southern portion of the growing area in the department of Aube, specifically the Côte des Bar, with its much-desired pinot noir vineyards.

Each of those areas has its particularities and benefits as destinations to enjoy and learn about Champagne. But how to obtain a good Champagne education without a car or driver? Château-Thierry and Reims are reached easily enough by train, but for the former you then need to hit the road to get credits for your survey course, and for the latter you’d be one weary (though probably happy) foot traveler if you didn’t call for some kind of transportation during the day.

Epernay is the DIY Champagne destination with the best car-free outlook, whether on a daytrip or an overnight.

Not only can a sparkling excursion to Epernay be car-free but carefree as well since little logistical planning is necessary. Most days you can even purchase your train ticket at the last minute at Paris’s East Station, Gare de l’Est, for the one hour and twenty- or thirty-minute ride to Epernay. Greater planning is necessary to climb the Eiffel Tower or visit the Louvre than to explore Epernay on a daytrip.

From the Epernay station, your entire learning campus can easily be covered on foot. Within one mile of the station, you can visit any of a dozen Champagne producers, examine a terrific museum that’s dedicated to regional archeology and the wines of Champagne, see the former mansions of Champagne merchants, and have a choice of restaurants, Champagne bars, pastry shops, and cafés. You can even rise 492 feet in a tethered balloon or climb a 217-foot tower for a view over the valley and out to the vineyards. All within one mile of the train station.

The agro-industrial business of Champagne production dominates in Epernay (pop. 23,000), so if you’re a single-minded traveler looking for an intensive introduction, continuing education or master class in Champagne—without recourse to a car—read on.

Avenue de Champagne

The essential strolling grounds for a visit to Epernay is Avenue de Champagne, Champagne Avenue. Sparnaciens, as local citizens are called, like to tell visitors from the capital that Avenue de Champagne is the Champs-Elysées of Epernay. Indeed, there’s just as much branding going on. But there’s also deep know-how along, around and beneath Avenue de Champagne. Epernay has nearly 70 miles of cellars underfoot, holding about 200 million bottles of bubbly. The avenue is bordered by the former mansions of Champagne merchants, many of them dating from the 19th century. They’re mostly on the left side as you rise the avenue, while on the right side are production facilities, with plenty of Champagne know-how and marketing expertise on both sides of the street. All of that allows Avenue de Champagne to be among the elements that entered UNESCO’s World Heritage List under the title “Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars.”

You can easily spend half a day or more along the first half-mile of the avenue. Thanks to its many opportunities to learn, see and taste, Champagne Avenue could be your sole destination on a train excursion from Paris. Yet you’ll undoubtedly also enjoy a walkabout in the compact heart of the town with its bakeries, pastry shops, restaurants, cafés and tasting rooms.

The Epernay Tourist Office, at 7 avenue de Champagne, is conveniently located near the bottom of the avenue, so it can be your first stop on arrival. Reservations are recommended to visit a production facility and cellars, especially on busy weekends and in summer, but it’s also possible decide on an Epernay daytrip on a whim, in which case the tourist office can help direct you to an available cellar tour. Your Champagne curriculum calls for at least one such tour, particularly if you aren’t aware of the grapes, their classification and the Champagne method. Other than a formal tour, tasting opportunities are easy to come by, both on the avenue and in the heart of town.

Beyond the tourist office, the first major former mansion you’ll come upon was built for the Auban-Moët family in the second half of the 19th century. You may not know the Aubans but you’ve certainly heard of the Moëts, as in Moët & Chandon, whose installations can be visited right across the street. The mansion has served as City Hall since right after the First World War, which explains the monument to war dead that greets visitors entering on its avenue side. The estate’s park (feel free to enter) has a near replica of the Temple of Love that stands in the Trianon park at Versailles. (When arriving by train, you can actually cut through the park to reach Avenue de Champagne.)

Château Perrier: The Museum of Champagne Wine and Regional Archeology

A 3-minute walk further up the avenue you’ll come to the Château Perrier, an eclectic and ostentatious 96-room mansion built in the 1850s by local architect Pierre-Eugène Cordier for Charles Perrier, heir to the Perrier-Jouët Champagne House. The Perrier-Jouët cellars are partly beneath the mansion. They were dug to connect directly with the railway line that had been inaugurated in 1849. The estate was purchased by the Town of Epernay in 1943 to house its museum collections and library. Closed in 1998 for massive rethinking, reorganization and eventually restoration, it reopened in 2021 as the Museum of Champagne Wine and Regional Archeology.

If arriving by train in the morning, consider the museum as your first stop before lunch or a visit one of the Champagne Houses.

I know, I know, you’ve come for cool bubbles not for a dry museum. But let your curiosity draw you inside. First, to admire the grand staircase and the gold-leaf décor of the ground-floor reception rooms and to take in the view out to the park of Château Perrier and beyond the Marne River to the vine-planted slopes of the Mountain of Reims. Then it’s on to the geology section. Geology? What’s that got to do with my Champagne education? As with all prestigious wine regions, an awful lot! Just ask the roots of the vines and the minerality in your glass. An awareness of the formation of the region’s chalky sub-soil here is an integral part of your Champagne education as is, naturally, the section on winemaking that comes later. Yet the most fascinating part of the museum is the archeology collection (choice Neolithic, Celtic and Roman finds), one of the largest in France. The informative audio-guide, available in English, is especially useful in viewing that section.

Musée du vin de Champagne et d’Archéologie régionale, 13 avenue de Champagne, Epernay. Entrance (includes audio-guide): 9€, 6€ for ages 13 to 25, free for under 13. Closed Tues.

Continuing along the avenue and nearby

Among the most accessible producers for tours and tastings are Moët & Chandon, de Venoge and Boizel on the primary strolling portion of Avenue de Champagne; Alfred Gratien, Jacquinot & Fils and de Castellane on nearby streets, and Mercier and Comtesse Lafond beyond the first half mile of the avenue. Others are further afield but also reachable on foot (e.g. Charles Mignon on the opposite side of town). Still others allow you to pursue your education in their tasting room or bar, e.g. A. Bergère, Leclerc Briant, Elodie D., Les 3 Domaines (which presents the wines of three winemakers).

Whichever you visit, enjoy a stroll along the mannerly first half-mile of Avenue de Champagne to view the mansions and villas along the way. Don’t hesitate to enter an open gate and to inquiry about the bubbly of a producer you may never have heard of.

One of those that I visited on my recent overnight to Epernay was Champagne Boizel. I asked Lionel Boizel, who oversees the Champagne house with his brother Florent, to give readers a virtual tasting. His presentation of three Boizel Champagnes follows my introduction in this video.

Eventually, at a round-about, you’ll come to the turn-off toward the de Castellane Champagne House on the left and the Mercier facility built in the 1980s on the right. Mercier is a major producer with a family-friendly cellar tour. De Castellane, along with its own cellar tour, welcomes visitors of all ages able to climb the tower’s 237 steps for a view over the town and along the River Marne and out to the vineyards along the slopes of the southern side of the hill known as the Mountain of Reims. For an alternative or additional overview, you can lift off (weather permitting) in a tethered balloon (you’ll see it near the start of the avenue) while sipping a glass of bubbly at just under 500 feet.

Develop your Champagne curriculum freestyle

Obtaining a proper Champagne education when in Epernay or anywhere in the winegrowing region requires getting beyond the branding and the marketing in order to truly taste and understand the variety of sparkling wines called Champagne.

Major brands do dominate the avenue, including major assets within the LVMH wine portfolio, while smaller family-operated and independent producers also have a presence. All can be enjoyable and instructive. If you do opt to visit a big-brand producer, also visit one that’s lesser known or unknown to you. There are thousands of different Champagnes available, so try to discover what defines your taste and style.

Did you say thousands? Yes, I did.

There are nearly 370 producers known as Champagne “houses,” those that control the resources requires for their own production and market internationally. (See here for more detailed definition of a Champagne house.) These houses represent more than two-thirds of Champagne sales and more than 85% of exports. Each has its own style or styles and produces a range of sparkling wines. Many are referred to as grandes marques (big-brand) producers but of the 370 you may have only heard of how many? Six? Maybe a dozen tops? Some are small, even tiny. Most of the world knows Champagne through the marketing and availability of just a few dozen of the houses.

Here in France, however, we naturally have more access to the varied world of Champagne. Beyond those few dozen and beyond producers designated as “houses,” there are dozens of cooperatives marketing Champagne and hundreds of independent producers, and grapes are grown by more than 16,000 growers. Some producers without a presence on Avenue de Champagne have shops in town where you can get acquainted with their winemaking craftsmanship. (In Epernay you won’t necessarily come across all of the major brands that you’d find at home. Reims is the other major hub for international brands.) If you only focus on brand—even if your choices are limited at home—without tasting a great many, you risk being a sparkling wine snob, proclaiming admiration for a favorite brand without being able to explain why. Better to be a sparkling wine snob with the knowledge to back it up, whether you’ve got a favorite brand or not.

Just think how impressed your friends will be when you say, “I tend to like a Champagne that’s 50% pinot noir and 50% chardonnay, with no more than 5 grams of sugar. At least with certain hors d’oeuvres. As a straight aperitif I prefer a blanc de blancs. But I did once encounter a charming pinot meunier rosé that I’ve been looking for ever since. Of course, I’ll be happy with whatever you’re serving—I do like a good Champagne.”

Well, maybe your friends won’t be impressed, but I will.

In the town center, a few blocks from the start of Avenue de Champagne, the wine bar and shop Les Grands Vins de France can serve as a beyond-the-brand Champagne education in and of itself or a good place for your final exam. Ask for a tasting according to grape variety and/or sugar content to find your preference, then ask for the brands that correspond with that preference.

Use your time in Epernay to visits several producers, whether glitzy and earthy, mineral or fruity, from different areas of the region, for blanc de blancs, blanc de noirs, blended (and in various percentages), rosé, with varying amounts of added sugar, from this part of the vine-growing region or another, with some oak-barrel ageing or (more likely) not, organic, biodynamic or whatever, vintage or not.

Do I have to drink all of those for coursework? Certainly not. Drink with moderation, of course, and pace yourself. You don’t have to finish every glass. But isn’t it reassuring to know that you won’t be driving today and are unlikely to get lost in a town this size?

Which reminds me of something my friend Guillaume once said when we were leaving a wine fair in Paris: “How much wine can you really drink without just wanting a beer?” A lot, was my answer. But if a member of your travel group is anything like Guillaume, note that Epernay has a craft brewery, Tête de Chou, 1 bis avenue Foch, a 10-minute walk from the center. It may sound sinful to mention beverages with bubbles other than those in Champagne if you’ve come this far, but there you have it, craft beer served in the brewer’s taproom Thurs.-Sat. 5:30PM to midnight.

A pink pastry break: le moelleux champenois

Personally, I’d seek out pastry in Epernay before looking for beer. As a break from Champagne tasting (or to accompany it), Epernay and the surrounding region offer the opportunity to enjoy a pastry or cake that you won’t find elsewhere. It’s called the moelleux champenois. Moelleux means soft and champenois means from Champagne. The soft pastry from Champagne is therefore a nod the dry harder pink biscuits (aka Champagne biscuits or pink biscuits of Reims) that are traditionally associated with high tea Champagne and after-dinner delicacy.

In 2019 by a group of six boulangers-pâtissiers belonging to the Bakery Federation of the Marne came together in an effort to create a pastry that would be distinctly regional. The result is the moelleux champenois, made of eggs, sugar, almond, butter, flour, marc de Champagne (a brandy made from the residue of Champagne wine grapes after pressing), baking powder, with crumbled pink biscuit on top (egg whites, sugar, flour, baking powder, coloring). Only members of the Bakery Federation are authorized to use the recipe to make moelleux champenois under that name. Currently, about 40 do. On our trip, it made for a nice pairing with de Castellane rosé both for taste and for color, but it also goes well with coffee or tea.

Ours was actually a triple pairing of moelleux champenois, De Castellane rosé and an encounter with Loïc Maingre, who was among the original development team for the pastry. He and his wife Céline operate the pastry shop Au Bonheur des Papilles. 31 Rue de la Porte Lucas, on the western edge of the inner town. Closed Wed. and Thurs.

Maingre explained that since pink (Champagne) biscuits have long shelf-life, the Bakery Federation wanted to create something that did as well. The moelleux champenois, he said, has a shelf-life of 11 days, but I can’t imagine anyone holding onto one for very long. Immediate consumption is more like it, especially if you purchase an individual portion (3.50€) but even a full cake (13€) if traveling with friends. (Admittedly, I did hold on to one individual portion to enjoy with breakfast two days later when back home in Paris.)

As to the recipe for pink biscuits, Vincent Dallet, a well-known pastry chef and chocolatier in Epernay (who is not among the group making moelleux champenois), shared it with me for this article a while back.

Restaurants and Eateries

La Banque, 40 rue du Général Leclerc. In a former bank building, a polished and classy brasserie, well situated for either lunch or dinner. Open daily.

La Cave de l’Avenue, 5 avenue de Champagne. An easy-going restaurant at lunchtime and a wine bar after 6PM, La Cave belongs to the Bergère family, owners of Champagne A. Bergère. Closed Sun. and Mon. While the restaurant and wine bar naturally serve the family Champagne, a cellar tour and formal tasting can be had further up the avenue at #40.

La Cave à Champagne, 16 rue Gambetta. An Epernay institution for hearty traditional fare. Closed Tues. and Wed.

Le Théâtre, 8 place Mendès France. Traditional gastronomy by the theater at the circle near the train station. Closed Wed. as well as evenings Tues. and Sun.

There are numerous easy-going options for a meal or a snack in the compact town center, including bakeries, cafés and pizzerias.

Accommodations

There are three reasons that Epernay makes for a nice overnight for slow travelers: 1. To take a pre-dinner nap in your hotel or B&B after an afternoon of touring and tasting. 2. To enjoy a leisurely dinner (with more Champagne tasting) in town. 3. To take a genteel stroll along the avenue after nightfall.

Since this article concerns Epernay as a carless Champagne excursion, I’ve only selected accommodations that are within walking distance of the train station. Luxury accommodations and other worthy options are also found in the surrounding villages and by the vineyards.

Hotels

La Villa Eugène, 84 avenue de Champagne. Epernay’s only 5-star hotel, is located several hundred yards beyond the main stroll way of Avenue de Champagne, just past Mercier. It occupies a 19th-century mansion that once belonged to Eugène Mercier himself. Traditional rooms with a touch of elegance. Bar. Small outdoor heated pool. A wooded park behind the house. The hotel is a mile from the heart of the town and the train station, so while it isn’t far from the action, travelers on a car-free overnight may feel that they’re slightly off-center. Without discouraging a stay for Epernay-only foot travelers, I see this more as a place for settle in for two or more nights while also visiting the villages and vineyards in the vicinity with your own car or with a car service, taxi or organized tour.

Hotel Jean Moët, 7 rue Jean Moët, a well-situated 4-star in heart of town, a 4-minute walk from the train station, with a Champagne bar next door.

Hôtel de Champagne, 30 rue Eugène Mercier. A nice and simple inexpensive 3-star near the center of town, a 7-minute walk from the station.

Le Clos Raymi, 3 rue Joseph de Venoge. A 15-minute walk from the station, behind Avenue de Champagne, this pricier 3-star is a 7-room hotel of character in a 19-century mansion that once belonged to the Chandon family.

B&Bs

Epernay is actually more of a B&B destination for now, though not all will allow guests for only one night.

Le 25 Bis by Leclerc Briant, 25 bis avenue de Champagne, situated 500 yards up the avenue, about mid-way along the strolling zone. The Leclerc Briant Champagne house (200,000 bottles/year) has since 2012 been owned by the American couple Mark Nunnelly (from the world of finance) and Denise Dupré (from the world of hospitality management). They’re associated with Frédéric Zeimett, a French partner native to the region, for the production of their wines. The couple also owns the 5-star Royal Champagne hotel that overlooks the southern portion of the Mountain of Reims. Their chic B&B in Epernay has five large, formally elegant rooms and more service possibilities than a typical B&B. Priced accordingly. Options include taking over the entire house with a group of friends and, in that case, hiring a private chef, and, of course, a tour of the Leclerc Briant production headquarters which are situated on the western edge of Epernay where the vineyards begin.

Le Bubble 8, 8 rue des Berceaux, an excellent location on a calm street near restaurants, bars, bakeries and other shops, just a 3-minute walk from the start of Avenue de Champagne. Owner Pascale Lelong-Macra had a career in finance before purchasing the honorable solicitors’ Maison des Notaires and transforming it into five apartment B&Bs. The spacious, well-appointed studios and apartments with clean lines and character have kitchens or kitchenettes and so are especially adapted to a stay of several days or more. It’s nevertheless also a welcoming place for a short stay (there’s a 2-night minimum). Without the pretentions of a full-service B&B such as Le 25 Bis, Lelong-Macra’s son Clement is quite capable, with advance organization, of driving guests out to the villages and vineyards in the surrounding area for Champagne visits according to his itinerary or your own. (His is not a taxi service but a touring service for those staying at Le Bubble 8 and other apartments rentals managed by the family.)

Parva Domus, 27 avenue de Champagne. Parva domus magna quies is Latin for “small house, big rest,” which is what I enjoyed in the attic bedroom at Madame Rimaire’s plain, old-fashion, friendly B&B quietly located midway along the prestigious avenue, a 10-minute walk from the station. Magna Quies is the name of a sister B&B up the avenue at #49.

La Cave de l’Avenue, 5 avenue de Champagne, noted above as a lunchtime restaurant and evening wine bar belonging to the Bergère family (Champagne A. Bergère), is also a B&B with an excellent location for strolls day or night along Champagne Avenue and in the heart of Epernay.

Further logistical considerations

As I’ve said, a day trip to Epernay requires little advance planning, perhaps just a reservation for a cellar tour or two if you want and a hotel or B&B reservation if you intend to spend the night.

While this article is especially intended to describe an easy-walking, car-free Champagne excursion from Paris, whether as a day trip or an overnight, before returning to Paris, you can see on the map above its proximity to Reims, the historic capital of the Champagne region.

Nearly hourly trains link Epernay and Reims, a 35-minute ride to the opposite side of the Mountain of Reims. So after a day or overnight in Epernay it’s possible to continue car-free to visit the sights of Reims (cathedral, basilica, Roman arch, a great food market, and more) as well as tour other big-name Champagne houses (Taittinger, Ruinart, Pommery, Veuve Clicquot) with their impressive cellars occupying Gallo-Roman and medieval limestone quarries. As mentioned earlier, fully visiting Reims requires far more walking than in Epernay, but they are world-renown sights. From Reims you can catch a train back to Paris or continue eastward on a rail-based tour. It’s also possible to begin with a train to Reims (from either Paris or Charles de Gaulle Airport) before continuing on to Epernay then returning to Paris.

© 2022, Gary Lee Kraut

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I’d barely passed the social distancing sign at the entrance when I spotted one: a man and a woman walking hand in hand just ahead of me. I entered the first room of the permanent exhibition just behind them. They walked up to the panel on the wall and stood shoulder to shoulder reading it. From a proper meter to one side, I, too, read about the origins of the town that the Romans called Divodurum Mediomatricorum.

Madame either read faster than monsieur or she gave up before finishing the panel. She let go of his hand and moved on. Or did the gesture reflect something deeper, some dissatisfaction or annoyance, even something as simple as the way he moved his lips as he read to himself in an audible whisper? It was certainly annoying to me.

I walked on among the extensive Gallo-Roman collection.

To some, the very idea of a museum is foreboding, and the term Gallo-Roman, indicating the Romanized culture of Gaul from the first through the fifth centuries AD, would be unlikely to reassure them. Neither would subsequent signs pointing to collections of the Early, High and Late Middle Ages, though those eventually give way to the mildly promising sign for the Renaissance.

Some travelers imagine that knowledge is required when visiting such a museum, or, crueler still, appreciation. But nothing more is required in this free museum, or any museum for that matter, than when visiting a park: a simple stroll will do. Something is sure to come of it—you’ll catch a sight or sensation that draws you one way or another or the scent of a thought or an idea—at the very least a bit of physical or mental exercise.

The couple I’d first seen soon disappeared. I was alone on my stroll. How fortunate not to be encumbered by anyone. It was then that I truly began to notice the couples and twosomes. They were everywhere: complicitous duos, ‘til-death-do-us partnerships, unselfconscious hand-holders, shoulder-to-shoulder soulmates, undying friends and eternal companions, along with complex trios, bosom buddies of indeterminate gender and questionable confidantes.

In the first several rooms I educated myself by reading the wall panels about the development of the Gallo-Roman city, but I was more curious about interrogating these ancient pairs without the voice of a historian. So I ignored the panels and focused on the figures.

They didn’t appear to be newlyweds, new lovers or fresh affairs. They seemed to belong together, cut from the same stone, so to speak, in it for the long run. I tried to decipher their expressions. None of them looked particularly happy. Nor did they look particularly unhappy. Did their inexpressiveness mask distress, dissatisfaction or disappointment? Resignation? Reproaches unanswered or ignored? Were those expressions of consent? Or of exchange or transmission? Were those faces of contentment? Now there’s a goal!

I studied them closely, each one, as though examining them that way would allow me to understand why they had stayed together as long as they had? As I scrutinized their stance, their dress, their fixed or absent gaze, I wondered: Did they rationalize their union? How so? I mean, did they not give in from time to time to a torrent of thoughts about alternative possibilities—would I be better off with someone else, or alone? Or did such questions have no meaning within the spans of their lives and the mores of their time?

Still, as a couple, or individually, did they think of themselves as virtuous or acquiescent or constrained? Or was theirs an easy, nearly natural covenant, one of comfort, convenience, family and/or love? Or the consequence of a contract imposed by one or the other or by some outside force? Were they putting on a good face for the sake of posterity?

I strolled on. Decades passed, and centuries. As time went on, the anger, the meanness, the drama and cross-purposes grew.

A third party occasionally entered the scene—an evil or supernatural force, a counselor, a savior, a commander, a sage? Was the couple in danger? Had new laws circumscribed their relationship? What help did they need? With communication? With sexual satisfaction? With forgiveness? A need to placate a new ruler or deity?

Did they, could they, “work” on their relationship or had the material of their union hardened to the point that it was no longer workable but simply accept-able? What did “settling” mean to them? Did they make their bed and then lie in it? And was that so bad? Had their bed been made for them?

I’d been in the museum for nearly an hour and a half by the time I left the Middle Ages. I was ready to leave. I skimmed through the Renaissance, following signs to the exit.

It was a fine summer day. I walked in the direction of the cathedral. The yellow limestone of the city’s old buildings glowed in the late afternoon sun.

The museum had presented me with nothing but questions. Yet what a curious and magnificent stroll it had been—unplanned travel therapy. Rarely has a museum felt so personal. I’d received no answers, yet I felt clear-headed, content, nearly euphoric. I felt a need to talk. I stood by the café nearest to the cathedral. I took out my phone and thumbed a text: Où es-tu? / Where are you?

© 2022, Gary Lee Kraut

Musée de La Cour d’Or, 2 rue du Haut Poirier, Metz. Located one block from the cathedral. Open daily except Tuesday, 10AM-12:45PM and 2-6PM. Free entrance.

Metz, capital of the historic Lorraine region of northern France, is attractively set along confluence of the Moselle and Seille Rivers. Other highlights of the city include its sunbathed Gothic cathedral, aka The Good Lord’s Lantern, with its acre-and-a-half of stained glass; its buildings made of a yellow limestone called pierre de Jaumont; its covered food market by the cathedral; its train station, itself a prodigious Germanic temple. See the site of the Metz Tourist Office for more.

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With the reopening this month of the Villa Majorelle, Nancy reaffirms its attraction as a destination for visitors who delight in the floral- and nature-inspired curves, the flowing design and the craftsmanship of the Art Nouveau period.

The villa is an iconic home of the Art Nouveau style that flourished in Nancy at the turn of the 20th century. It was the home of Louis Majorelle, a cabinetmaker and furniture manufacturer, whose company, originally focused on the production of copies of older styles, became increasingly involved in the creation of modern furniture inspired by forms in nature and influenced by the work of Emile Gallé, Nancy’s celebrated glass designer.

Gallé and Majorelle were among the founders of the Nancy School of design. An important collection of their works and of their contemporaries from 1890 to 1914 can be found at the Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy, the Museum of the Nancy School, the city’s primary Art Nouveau destination, a 15-minute walk from the Villa Majorelle. (Several examples of Majorelle furniture can be seen in the decorative arts section of the Orsay Museum in Paris.)

The Villa Majorelle—originally known as the Villa Jika, after the initials for Majorelle’s wife, Jane Kretz—was built 1901-1902 and holds a special place in the history of architecture in Nancy. It is considered the first completely Art Nouveau house in the city, designed as an ensemble in which each component of its structure and decoration was designed in close interdependence with the rest of the building. The flowing forms and decorative motifs and the continuous interplay between the exterior and the interior make Villa Majorelle an example of successfully applying the notion of artistic unity, advocated by a large number of artists of the period.

The villa was the first major commission for Henri Sauvage (1873-1932), a young, unknown architect when he received it in 1898. Sauvage, who would go on to design significant projects in Paris, would later say, “I worked there for two years, redesigning my work a hundred times over… I offer this, my first client, this fine artist (…) the expression of my heartfelt gratitude for the unheard-of freedom that he gave me. Despite my young age, he never imposed a budget limitation nor his personal ideas on me.”

Sauvage took care of the fixed decoration, which included the ironwork, and called in other artists for specific tasks. His Parisian friends, the ceramic artist Alexandre Bigot and the painter Francis Jourdain, respectively created the flambé stoneware exteriors and interiors and the decorative paintings in the dining room. Louis Majorelle himself designed the furniture, some of which was already to be found in his sales catalogues. Nancy’s master glazier, Jacques Gruber, was given the task of designing the stained-glass windows in the main rooms (stairwell, dining room, living room and the master bedroom). The concrete structural works were carried out by the construction company France-Lanord et Bichaton. Experts have found that the finished ensemble shows the occasional error, such as the north exposure of the terrace, the reusing of materials and money-saving choices, but above all Villa Majorelle stands out as a unique experimental work.

After completing the Majorelle project, Henri Sauvage largely pursued his career in Paris over the next 30 years. His Paris work more particularly expresses the Art Deco aesthetic that took over in the 1920s. Most visible to Parisians and visitors alike is his reconstruction and expansion of the department store Samaritaine, which in 2020 is emerging from years of restoration and renovation as a luxury destination in its own right.

Majorelle’s company suffered during the First World War, and after his death in 1926 his son Jacques sold the property. It has been owned by the City of Nancy since 2003. While the original property surrounding the Villa Majorelle has been subdivided over the years, the house has been restored very much as it was designed by Sauvage and with many of the original decorative elements created by Majorelle and his contemporaries.

The Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy has been tasked with overseeing oversees the Villa Majorelle. Using original photographs from the lifetime of Louis Majorelle (a photo album that belonged to his son), furnishing and decorative works have been purchased and placed according to Majorelle’s sense of aesthetics. (Older photos illustrating this text come from that photo album, which is held by the museum.)

Restoration of the villa’s exterior began in 2017 and work will continue on portions of the interior through 2022. The Villa Majorelle will remain open throughout that period.

Villa Majorelle, 1 rue Louis Majorelle. Open Wed.-Sun. 9am-noon for groups, 2-6pm for individuals. 6€; 8€ with joint ticket for the Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy (Museum of the Nancy School) when used the same day. The museum, 36-38 rue du Sergent Blandan, is open Wed.-Sun. 10am-6pm.

Nancy’s notable Musée des Beaux-Arts (Fine Arts Museum) includes a presentation of several hundred pieces from the Daum glassworks of Nancy, among them significant pieces from the Art Nouveau period.

Art Nouveau walks in Nancy: A number of Art Nouveau buildings can be seen on a walk between the Nancy train station and Place Stanislas, the elegant 18th-century main square of the city, as well as elsewhere in the city. See, for example, the Excelsior Brasserie, created in 1911, just two blocks from the station. A downloadable brochure from the Nancy Tourist Office outline Art Nouveau walks in the city.

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Meanwhile, here in France, Americans celebrating Thanksgiving typically, even traditionally, enjoy their fresh French turkey with some fine French terroir in their selection of wine—make that wines, plural, since a long meal calls for more than one. So while the information below will especially serve Americans celebrating in France, don’t be afraid to try this back in the homeland or elsewhere abroad on this or any turkey day.

There are a multitude of approaches to turkey, from roasting to smoking to frying, and plenty of stuffing recipes that, when combined, can influence your wine pairing. But on average the range of French pinot noirs, with its great and subtle variety from light to medium to full body, lends itself to roast turkey pairing. Thoughts of pinot noir then leads us primarily to the wines of Burgundy and Champagne (with all due respect to Alsace and to the Loire Valley’s Sancerre and Manetou-Salon).

So I asked the pros promoting the wines of Champagne and Burgundy what they recommended to accompany our traditional American meal.

The Champagne Bureau USA was well-prepared for the question and supplied the following chart:

The Burgundy Wine Bureau (BIVB) put some thought to the question and sent the following suggestions:

As an aperitif, Burgundy’s bubbly, Crémant de Bourgogne, either a blanc de blancs for its lightness and fitness or a blanc de noirs for a more complex opening to your thankful gathering.

For your stuffed turkey with cranberry sauce, something in the order of a Morey-Saint-Denis, a Mercurey, a Savigny-les-Beaune Premier Cru or a Ladoix.

Then, come dessert, to accompany your pumpkin pie or your pecan pie (as long as they aren’t overwhelmingly sweet), a white (chardonnay) Meurault or Marsannay.

So many ways to give thanks.

© 2019, Gary Lee Kraut

The post French Wines for an American Thanksgiving appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

This article, including three videos, examines several sights relative to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of the U.S. First Army in the fall of 1918: the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, Romagne 14-18, the Romagne German Cemetery and the Montfaucon Monument. It also notes other monuments to battles and regiments of the offensive and provides information about visiting other WWI sights in and on the edge of Meuse, along with hotel and B&B suggestions.

The Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery

Far removed from the pathways of American visitors in France but located within the heart of the zone of the U.S. offensive of the fall of 1918 between the Meuse River and the Argonne Forest, the Meuse-Argonne Cemetery of the First World War is the largest American Cemetery in Europe and may also be the most beautiful for the ways in which it gives visitors a combined sense of awe, serenity, natural balance and horror.

Entering on the east-west valley axis of this 130.5-acre site, the traveler can head north to the visitor center or south to the memorial. From the memorial, with its chapel and the names of 954 missing inscribed on its loggia wings, one stands above the 14,246 headstones that fan out and slope down to the valley before the landscape rises to a tree-framed lawn and the visitor center in the distance. From the visitor center, the eyes glides down that lawn to a circular pool before rising the headstone-dotted slope to the memorial and chapel on the ridge.

The graves, the memorial and the surrounding land honor the men of the U.S. First Army, under the command of John J. Pershing, who fell from fighting during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive which the Americans launched on September 26, 1918 and which continued until the Armistice of November 11, 1918. More than 1.2 million U.S. troops took part in the overall offensive, including many men whose names we associate with the Second World War and its aftermath, such as George Patton, Douglas MacArthur, George Marshall and Harry Truman. The battles of the offensive caused 117,000 casualties, including 26,000 deaths. This cemetery is also the commemorative site for over 2,000 men who died on the front in the Vosges, in the Champagne region and in Northern Russia.

The American Battle Monuments Commission and David Bedford, superintendent of the cemetery and memorial at the time, allowed us to film this France Revisited Minute last year.

Among those buried in this cemetery, its nine Medal of Honor recipients demonstrate the diversity of individuals and actions considered by the U.S. government to represent valor in combat. They are:

– Erwin Bleckley, a pilot from Kansas, who took exceptional risk in order to deliver supplies to “the Lost Battalion” of the 77th division;
– Marcellus Chiles, a captain from Colorado, born in Arkansas, who, though seriously wounded, made sure that the follow-up command structure was in place before allowing himself to be evacuated;
– Matej Kocak, a Slovak-born marine sergeant who entered the army from Pennsylvania, who drove out the crew of a German machine gun nest with his bayonet; 18% of the U.S. Army during WWI was foreign born;

– Frank Luke, from Arizona, a second lieutenant of the 1st Pursuit Group, who distinguished himself in fighting in the air and on the ground;
– Oscar Millar, a major from California (born in Arkansas), who continued the charge through the front line despite multiple wounds;
– Harold Roberts, corporal, a tank driver from California who, understanding the choice, saved his tank companion rather than himself;
– William Sawelson, a sergeant from New Jersey, who died crawling through machine gun fire to bring water to a wounded comrade; his headstone is capped by a Star of David, while the others on this list lie under Latin Crosses;
– Fred Smith, a lieutenant colonel from North Dakota (born in Illinois), who, though wounded, continued to return enemy fire until the men of his party were out of danger and who then refused treatment in order to carry out a second attack;
– Freddie Stowers, a corporal from South Carolina, who was instrumental in attacking and dismantling machine gun trenches; awarded the Distinguished Service Cross at a time when African-American weren’t eligible for the Medal of Honor, he posthumously became, in 1991, among the first to be upgraded to the highest American military award for valor.

Displays inside the visitor center provide a bit of information about the American Battle Monument Commission (ABMC) and the cemetery itself but little context for the offensive and the role of the American Expeditionary Force. Further reading and explanation is advisable for understanding the battles that took place in this region. Geographical and logistical information about the Meuse-Argonne Offensive can be found on the ABMC website.

One hundred years on, cemeteries such as this are not merely remnants of war and places of remembrance. They are also sights that invite questions and offer lessons with respect to the world today. They are occasions to consider and discuss the vocabulary of yesterday—sacrifice, human fodder, valor, racial separation, patriotism, pacifism, interventionism, jingoism, Europe, a league of nations—as they apply today.

Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, rue Rue du Général Pershing, 55110 Romagne-sous-Montfaucon. Tel. 03 29 85 14 18. The cemetery is open daily from 9am to 5pm, except December 25 and January 1.

The Romagne German Cemetery

Romagne-sous-Montfaucon was taken by the German Army in the initial phase of its invasion of France in 1914. It then remained an occupied village, removed from direct combat, for the next four years. During that time it served as a dressing station for soldiers wounded on the front. Much of Romagne’s wartime history is therefore that of an occupied village, with a growing German cemetery. It wasn’t until the start of the second phase of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, in October 1918, that Romagne became a battlefield itself before being liberated by American troops on Oct 14.

Romagne-sous-Montfaucon was largely rebuilt in the 1920s, including the village church, which was rebuilt with American funds. The village now has a population of about 200.

Romagne 14-18

France has some exceptional WWI museums, each with a different presentation and tone as it seeks to inform and educate and provide insights into the events of the surrounding region and of an era of just over 100 years ago.

Among the most notable of these are the museums in Peronne, Meaux and Verdun. Additionally, Thiepval speaks particularly of the involvement of British troops, Vimy of Canadian forces, and the American Monument (Cote 204) at Château Thierry of American forces. Each of these was created through and continues to benefit from government funding and publicity.

I add to this list of exceptional museums the odd-man out, Romagne 14-18, a unique museum of character that was created by the private initiative of Jean-Paul de Vries. In Romagne 14-18 he presents a portion of his collection of over 80,000 artifact found within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the village and related to the wartime period.

Not only was there no government funding behind the creation of Romagne 14-18, but there is scarcely mentions of nations here. On the surface—a sometimes rusted, dirty, broken surface at that—de Vries’s enormous collection doesn’t try to explain or analyze or interpret the war other than lead the visitor to reflect on the life and perhaps death of soldiers. Beyond the surface, in its mass and in the specificity of its artifacts, Romagne 14-18 is at once a cemetery (of artifacts), a memorial (to those who used them) and an informal museum.

Son of a French father and a Dutch mother, de Vries, a dual citizen, now 50, first visited Romagne from Holland on a family camping trip when he was seven years old. He soon discovered a passion for finding and collecting artifacts of war. “At the time there were pieces everywhere,” he says, “and it was tolerated to go into the woods and bring home found elements.” (For many years now digging in the woods and the use of metal detectors has been formally prohibited.)

Asked when he first thought of displaying his finds, he says, “I’ve always exposed my collection.” At the age of 11 he brought pieces of it into school for show-and-tell, unaware that some of the shells he’d brought along were still potentially live. As he tells it, a classmate’s father, a policeman, came to the school that day and, seeing the collection, understood the danger. Soon the school was evacuated and the Dutch bomb squad confiscated the entire collection.

“After that I was no longer interested in arms,” he says (though there are plenty of rusted rifles and exploded shells in the collection). “It was the life of soldiers, their daily life, that interested me. A toothbrush, a cup, a shoe, that’s what life is; it isn’t a gun.”

From the age of 16 he begin driving down to Romagne with friends. “We came every Friday from the Netherlands for four or five years to search for wartime artifacts. There were dances, there were girls, but we especially came to search and dig.”

His pleasure for visiting Romagne and his passion for his growing collection let him to move to Romagne at age of 27. He hoped to find a job, but no was willing to hire him, perhaps, he says, because he suffers from ankylosing spondylitis (Bechterew’s disease). But visitors and residents were interested in his collection, and occasionally he would receive donations.

“I didn’t choose this passion,” he says. “It chose me. It was along my path. My passion is what attracted people.”

His passion and his path have unearthed wagon wheels, shattered shells, canteens, portraits of soldiers and villagers, wine bottles, an rifles, countless horseshoes and shovel heads, stretchers, artificial limbs, and so much more, all with a 5-kilometer (3-mile) radius of the village. Five kilometers, he has said, is the distance he was willing to carry back his finds. He continues to take to the fields in search of war debris and is often brought material found by others, either outside or in attics and cellars. He has a 48-star American flag that, long since set aside at the American Cemetery, was given to him by a former superintendent.

De Vries is nearly always on hand to greet visitors and answer questions. He speaks Dutch, French, English and German. He has become a substantial actor in the local economy in a village that is otherwise short on businesses. With no café or restaurant near the museum, which occupies and old barn near the church, he created a cafeteria to feed student groups and passing tourists. (He has two other barns full of objects in storage.)

During the school year de Vries receives many school groups: classes of 8-12-year-old French students and 13-15-year-old Dutch students. “It’s nice to work with children,” he says. “They get my message. When someone takes off his helmet one sees the face of a human being, no matter what the color of his skin or his religion or his nationality.”

“It isn’t the war itself that interests me, but all that’s behind it, from the life of soldiers to the private interests of the war economy.”

Within the mass of object that de Vries has assembled, one can well imagine the cruelty, the violence, the wounded and the dead. De Vries doesn’t wish to glorify war or valor. There no good guys or bad guys in this collection. There are no winners or loser. For him, no artifact is too insignificant because every item has a story to tell in the life of a soldier: whether a key, a helmet, a shell, a shoe, a bicycle wheel, a pick-axe, a piece of barbed wire, a photograph, a wine bottle or a button.

Romagne 14-18, 2 rue de l’Andon, 55110 Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, 03 23 85 10 14. Open daily except Tuesday, noon to 6pm. Closed December, January, February. Guided tours possible. Entrance: 5€, free for children under 12. The café and sandwich shop at the entrance to the museum is open according to the same schedule.

The Montfaucon American Monument

One of the initial objectives of the U.S. First Army engaged in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive was to take a hill six miles to the south at the village of Montfaucon-d’Argonne, where the Germans had created a fortified lookout.

The Montfaucon American Monument, a 200-foot granite Doric column topped by a symbol of liberty, now stands on that site. It commemorates the victory of the U.S. First Army in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive while also recognizing the actions of the French forces that fought prior to that on this front. The monument stands above a cratered, wooded landscape and the ruins of the former village church. After the war, the village was rebuilt nearby, removed from this immediate site. The observation deck, 234 steps up, offers a vast view of the former battle zone.

The monument was designed by John Russell Pope, who was also the architect of the Jefferson Memorial and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C..

It was dedicated on August 1, 1937, as part of the final phase of monument dedications to the Great War just two years before an even greater war was ignited in Europe. Among those participating at the inauguration, were General John Pershing as former leader of the American Expeditionary Force and as chairman of the ABMC; Marshal Philippe Pétain, the hero of Verdun whose disgrace would come with the Second World War, and French President Albert Lebrun, who was more or less held hostage throughout that coming war for his opposition to Pétain’s Vichy Government. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt also participated via a speech broadcast from overseas. A film of the dedication ceremony can be see here.

Montfaucon American Monument, 55270 Montfaucon-d’Argonne. The inside of the Montfaucon American Monument is open from 9am to 7pm March and April; 9am to 9pm May through September; 9am to 5pm October and November. Entrance is free. The outside can be seen year round. The monument is managed and maintained by staff at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery.

Other monuments within a 25-minute drive

The Missouri Memorial in Cheppy, “erected by the State of Missouri in memory of its sons who died in France for humanity during the Great War 1917-1918.”

The Pennsylvania Memorial in Varennes-en-Argonne, on which is inscribed “In honor of her troops who served in the Great War among whom were the liberator of Varennes 1918 and in grateful appreciation of their service, this memorial is erected by the State of Pennsylvania 1927.” The memorial was designed by Thomas Atherton and Paul Cret. Varennes is known to the French as the place where Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and the royal family were held for the night after being arrested trying to flee the kingdom.

The Mound of Vauquois, whose cratered landscape speaks of mine warfare.

On the opposite side of the Argonne Forest, in Binarville (Marne), a marker and a monument indicate the site where Major Charles W. Whittlesey and his men of the 77th Division, known as “the Lost Battalion,” kept fighting despite being encircled by German forces. Of the 500 Americans who were encircled, about three-fifths were killed or wounded. Whittlesey, along with several other men of the battalion or of other units attempting to relieve them (including Erwin Bleckley noted above with respect to the cemetery), received the Congressional Medal of Honor.

– From Chatel-Chéhéry (Ardennes) one can take a walk in the woods in the footsteps of Sergeant York, a Medal of Honor recipient who became one of the most famous Americans soldiers for his wartime exploits in capturing a German machine nest of 132 soldier.

Other major WWI sights in Meuse

Visiting the region by car, one can see the sights in and around Romagne-sous-Montfaucon and many of those below over the course of two to three days:

In and around Verdun: Above all the Douaumont Ossuary, the nearby Verdun Memorial museum and the Forts of Douaumont and Vaux, followed, followed, time permitting, by the Victory Monument, the Underground Citadel and the Trench of the Bayonets (created with funding by an American donor).

In and around the Saint Mihiel Saliant: The Montsec American Monument and the Saint Mihiel American Cemetery. The Battle of Saint Mihiel, two weeks prior to the launching of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, was another major battle involving American as well as French troops. The terms “H hour” and “D day” are said to have been first used in planning for the attack on the Saint Mihiel Saliant. The cemetery actually lies just over the border from Meuse in Meurthe-et-Moselle.

Between Verdun and the Saint Mihiel Salient: The Eparges Ridge.

The official tourist site for the department of Meuse is www.meusetourism.com/en/.

See also The American Traveler and the First World One Sights of France.

Hotels and B&Bs in Meuse

Hostellerie du Château de Monthairons, a 4-star hotel in a 19th-century chateau, within a large park. The chateau, in the center of the region, was requisitioned by the American army during the war to serve as a hospital
Jardins de Mess, a 4-star hotel in Verdun.
Hôtel de Montaulbain, a 3-star hotel in Verdun.
La Maison Mirabeau, a B&B with guest table in Verdun.
Le Mont Cigale, a B&B with guest table in Vauquoi in the Argonne.

© 2018, Gary Lee Kraut

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The opening this year of the Camille Claudel Museum in Nogent sur Seine, 65 miles southeast of Paris, not only brings the sculptor out of the shadows of her teacher, lover and nemesis Auguste Rodin, it also shines light on Claudel’s work as a talented and innovative sculptor of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in her own right.

In an interview with Janet Hulstrand for France Revisited, Camille Claudel’s great-niece, Reine-Marie Paris, one of the driving forces behind the museum’s creation, explains how she came to appreciate Camille Claudel’s work and to understand the mental illness that caused her to destroy much of her own work and led to her eventual confinement in a series of psychiatric institutions, where she spent the last 30 years of her life.

Reine-Marie Paris is an art historian and the author of a number of books on the life and work of Camille Claudel (1864-1943).

This original interview, conducted in French, has been translated by Janet Hulstrand.

Janet Hulstrand: When did you first learn that your great-aunt was a famous artist? Or was she not really so famous when you learned about her for the first time? What did you learn about Camille Claudel, growing up in your family?

Reine-Marie Paris: My first encounter with Camille Claudel, my great-aunt, was, you might say, somewhat accidental. In fact, until I was a married woman no one in the Claudel family—my grandparents, my uncles and aunts, my mother, no one ever mentioned her in front of me. Later I understood that the subject was taboo, because bringing it up might reignite an old argument about her internment in a psychiatric asylum, which was considered abusive.

My earliest memory of her work goes back to when I was 10 years old. I was returning from a swimming lesson not far from the home of my grandfather, Paul Claudel, on the Blvd. Lannes, and I stopped to visit my grandmother. There, on the chest where she had put the cookies for my treat, was La Petite Chatelaine in bronze. I couldn’t take my gaze away from this little girl, who seemed to me to be lost, facing the mysteries of life.

My curiosity about the artist who had created this sculpture wasn’t awakened until much later, when a dealer specializing in Art Nouveau objects asked me if I would be interested in acquiring some of the work of Camille Claudel. From that day on, I have never stopped being interested in her life and work. Is it because of familial devotion? It’s not only that. The objects I bought from the dealer seemed to me to express a kind of beautiful melancholy. I decided to plunge in blindly and to learn whatever I could about the personality of this great artist, who was so little known.

JH: When and why did you decide to study the work of Camille Claudel and to learn about her life?

RMP: Once again, it was by chance. I encountered the historian Jacques Cassar who, in his pioneering work, had come across the name of Camille Claudel while doing research on Paul Claudel. It was he who put me on my path of exploration and gave me my first questions to research. His first work on Camille Claudel should have been signed by the two of us, but he died, putting an end to our joint efforts.

Initially my work consisted of putting together documents I found scattered among the innermost depths of libraries, museums, family archives, psychiatric hospitals. I was able to read Camille’s letters, so filled with terrible suffering. I was also given permission to consult her medical records, and I was able to feel, almost physically, her pain, a pain without hope of healing—30 years with no visitors except those of her brother Paul, and two visits from her English friend Jessie Lipscomb. In a word, a living hell.

JH: The story of Camille Claudel’s life is very dramatic, even tragic. There is also some controversy as to the way her life unfolded, who was responsible for what happened to her. There have been accusations leveled against Auguste Rodin, and also against your grandfather, her brother, Paul Claudel. Knowing what you know about her life, both as a member of the Claudel family and as a historian who has dedicated many years to learning about her life and her art, what would you like people to know about her? What misunderstandings or false ideas would you like to have corrected?

RMP: Who was responsible for her situation? It’s a good question. Was it her family? Her brother? Society? Rodin?

Camille is considered to be an artiste maudite. Her work gives evidence of the drama she lived. From the age of eight, she sculpted her dreams, and her heroes—Bismarck, Napoleon. She was drawn to them because of their strong character and because of the powerful feelings they inspired. As her mother’s least-loved child, she enclosed herself in a shell to defend herself, to allow herself to escape into a life in which she could fight the injustice of which she saw herself as a victim.

Her father, Louis-Prosper, protected her for as long as he was alive: he paid her rent, her expenses, collected unpaid invoices for the work she sold, in short, he did what he could, all the while treating her as a raving madwoman. Her mother preferred her sister Louise, who was destined to lead an ordinary life as a wife and mother. And Louise resented her.

Her brother Paul’s feelings for her oscillated between admiration and repulsion. As a child he was fascinated by this older sister, so beautiful, so intelligent, so authoritarian that he couldn’t escape the orders she was always giving him: he would pose for her for hours, bring her the clay she needed for modeling, and if ever he balked at her commands, there were endless battles. And yet, he loved the escapades they had together at a place called “Le Geyn” a sort of rocky promontory that reminded him of Wuthering Heights.

For Paul, Camille was his first image of woman, his model of femininity, “the promise that can’t be kept.” For Paul Claudel, as for Baudelaire, “all loved ones are vessels of bile that one drinks with closed eyes.” When he discovered that Camille had betrayed him in a sense, by becoming Rodin’s mistress, and especially after she admitted to having had an abortion, which he considered the worst of crimes, he rejected her as if she were diseased. He would portray her in his play La jeune fille Victorine as Victorine-Camille, a lepress. To a journalist he once said, “Oh, my sister Camille, that’s a subject that it’s difficult for me to talk about: the pain, the spectacle of this magnificent personality, and the failure that condemned her.” Later he would speak of her with remorse, and regret for not having done everything for her that he could have done. But for him, the main one responsible for Camille’s fate was Rodin. Rodin took everything from her: she gave him everything and got back nothing. I think so too. In return for all she gave, all she got was misery, poverty, solitude, despair–and in the end, 30 years in the obscurity of a psychiatric asylum.

Was it society? Camille was born too soon. In our day she would have known success as a woman and as an artist. Nevertheless, in her day, among her peers she was recognized and admired. Some critics referred to the “glow” of her genius, others simply said that she was a genius, Octave Mirabeau for example. He was indignant after having admired her Causeuses at the Salon. “And who is not left on their knees before such an artist?“ he asked. “If we were living in another time, a woman like Mademoiselle Camille Claudel would be covered with honors, and well rewarded.”

As for Rodin? As I said above, I think that he was partly responsible for Camille’s downfall, because he didn’t understand her, because her character was too strong for him, and because, consciously or unconsciously, he was afraid that she might surpass him, which I think she did in some of her works. I believe strongly that Sakountala is more powerful than l’Eternelle Idole, that Clotho is more interesting than La Vieillesse. I also think that Camille stayed far too long in Rodin’s studio, that she didn’t know how to rid herself of her anti-Rodin obsessions, and that art didn’t save her.

JH: Can you tell us a little bit about the new Musée Camille Claudel in Nogent sur Seine? Were you involved in its creation, and if so, how?

RMP: The opening of the Musée Camille Claudel is a miracle: now her work can finally be presented to the whole world. It’s a beautiful, light-filled museum in the center of Nogent sur Seine, this small city that was home to the Claudel family for three years (1876-79), a period that was crucial in the launching of Camille’s career. She is not the only artist featured in the museum: her works are surrounded by those of her first teacher, Alfred Boucher, who was a discoverer of talents and founder of la Ruche, and of Paul Dubois, who once made a prescient remark to Camille: “Have you studied with Monsieur Rodin?”

For a long time I had the idea of creating a museum dedicated to the work of Camille Claudel. I had spoken about it in the 1980s with Michel Baroin, who was then mayor of Nogent. He agreed with me that this would be a good idea. Time went by, and the idea eventually took hold. In 2003 Gerard Ancelin, who was mayor of Nogent for 25 years, and is passionate about sculpture, organized an exhibition of her work. It was a resounding success, even though Nogent is an hour away from Paris, and the weather was snowy and cold. More time went by, and then finally, in 2008, Gerard Ancelin decided to launch the municipality of Nogent in a museum project, after hearing me complain once again, during my speech at the opening of a Camille Claudel exposition in Dijon, that it really was time to find a place to house the work of this artist. Along with Gerard Ancelin—who had the courage to launch this adventure by having the city and patrons of the arts buy the collection I had put together through the years, along with about a dozen works of art owned by Philippe Cressent—I finally had the satisfaction of seeing this museum created. Now her admirers can see La Valse, Le grand Persée, Les Danseuses, portraits of Rodin and of Paul Claudel, and all this in an enchanting space, neither too big nor too little, the jewel of a small city rich in artistic and literary history.

JH: How much do you think things have changed for women artists since the end of the nineteenth century, when Camille was trying to make her way as a sculptor? What still needs to change?

RMP: I don’t know if women artists have more of a chance today than at the end of the nineteenth century, but they certainly have more freedom. I only know one woman sculptor, really talented, who is climbing bit by bit, step by step, the ladder of success. But I am sure there are others who are practicing this art, in principle so unfeminine, but so enriching for those who have the will, the courage, the determination that it demands, to arrive at the desired result.

JH: If you could somehow, magically, be able to say something to Camille Claudel, and she could hear you, what would you want her to know?

RMP: If somehow, by magic I could communicate with Camille, I would say to her, “You’ve given me lots of trouble, lots of work, many worries, but also many joys. For these joys I thank you, and I hope that you for your part you would want to thank me for having paid you the homage you deserve, as one of the great sculptors of the nineteenth century, along with Rodin and Bourdelle. Who, according to their own testimony, saw in you nothing but an equal.”

Musée Camille Claudel, 10 Rue Gustave Flaubert, 10400 Nogent-sur-Seine. Closed Mondays April-October, Mondays and Tuesday November-March. Nogent is 65 miles southeast of Paris. Trains run frequently from Gare de l’Est and take about an hour. The museum is a 10-minute walk from the train station.

Janet Hulstrand is a writer, editor and teacher of writing and literature who divides her time between France and the United States. She writes the blog Writing from the Heart, Reading for the Road.  Other articles that Janet Hulstrand has written for France Revisited can be found here. 

The post Camille Claudel’s Great-Niece Shines Light on the Sculptor’s Life and Work appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

Visiting, lecturing and touring have taught me a lot about American involvement in the First and Second World Wars. But my interest is not in war in and of itself, let alone the range of a 75 mm field gun vs. a 155 mm howitzer. What I’m especially curious about is the mindset of the contemporary American traveler. I’m interested in understanding how Americans of different backgrounds relate to their/our own history in France and, more importantly, how that reveals a sense of their individual and our collective place in the world. The First and Second World Wars are significant steps in that history and that place. But I am not a war buff. I am not a history buff. What I am is an American France travel buff. So I would be remiss not to visit American-related and other war sights and to try to understand how and why they came about and what they may signify today.

Yet I recognize that the vast majority of Americans of the 21st century have scarce interest in the First World War—and that despite the spring of 2017 marking the centennial of our entrance into the war and hence of the beginning of the so-called American Century.

Some historical events of 1917: The U.S. declared war on Germany on April 6; General John J. Pershing, commander-in-chief of the expeditionary corps arrived in Boulogne-sur-Mer on June 13; the first major contingent of American forces arrived in France at Saint Nazaire on June 26; American troops marched down the Champs-Elysées in Paris on July 4, and that same day Pershing visited Lafayette’s tomb in Picpus Cemetery.

As I write today, however, one hundred years later, Americans, in their vast majority, whether homebound or travel bound, as well as our elected officials, show little to no interest in the centennial. (We do actually have a national World War One Centennial Commission.) Not that every anniversary needs marking, but there are anniversaries that are uncanny reminders of where we are today and of the decisions and worldviews that we hold. The current centennial is one of them. The causes of WWI, the great debates about international intervention of a century ago and our eventual entrance into the war on the side of France and Great Britain, the development of our military and of our military industry, our role in the conflict’s military outcome and in its final treaty: all of those are echoed in debates and decisions today.

But examining history is not our national strongpoint. For some it may even be anti-American. Furthermore, between the America First attack on science, public education and critical thinking, on the one hand, and by the me-first sense that since Teddy Roosevelt shot game and I want to protect big game and since Woodrow Wilson was a bigot then I’ve got nothing to learn from their points of view, on the other hand, there isn’t much daylight for a national history lesson.

Personally, I prefer having a 13-year-old tell me that history is boring than an adult tell me that it doesn’t matter, because I can then tell a story and show a sight to the 13-year-old to spark interest whereas the adult will dig in to ill-informed convictions like trench warfare.

Nevertheless, despite our national aversion to history, we are very attracted to trends. Knowing and taking part in trends is important to us, even without understanding that they are trends since doing so would involve a minimum of critical thinking. Luckily, then, travel is frequently marked by trends.

We’ll always have Paris, of course, but other destinations that Americans select by broad measure in France shift from time to time. A destination will stand out on the map for the short- or medium-term thanks to some well-placed articles and advertisement, famous visitors, a big book or especially a big movie. Images of Ronald Reagan at Point du Hoc 1984, Bill Clinton in the Normandy American Cemetery 1994 or Saving Private Ryan 1998 may inspire thoughts of visiting Normandy some day.

France Revisited doesn’t have the pretension of influencing trends in tourism any more than we do of following them, but we do pride ourselves on helping to fill in the gaps left by other publications. So while awaiting to the trends set in motion by a blockbuster WWI movie, you can read archived articles about Quentin Roosevelt, “the most famous American killed during WWI,” about Belleau Wood and the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, about Chateau Thierry’s bond with the U.S., and about the American Escadrille Lafayette Memorial near Paris.

More articles about WWI sights, American-related and other, will appear on France Revisited in the coming months, written not by a war buff but by an American France travel buff. In the meantime, my travel research is well underway. Recently, shortly before the first round of the French presidential election, while touring Meuse, Lorraine (northeastern France), I took a snapshot of a desolate corner of the village of Hattonchâtel.

Desolate but very much alive, as the fresh flag and pole and newly pasted and defaced election posters demonstrate. I’m guessing that the posters were slashed by a fan of Philippe Poutou, candidate of the New Anti-Capitalist Party, NPA, whose face remains intact. The slasher may not be difficult to find since Poutou received only 13 votes out of the 967 voters here and in the surrounding 6 villages. Where do their sympathies lie? See here.

Visible behind the posters is one of Hattonchâtel’s scant medieval remnants, an arch that is part of the old entrance gate to the village. Not much to see, but a historical monument nonetheless.

The white monument is a rare example of a WWI memorial that only presents a female figure. The village was heavily damaged in the early weeks of the First World War when the Germans took over the village in September 1914. They were dislodged by American troops four years later.

Hattonchâtel was adopted after the war by Belle Skinner (1866-1928), a philanthropist from Massachusetts, who financed the village’s reconstruction, including the local château, village hall and a school, and the installation of a water system so as to bring drinking water into ever household.

So many stories in one desolate corner.

Far be it from me to suggest that this corner of this village in this part of France is worth the detour. But there you have it in a snapshot, a bit of American history along with much else, past, present and, with the election underway, future.

Most American WWI commemorative events in France will take place in 2018, centennial of our involvement in major fighting in France: Belleau Wood, Saint Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne and others. This summer, though, on private initiative, a transatlantic event called The Bridge 2017 will commemorate the centennial of the landing of the first major American contingent at Saint Nazaire. The ocean liner the Queen Mary 2 has been chartered for the occasion. She will be arriving at Saint-Nazaire, site of her construction, from her home port of Southampton, England, before making the transatlantic journey to New York, while four giant trimarans race against her during the crossing. In 1917 the Americans brought with them not only troops that would change the course of the war but also basketball and jazz, not to mention chewing gum and cigarettes. As part of the festivities, therefore the 3X3 Basketball World Cup will be held in Nantes June 17-21 and jazz will be a main feature of the June 21 summer solstice music festival in the area, as well as on board during the transatlantic crossing. I found a publication interested in my writing for them an article on the subject. It’s British. They liked the Queen Mary 2 angle.

© 2017, Gary Lee Kraut

For general tourist information about touring in three of the departments (French subregions) marked by battles involving Americans during the First World War, see Meuse (Meuse-Argonne Cemetery, St. Mihiel American Cemetery, etc.), Aisne (Aisne-Marne Cemetery, Belleau Wood, Blerancourt) and Ardennes (War and Peace Museum, Sergeant York

“The American Traveler and the First World War Sights in France” will be one of four lecture topics that the author will be proposing to universities, Alliance Française groups, libraires and other groups and organizations during his autumn-winter 2018-2019 guest lecture tour in the United States. If interested in this particular lecture write to Gary at gary [at] francerevisited.com.

The post The American Traveler and the First World War Sights in France appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

By Janet Hulstrand

1880: On the Rue St. Georges in Paris’s 9th arrondissement, a painter of growing renown in both avant-garde and fashionable circles is having lunch at the crémerie where he often takes his meals. At nearly 40 years of age he is finally beginning to make his mark in the art world: his painting of Madame Charpentier and her children made a splash a year earlier at the Salon of 1879, which has provided needed income; and his other work, experimenting with new techniques of painting en pleine aire, is going well too.

He sees a pretty young woman enter the place with her mother. He sees in her instantly his ideal type: not too thin, rosy-cheeked, and with skin that “takes the light.” He introduces himself—his name is Auguste Renoir—and asks her if she will model for him….

The young woman, Aline Charigot, 21 years old, was from the village of Essoyes in the deep south of the Champagne region, near its border with Burgundy. She had begun her life in this village as an abandoned child: her father had walked out of their home one night before she was two years old and never returned to the family, leaving her mother without any means of support. Unable to pay the rent, or to provide for her child, the mother, like so many other poor women in rural France at the time, left for Paris to earn her living as a seamstress, leaving Aline with relatives, who would raise her. At age 15 Aline joined her mother in Paris and began to learn her trade. And that is when she met the man, the artist, who would change her life.

Aline accepted the invitation to model for Renoir and shortly after, they became lovers. In 1885 their first child, Pierre, was born. As the years went by, Aline made two significant requests of Renoir. One was to make their union legal by marriage. The other was to buy a home in Essoyes, the village where she had grown up.

He had no objection to the first request: by this time in his life he was ready to settle down. And so the marriage was performed in the district hall of Paris’s 9th arrondissement on April 14, 1890.

However, he was much less enthusiastic about the idea of spending much time so far away from Paris, the center of the art world, as well as the place where he had spent most of his life. Essoyes, today just 2½ hours away from Paris, was at the time a long and tedious journey, first by rail, then by horse-drawn carriage, that would have taken most of a day.

But eventually Aline’s entreaties won him over, and her dream of living a bourgeois life in her hometown came true. They initially rented a small house at the edge of the village during the summer of 1888, for a stay that lingered into the fall and even through the end-of-year holidays. In time Renoir became very fond of Essoyes, of the butter, the wine, the bread made there, declaring it superior to that in Paris. He said he loved being among the winegrowers “because they are generous.” He painted portraits of his family, of villagers, of the surrounding landscapes. The family was still spending much of the year in Paris, but from the late 1880s they began to regularly spend summers in Essoyes, the boy playing, the painter painting, the wife cooking. (She became famous among his artist friends for her culinary skills, in particular for her bouillaibaisse.)

Gabrielle Renard

By now, in his early 50s, Renoir’s work was selling well: he had achieved middle-class respectability, a position he balked at, but his wife took comfort in. By the time their second child, Jean, was born in 1894, they were able to hire a nanny, and Aline, now Madame Renoir, looked to her home village, and her family, for an appropriate person to fill this role. She found her in Gabrielle Renard, a young cousin living in Essoyes.

Like Aline, Gabrielle had not had an easy start in life: her mother was a widower who became pregnant out of wedlock, which subjected her to the disdain and disapproval of many villagers and even caused her own family to take her two older children away from her. So for Gabrielle too, the connection with Auguste Renoir would become a means of escape: she traveled and lived with the family in Paris, and later in Cagnes-sur-Mer, a town along the Riviera where the family would winter. Gabrielle became one of Renoir’s favorite models, the subject of literally hundreds of his paintings and drawings, including some of his most famous portraits—and a lifelong, dearly beloved maternal figure for Jean Renoir.

In 1896, the Renoirs bought the first home they had ever owned, on the edge of Essoyes. A two-story home with an open courtyard facing the street, and a spacious garden at the back of the house, this house became the center of the domestic life Aline had craved and Renoir scarcely knew he wanted but did appreciate when he had it.

For Jean Renoir, the second son, a filmmaker, the time spent in Essoyes became a kind of idyllic memory that he treasured all his life. “Essoyes, where my mother was born, has remained more or less unspoiled,” he wrote years later. “There is no other place like it in the whole wide world. There I spent the best years of my childhood…Every summer we would go back. My mother would invite friends and surround Renoir with this life that he loved so much…”

Ambroise Vollard, who became both the dealer and a friend for Renoir, as well as the dealer for many of the other artists in his circle, also recognized the importance of the ways in which Aline provided support to the artist in her own simple way. “I wonder if it is generally known that it is largely due to his wife that Renoir painted all his wonderful still lifes of flowers,” he wrote. “She knew what pleasure it gave him to paint flowers, but she realized that the trouble of going to get them was too much for him. So she always had them about the house…”

Jean also saw how important his mother was in his father’s life, and how well she understood him: “With her intuitive, rustic understanding, she saw that Renoir was made for painting the way vines are made to produce wine…” he wrote.

At first Renoir painted in a ground floor studio in the house. Nine years after they purchased the house, he built a studio at the far end of the garden, further evidence of their growing roots there. He built the studio, he said, so that he could paint “without disturbing the children at their play.” It was in this studio that he also worked on his first sculptures. Of course many of the works he did in Essoyes began en pleine aire. (Today several of those spots are marked with easels displaying reproductions of the works he painted there.)

Though by now he loved being in Essoyes, the damp climate in Champagne, with its cold winters, was not good for his increasingly severe case of rheumatoid arthritis. By 1907 his doctor had ordered a move to the South of France, and the Renoirs found a place in Cagnes-sur-Mer, where the the family began spending their winters in 1908. It was in Cagnes that Gabrielle met her future husband, Conrad Slade, an American painter. During the Second World War the Slades moved to the U.S., and in 1955, after her husband died, Gabrielle moved to California to be near Jean Renoir, who had also moved there during the war. They maintained a close relationship for the rest of Gabrielle’s life. “She taught me to see the face behind the mask and the fraud behind the flourishes,” said the filmmaker whose work shows great insight into both.

While they continued to spend time in Essoyes when they could, both of the Renoirs died on the Riviera: Aline in Nice in 1915, and her husband in Cagnes-sur-Mer in 1919. And though they were originally buried in the south of France, their remains were later returned to Essoyes for burial, in accordance with their wishes. Now they and all three of their sons, and some of the sons’ children and wives, are buried in the village cemetery, just a short walk away from the painter’s studio.

All three of the Renoir sons became artists: Pierre, a well-known actor of screen and stage; Jean, the director of La Grande Illusion and La Règle du Jeu, among many other films; and Claude, the youngest, a ceramist.

The house in Essoyes remained in the Renoir family and was used by Sophie Renoir, a granddaughter of Pierre Renoir, and her family until 2012. She then sold it to the municipality of Essoyes, which purchased the property in order to turn it into the centerpiece of Du côté des Renoir, Essoyes’ homage to the family. Renoir’s studio opened to the public in 2011: there is also a small but informative interpretive center next to the village hall.

Images of Aline and her young cousin, Gabrielle are prominently displayed in the streets of Essoyes. Several murals in the village reproduce Renoir paintings in which they appear: one, a portrait of Gabrielle and Jean Renoir as an infant, is on the site of Gabrielle’s birthplace.

The Year of Renoir

In honor of the public opening of Renoir family home on June 3, Aube, the department or sub-region in which Essoyes is located, has designated 2017 as the Year of Renoir. One of the major events is an exhibition entitled Un autre Renoir (Another Renoir) presented at the Museum of Modern Art in Troyes from June 17 to September 17 featuring portraits of the Renoir family and of Gabrielle, along with landscapes of the region.

Several Renoir works, on loan from museums in Bordeaux, Rouen, and Cagnes-sur-Mer, will be displayed in the Renoir home during the summer months. A weekend celebration called “Essoyes à la Belle Epoque” will take place on July 22 and 23.

Throughout the summer Bernard Pharisien, a local historian, will lead free walking tours of the village Sat., Sun., Mon. and Tues. mornings, in French only. Tours in English can be arranged for groups of 12 or more by writing to groupes.renoir@gmail.com

Champagne

The names Essoyes and Aube might be off the radar to most travelers, but the wines of champagne certainly aren’t. Indeed, Essoyes is one of the villages within the Côte des Bar growing area for champagne grapes. Visitors have the possibility to visit small grower-producers in Essoyes, as well as producers, from large champagne houses to small producers, in the surrounding area.

Getting to Essoyes

Essoyes is a 2 ½ hour drive from Paris. Troyes is an hour and a half train ride from Gare de l’Est in Paris: from there Essoyes is just under an hour’s drive southeast, through vineyards, fields of rapeseed and wheat, and beautiful rural villages. Trains run frequently from Paris’s Gare de l’Est to Troyes: some trains continue on to Vendeuvre sur Barse (one stop beyond Troyes) and Bar sur Aube. In Troyes you can rent a car from Hertz or Enterprise, both located near the train station (check opening times of rental agencies before purchasing train ticket). It’s also possible to take a taxi from Vendeuvre to Essoyes, about a 30-minute drive.

For further information

Essoyes Tourist Office: www.ot-essoyes.fr
Aube Tourist Office: www.aube-champagne.com/en/
Year of Renoir 2017: www.aube-champagne.com/fr/annee-renoir-2017/
Troyes Tourist Office: www.tourisme-troyes.com
Aube Champagne Growers: www.cap-c.fr

Another major art event in the department of Aube this year is the opening of the Camille Claudel Museum in Nogent-sur-Seine.

A Renoir Route that follows in the painter’s footsteps and naturally include Essoyes has been outlined as one of a dozen Impressionism Routes by the French association Eau et Lumière.

© 2017, Janet Hulstrand

Janet Hulstrand is a writer, editor and teacher of writing and literature who divides her time between France and the United States. She writes the blog Writing from the Heart, Reading for the Road. Other articles that Janet Hulstrand has written for France Revisited can be found here.

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The post The Painter’s Wife: Aline Charigot Renoir and the Renoir Home in Essoyes appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

* * *

Tell a Parisian that you’re heading south into deep France, la France profonde, and, after warning you that you’ll miss Paris after one day, he’ll eventually concede that one can eat well there, mention some magnificent chateau or landscape and finally confess that he has fond memories of once visiting with a friend or lover or cousin. But tell him that you’re headed to the deep France of the north and he’ll look at you with complete bewilderment. His only recollection of France’s northern border is likely to be a collective memory of German invasions.

So when I told friends in Paris that I was going to the French Ardennes, an area that accompanies the Meuse River as it pokes into Belgian forests just west of Luxembourg, I got nothing but a blank stare followed by a stunned “Pourquoi?”

Actually, one friend had been Charleville-Mézières, capital of the French Ardennes. “There’s a beautiful square there,” he said. Still, he thought I needed a better reason to go.

I did: beer. For three days I would set out to meet producers and purveyors of craft beer in the area.

But before taking a swig I had to deal with the ghost of Arthur Rimbaud.

Arthur Rimbaud: the Runaway, the Poet, the Explorer

As familiar as I am with the (sparkling) winegrowing area of Champagne-Ardennes, I’d never been to its northern reach, the French Ardennes and its capital Charleville-Mézières, even though it’s just a 2-hour train ride from Paris’s Gare de l’Est station, with a quick change at the Champagne-Ardenne station (near Reims), or an hour’s ride from Reims.

In addition to the aforementioned “beautiful square,” this small city/large town with a population of 50,000 (73,000 with its suburbs) is best known as the hometown of Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), a beloved poet of French adolescents.

On a pedestal in the park in front of the train station, a bust of Rimbaud, forever young, indicates the titles of his most famous poems (Bateau Ivre, Voyelles) but refers to him as an explorer in Africa. Rimbaud’s sketchy portrait photograph is used to promote sights and businesses throughout town, exploited for a glory that he would have denied it. Rimbaud fled Charleville at the age of 17, running away from the family home for Paris, where he flirted violently with poets and drank excessively. For several years he returned periodically, mostly against his will, before definitely turning his back on the town at the age of 21.

Coming from a culture that doesn’t know the cult of Rimbaud—young poet in search of freedom—I didn’t intend to write about him along with beer, my primary quest on this trip. But speak with tourist officials and Rimbaud is immediately evoked: the Rimbaud Museum in a former mill over the river; La Maison des Ailleurs (The House of Other Horizons or Elsewheres), the home that he fled; a walk outlined in young Arthur’s footsteps, and his tomb in the family plot of the city cemetery, a half-mile from the Place Ducale—for though Rimbaud stayed away, his remains were returned.

The house where he lived as an adolescent, now La Maison des Ailleurs, stands across the street from the Meuse River. Arthur lived here with his mother and siblings; his father was largely absent during those years.

I didn’t come looking for Rimbaud by the river; I came to find the river itself; I like river towns. I stood across the street from Rimbaud’s house for a good 20 minutes watching water and people go by. It was yet too early in the afternoon to pursue my beer explorations. I had no intention of going inside the house because I’m generally insensitive to the interiors of the homes of artists and especially writers. The more telling view is always outside.

The stone, curtainless House of Other Horizons looked forgotten, forlorn. No one came or went. It appeared to have more ghosts than visitors. I imagined a local association of preservationists and professors fighting to have it classified as a historical monument. I imagined the smirk on the face of the government accountant looking at the budget line for the house from which a young man ran away. I imagined someone at the ticket desk engaged in a game of speed solitaire so as to avoid thoughts of fleeing herself. I felt sorry for the place and for the imagined ticket seller. So I crossed the street and went in.

I wanted the woman at the ticket desk to be happier to see me, a visitor—from afar, no less—, but that was wanting too much. I had an immediate glimpse into Authur’s flight since I was tempted to do the same.

Fully prepared to be let-down upon entering the empty little rooms upstairs, I instead felt inspired by the near-void. Here in the House of Elsewheres, where I was the only visitor, the rooms were empty only in the sense that they lacked furniture and fabric. In their place they presented through sparse images, indecipherable maps and faded walls an invitation to travel. Here, I felt that desire to be away—not necessarily from here but simply to be away, to travel, to discover—to be a part of something else—to be embraced by accomplished poets, to stretch his freedom, to partake in rowdiness, to create poetry, to find soul mates, to find lovers, to create a life, to work in other lands—to explore.

Rimbaud’s most famous poem, Le Bateau Ivre (The Drunken Boat), is a 100-line chef d’oeuvre written in 1871 when Rimbaud was 16 years old, shortly before his departure for Paris. It is the tale of a drunken, driving, rudderless and eventually sinking boat. Rereading it that day, like visiting the house adolescence, didn’t make me want to be 16 again, but it did make me aware of the troubled pleasure of being away from the familiar. I loosely translate four of its lines:

Now I, boat lost in the tendrils of coves,
Thrown by the storm into the birdless air,
I whose drunken carcass coast-guards and merchant ships
wouldn’t have fished from the water…

Or moi, bateau perdu sous les cheveux des anses,
Jeté par l’ouragan dans l’éther sans oiseau,
Moi dont les Monitors et les voiliers des Hanses
N’auraient pas repêché la carcasse ivre d’eau…

Sometimes when traveling we see something, do something, hear, smell or taste something, and we feel a sense of absence or regret—of a person, a place, an age, an activity. Yet sometimes we feel not absence but our own life forces, our own drive to discovery and realization. Here I missed nothing, no one, a most wonderful travel feeling—all is present, all is to come. I liked Rimbaud’s house because I sensed not his presence but his departure, his longing at once solitary and in search of brotherhood. The house was indeed an invitation to elsewheres, which is precisely where I went.

And there I found beer.

Beer bars by the river: Le Baratin and a barge named Mawhot

I returned to the river several times over the next 36 hours. There, along with the absence of Rimbaud I discovered the presence of two notable beer joints.

Two hundred yard to the left of the Rimbaud Museum (the old mill over the Meuse), beyond Rimbaud’s house, I could tell from the moment I walked in to Le Baratin, that I was likin’ whatever was being served on tap at this happy home of craft beer where I was greeted by an eclectic selection of music and firm but friendly owner-barmaids. The evening program can vary from live music to DJ to social events. That evening the DJ was into hoppy and heavy-beat rock ‘n’ roll. The B-52’s’ Rock Lobster played as I was invited to try Agent Provocateur, a nice blond ale brewed in Belgium with American hops by a Scot (Craig Allan) living in Picardy. The music made me want to move my feet. I took my beer for a walk. “Everyone had matching towels…,” went the song. Everyone also had grey-free hair and wrinkle-free smiles.

I liked Le Baratin, but I especially liked the elsewhereness and more age-appropriateness of a barge (péniche) named Mawhot (or simply Le Péniche), about 200 yards on the opposite side of the Rimbaud Museum. For beer-lovers and fans of unusual venues filled with a wide cast of characters and offbeat barman-owners, Philippe Boudard’s beer bar barge Le Mawhot may by itself be reason to visit Charleville-Mézières.

Philippe Boudart, captain of this bar-barge since 1997, looks like Hugh Jackman pouring beer at a 20th–anniversary celebration of the first X-Men, both dangerous and lovable. He and his barge are legendary in Charlie-M’s beer-drinking circles. I stood up to the tin bar in the hold of the old grain barge and introduced myself to Boudart as a traveler in search of a beer education.

“Four Belgians, two Germans and an Irish,” he told me as though he might launch into a long joke. But it was no joke; those were his beer selections for the evening, representing each of the major types of beer, he said. I allowed myself to be introduced me to a dark and aromatic St. Bernardus, from Watou, Belgium, weighing in at a stealthy 10%.

Boudart is a man with great knowledge and firm opinions, though it wasn’t always clear which was which, as is the case with the best mentors. He is a goldmine of information/opinion about the European history of beer and its geographical, technical aspects and religious aspects. Though originally from the Ardennes he doesn’t feel that it’s his duty to up-speak local beer.

Boudart puts down no one but fools. I made the mistake of mentioning the craft beer craze in Paris, and that was enough to set him off on a discourse of authenticity. “I’m a fundamentalist,” he said, berating Paris barmen for cutting the head off their beer. “All they know is fads. The clients [here] have their own opinion on beer. They don’t follow fashion… I serve real beer.” He then gave me a quick lesson on the Trappist beer tradition in the Ardennes, explaining the proximity of Cistercian (Trappist) monasteries producing beer within the enclosure of their abbey walls.

The barge is named Mawhot. Mawhot, Boudart explains, is a legendary giant lizard that lives in the Meuse. When you see him partially that’s good news; when you see him in full that’s bad news.

“Have you seen him lately,” I asked?

“He’s right behind you,” he said.

I turned to see a drawing of lizard eyes peering out from a swamp.

I also saw a man who immediately clinked my glass and told me that we must rejoice in being strangers/foreigners. He was Belgian, it turned out, and drunk. I was reminded of Rimbaud’s Drunken Boat and of Rimbaud himself, having run away from Charleville, an aspiring poet, getting wasted. But Mawhot the bar(ge) is steady under Boudart’s watch, and beer-time for me ended exceptionally cheery and well and somewhat poetic on the deck.

(A French video introduction to Boudart’s beer-barge can be seen here.)

Arthur’s Table and The Squinting Pig

The owners of the restaurant Le Cochon Qui Louche (The Squinting Pig), between Boudart’s barge and the Place Ducale, the town’s central square, have two apparent passions: a desire to share homey fresh cuisine and an interest in second-hand junk/treasures. Regarding the cuisine: tomato soup, goat cheese and chorizo in a fried filo pastry, cucumber and carrot salad; mussels and fries, stewed beef and carrots; crème brulée. Regarding the second-hand items: On the wall outside, the pig (cochon) sign from an old butcher shop; on the walls inside, multiple pigs, boars and brass instruments along with an old squash racket, a great corkscrew, a Mannequin Pis and much more. In this homey restaurant with the atmosphere of a subdued pub, gentle service and a gentle bill complete the picture.

Re-cue Mawhot Le Péniche the following evening before a fabulous meal at La Table d’Arthur (as in Rimbaud). On the ground floor, Arthur’s Table is a handsome wine bar with a nice brasserie menu, yet the greater find is in the vaulted basement, where a finer menu is served. There’s a breezy buzz here, smooth, efficient service (a kind explanation when needed, withdrawal when not), a well-selected and reasonably priced wine list with an emphasis on organic and biodynamic grapes… and quality cuisine—bistronomy at its best. A wonderfully balanced restaurant. If in Paris, every guidebook in the world would be singing its praise, you’d need to reserve a month in advance, you’d pay twice the price or more, and things would go downhill from there. In Charleville, well, you won’t find many guidebooks about Charleville-Mézières—lucky us.

© 2014, Gary Lee Kraut

Continue to The French Ardennes, Part 2: Charleville-Mézières: Place Ducale and the Bare-Ass Casserole
Jump to The French Ardennes, Part 3: The Meuse, Sedan, More Beer and the Big Boar

Addresses and other information, in order of appearance in this article

Charleville-Mézières Tourist Office
4 Place Ducale
08102 Charleville-Mézières
Tel. 03 24 55 69 90
Open Mon.-Sat. 9:30am-12:00pm and 1:30-6:00pm, until 7pm in summer. Also open Sunday in summer.
www.charleville-mezieres.org/indexpc.php

Le Baratin
25 Quai Arthur Rimbaud
08000 Charleville-Mézières
Tel. 06 75 73 05 95
Open Mon.-Sat. 5:30pm-3am. Occasionally live music on Friday.

La Péniche a.k.a. Le Mawhot (Philippe Boudart)
Barge on the Meuse, Quai Jean Charcot
08000 Charleville-Mézières.
Tel 03 24 44 54 35
Open Wed.-Sun. 5pm-1am.

Au Cochon Qui Louche
31 Rue Victoire Cousin
08000 Charleville-Mézières
Tel. : 03 24 35 49 05

La Table d’Arthur
9 rue Pierre Bérégovoy
08000 Charleville-Mézières
Tel. : 03 24 57 05 64
Open for lunch and dinner Thurs.-Sat., also for lunch Mon. and Wed.

The post The French Ardennes, Part 1. Charleville-Mézières: The Runaway Poet, Great Beer Bars and the Giant Lizard appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

I’m glad then that I’d made it my destination — rather, part of my destination as I set out to explore the Ardennes area of France for a taste of local beer, local cuisine, local characters and local history — because entering the ducal square on a bright May day immediately opened my sense of the rewards of visiting this far-flung corner of France.

I also felt quite connected with the history of Paris, the city I’d left to rail this way, since the Place Ducale, begun in 1612, was designed by Clément Métezeau, brother of Louis Métezeau, who is attributed with the design of the Place des Vosges, begun in 1605, in the capital’s Marais district. With their regular repetition of brick and stone, with slate roofs and sidewalk arcades, the two squares have much common, though Charleville’s is more open and cosmopolitan. It was designed as the hub on a new town created by decree of Duke Charles de Gonzague, count of Rethel, whose family (the Gonzagas) came from Lombardy. Charles had a palace in Mézières, a strategic site of ancient origin nearby along the Meuse River. His was a border town, a small economic center between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman (Germanic) Empire, and Charles dreamt of creating within the nearby loop of the river an ideal city nearby, centered around a great square from which the town would radiate in straight lines, which were generally absent from earlier, medieval towns.

The “new and incomparable city,” as Charleville was soon called, would soon eclipse Mézières and neighboring towns as an economic powerhouse in the region. Three hundred fifty years later, in 1966, Charleville merged with four neighboring administrative districts, including Mézières, creating Charleville-Mézières.

The tourist office is on the Place Ducale. With one’s hands full of maps and brochures, one naturally follows the sun when selecting a seat in a cafe or restaurant beneath or in front of the arcades of the square, whether to study the map or to watch the Carlomacériens, as local inhabitants are called, go by.

The French Ardennes may be beer country due to its lack of vineyards and its affinity with Belgium, but a traveler can feel guilty traveling in France and ignoring wine. We’re in a region called Champagne-Ardenne, a rather schizophrenic name that, brandwise, now sounds to me like Wine-Beer. One of the town’s main call of ports for wine is Eric Arnaud’s wine bar Le Concept, in the southeast corner of the square.

Arnaud is originally from Reims, meaning from champagne country. He worked as a chef while refining his wine knowledge and is now the only master sommelier in Ardennes as well as president of Champagne-Ardenne’s regional division of a French national sommelier association called the Union de la Sommellerie Française. In 2011 he opened Le Concept, an easy-going lunch- and dinner-serving wine bar, on the Place Ducale. Though removed from the setting and stature of the kitchen that he once oversaw in Reims, the food is fine that Arnaud prepares in a narrow kitchen space behind the bar counter, but the wine’s the thing.

At aperitif time a plate of Ardennais cheese and/or cold cuts must be nice, but I’d come for lunch. Curious about cacasse, a traditional Ardennais potato-and-onion casserole with a roux of flour and lard, that’s what I ordered. The dish comes in two main versions, the cascasse à cul-nu, literally the “bare-ass” version, and cacasse culottée, literally the “knickered” version. There’s a veritable cult to cacasse à cul-nu in the Ardennes, in part, I found, because people simple enjoy saying the term, which sounds both slightly childish and slightly offensive (cul=ass, nu=naked, caca=caca). But above all, in a region relatively poor in culinary offerings (some cheese, some cold cuts, some sausages, lots of potatoes) it’s roots go deep. As with many local dishes in France, cacasse has peasant origins and has earned over time a strong cultural power on all lines of the economic spectrum. With enough means on a given day a family might have been able to add sausage or bacon to their cacasse, thereby dressing it with meat. The version I relished for lunch was clothed with thickly sliced bacon (lardons).

It was hearty, tasty and might have been well accompanied by beer, but here I was in a wine bar. Since the Ardennes is without vineyards, one is obliged to travel for a wine choice, and leaving my fate in Mr. Arnaud’s hand he returned with a caramel-colored red from the Jura, near Switzerland, an Arbois Poulsard “Grande Réserve” 2005, a fruity wine of lesser-known terroir that’s fine to share with a friend. And as I was sitting there, one showed up.

A new friend, that is: Bernard Giraud, journalist with the regional paper L’Ardennais and great “defender of the products and recipes of terrior and conviviality,” to quote the man. Giraud lives in Sedan, just to the north (see Part 3 of this article). In 1991, he told me, following his own admission to a fraternal order of Belgian beer lovers, Giraud began to see the interest and pleasure of defending local gastronomic heritage wherever its homeland may be. He is now a member or brother or knight in 16 different fraternal orders.

In 2004 Giraud created Ch-M’s Festival des Confréries, an annual celebration of such brotherhoods (sisters welcome). This joyful, convivial event takes places over a weekend in early May, which happened to be when I was visiting. At first glance it might appear that you have to be fond of tripe and lard and rabbit cooked in beer to appreciate the festival, but the true pleasure of the event is taking part in the human hokiness of meeting French, Belgian and Ardennais ambassadors of traditional gastronomy who are so passionate about such dishes that they’re willing to travel to Charleville-Mézières and don colorful velvet robes and floppy hats to prove it.

Giraud is also the vice president of the French Counsel of such Fraternal Orders (Conseil Français des Confréries), an organization created in 2006 in Orléans, in the Loire Valley. According to Giraud, there are about 700 confréries in France, about half of which belong to the Counsel. Confréries were corporations in the Middle Ages, and again that corporative (meaning business) spirit is still clearly visible in the large wine confréries (one of the most famous is the Conférie des Chevaliers du Tastevin in Burgundy). Though some confréries have strong ties with producers, particularly in the wine sector, and thus actively promote their products beyond the locality, most of the gastronomic brotherhoods simply maintain the tradition of local cuisine against changing eating habits. In any case, where there’s a confrérie there is hearty, well-fed, well-imbibed fun, and Charleville-Mézières’s Festival des Confréries honors the concept with good humor, simplicity and lots of cacasse.

It’s rare to see someone under 50 years old wearing one of these robes. It’s the type of local tradition in France that Arthur Rimbaud would have fled, but one man’s flight is another man’s arrival. I saw it as a fun, family event, with each association manning a booth where one can learn about, taste and purchase their products, from rabbit in beer to rabbit pate, from tripe to black pudding, from nougat to dandelion dishes. There’s quite naturally a brotherhood of cacasse à cul-nu lovers. Under the food tent on the square for the celebration there was a monster-size party dish of that naked local favorite, with knickers available on the side.

Charleville-Mézières has a more joyful, magical and renowned festival, one that celebrates marionette theater. Marionettes, rather than gastronomic brotherhoods, are actually the city’s great contemporary call to fame. Every two years in September (next time: Sept. 18-27, 2015), the World Festival of Marionette Theaters draws 150,000 spectators to venues both inside and outside. The National School of the Marionette Arts is here as well as the headquarters of the International Marionette Union, a resource center for marionette practitioners. Around the corner from the Place Ducale, an automat called The Great Marionettist marks the hour daily from 10am to 9pm with a dozen tableaux.

In a moment of nostalgia during the day I had bought a post card, an object as old fashion as cacasse and rabbit pate, to mail across the ocean. The post office, I saw on the map, was a few blocks away, a slight detour on my way back to the hotel for a pre-Mawhot rest. Across the street from the post office was a café and beer bar, Le Vert Bock. I could have used the café more than the beer, but I wanted to end the afternoon on a headier note in keeping with my quest. So I went in, ordered a glass from a tap with a name I didn’t know, and voilà, another bar, if not beer, that I can now recommend on the beer trails of the Ardennes.

© 2014, Gary Lee Kraut

Continue to The French Ardennes, Part 3: The Meuse, Sedan, More Beer and the Big Boar
Return to The French Ardennes, Part 1: Charleville-Mézières: The Runaway Poet, Great Beer Bars and the Giant Lizard

Addresses and other information, in order of appearance in this article

Charleville-Mézières Tourist Office
4 Place Ducale
08102 Charleville-Mézières
Tel. 03 24 55 69 90
Open Mon.-Sat. 9:30am-12:00pm and 1:30-6:00pm, until 7pm in summer. Also open Sunday in summer.
www.charleville-mezieres.org/indexpc.php

Le Concept (Eric Arnaud)
37, place Ducale
08000 Charleville-Mézières
Tel.: 03 24 22 57 03
Open Wed.-Sat. noon-2pm and 6:30pm on through the evening, also Tues. evening.

Festival des Confréries, held annually in early May.

World Festival of Marionette Theaters, held in Charleville-Mézières every two years in September. Next time: Sept. 18-27, 2015.

Le Vert Bock
20 rue du Théâtre
08000 Charleville-Mézières
Tel. 03 24 35 06 64
Open Tues.-Fri. 8am-9pm, Sat. 9 :30am-9pm

Hôtel Le Dormeur du Val (Best Western)
32 bis rue de la Gravière 08000 Charleville Mézières Tél. : 03 24 420 430
www.hotel-dormeur-du-val.com
My hotel during this 2-night, 3-day visit to the Ardennes was the Hôtel Le Dormeur du Val, 150 yards up the tracks from the train station. It’s a friendly place with a playful semi-industrial design, sometimes successful (the bathroom), sometimes not (the reading light poking you in the head). The street itself is quite though occasionally you can hear the SNCF rail company’s 3-tone intro and an announcement from the train station: Le train en provenance de Sedan et en destination de Champagne-Ardenne rentre en gare, voie une. The hotel, 4-star by category and 3-star by spirit, is convenient for those arriving by train and remaining for a night or two, as I did. I enjoyed the quirkiness and convenience of the hotel. From here, as from the train station, it’s a 10-minute walk to the Place Ducale, which is the heart of the town.

The post The French Ardennes, Part 2. Charleville-Mézières: Place Ducale and the Bare-Ass Casserole appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.