With an area of 6,216 km², the département
of Meuse is located in the région of Lorraine.
The préfecture is Bar-le-Duc and
the sous-préfectures are Commercy and Verdun.
Neighbouring departments are Ardennes,
Marne, Haute-Marne,
Meurthe-et-Moselle and Vosges.
The department is named after the river Meuse (Maas in Holland).
The Meuse is about two hours from Paris and Strasbourg or three hours
from Brussels, Frankfurt and Maastricht; making it better known to French tourists and
visitors from Belgium, Germany, Holland and Luxembourg than those from Britain.
The TGV Est (Paris-Strasbourg) service cuts journey times to La Meuse
down to just over an hour; with a brand new station (TGV Meuse) built between Verdun and
Bar-le-Duc (1km away from the 'Voie Sacrée', the World War I supply road between
Bar-le-Duc and Verdun).
During the First World War, one of the longest battles was fought in
the countryside around Verdun.
La Meuse’s strategic, geographic location has given the area
a rich cultural and architectural heritage worth exploring and one which will appeal to
history buffs who enjoy discovering some of the more unusual facts and figures.
Tourism Meuse:
33 Rue des Grangettes, 55000 Bar le Duc.
While the Meuse Tourism website is primarily in French, they do have PDF guides available
to download; in English, Germand and Dutch.
Gites de Meuse:
The descriptions of Gites in Meuse are only available in French but you can look at the
pictures.
Meuse Chamber of
Commerce:
6, parc Bradfer, 55014 Bar le Duc.
Contacting Meuse Tourist Offices
Office de tourisme de Bar-le-Duc:
5 rue Jeanne d'Arc - 55000 Bar le Duc.
Office de tourisme de Clermont en Argonne:
5/6 place de la République - 55120 Clermont en Argonne.
Office de tourisme de Commercy:
Place Charles De Gaulle - 55200 Commercy.
Office de tourisme de Damvillers:
23 rue Carnot - 55150 Damvillers.
Office de tourisme d' Etain:
31 rue Poincaré - 55400 Etain.
Office de tourisme de Ligny en Barrois:
7 rue de l'Asile - 55500 Ligny en
Barrois.
Office de tourisme de Montmédy:
Citadelle de Montmédy - 55600 Montmédy.
Office de tourisme de
Revigny sur Ornain:
Rue du Stade - 55800 Revigny sur Ornain.
Office de tourisme de Saint Mihiel:
Rue du Palais de Justice - 55300 St Mihiel.
Office de tourisme de Stenay:
Place Poincaré - 55700 Stenay.
Office de tourisme du Val
Dunois:
Avenue de la Gare - 55110 Doulcon.
Office de tourisme de Vaucouleurs:
15 rue Jeanne d'Arc - 55140 Vaucouleurs.
Office de tourisme de Verdun:
Place de la Nation - 55100 Verdun.
With the reign of René II began the most prosperous period of
Bar-le-Duc’s history.
The old historic centre of Bar-le-Duc is an exceptional treasure of
Renaissance architecture from this illustrious period in the 15th century.
The Collège Gilles de Trèves, described by Montaigne as 'the most
beautiful urban house one could find in France', is only one example of the important
Renaissance heritage of Bar-Le-Duc.
Admire the mansions along rue du Bourg (off Place de la Couronne) or
stroll over to Place Saint-Pierre, where the elongated shape of the square allowed
medieval jousting tournaments to be held, and admire the many old houses along rue des
Ducs de Bar.
The annual Renaissance Festival takes place around the end of June or
beginning of July.
Conseil Général de la
Meuse:
Place Pierre François Gossin, 55012 Bar le Duc.
Mairie de
Bar-le-Duc:
In 2002, Bar-le-Duc was given the label of 'Ville d’art et d’histoire' (City of
art and history).
Map of Bar-le-Duc:
An interesting map of Bar-le-Duc, where you move a magnifying glass around the plan on the
left to see a zoom image moving around on the right.
Commercy posseses a 17th century Chateau and a Benedictine
convent.
Commercy is also famous for its cakes. King Stanislas of Poland named
them 'Madeleines', after the kitchen maid who rustled up some surprise desert for the
royal stomach when his own pastry cook fell ill.
Office de Tourisme de Commercy:
Place Charles De Gaulle, 55200 Commercy.
Louis XVI was arrested in Varennes-en-Argonne on 21st June
1791, after being recognised at a coach staging post by a member of the public.
His arrest is marked by a plaque on the Tour de l’Horloge (Clock
Tower) and there's another plaque marking the site of the house where he spent the night,
before being taken to Paris to face his fate.
The Musée
d’Argonne, in Varennes, has a collection of archive material relevant to the
arrest of Louis XVI, during the turbulent period of the French Revolution.
Pennsylvania
Memorial:
The American State of Pennsylvania has a memorial in the town, near the museum, and there
are two others within easy reach.
The
Village of Varennes-en-Argonne:
The picturesque village lies in the midst of the Argonne battlefields.
Joan of Arc (Jeanne
d’Arc) started her famous campaign against the Anglo-Burgundian troops in Vaucouleurs,
where she came to seek support from the Sire de Baudricourt. The locals bought her a horse
and armed her, before she set off from Vaucouleurs to join the French Dauphin.
The town’s historic buildings and monuments reflect this period
in its history and the museum is dedicated to the local heroine.
To follow the Jeanne d’Arc Trail (either on foot, horse or bike)
will take between two and four days; going from her birthplace at Domrémy (renamed Domrémy-la-Pucelle) to the town of Vaucouleurs, via
various sites that are significant in her early history.
Vaucouleurs Office de
Tourisme:
15, rue Jeanne D'arc, 55140 Vaucouleurs.
Villages Around
Vaucoulers:
Map of the area around Vaucouleurs.
The strategic hill northwest of Verdun was the scene of three and
a half years of fighting between French and German forces, until the arrival of American
troops finally brought the fighting to a close.
Visit the trenches at Vauquois, for an eerie reminder of
the battles fought so that we could eventually travel across borders without a passport.
On the first Sunday of the month (and every Sunday in May, June and
September) there's a guided tour of the German tunnels; where over a thousand soldiers
lived at any on time.
It's said that every village in France lost one of its sons in the
ten-month battle around Verdun, from February to December 1916, until the Battle on The
Somme diverted attention away from here.
The history of
Verdun didn't begin in 1916 though.
Verdun Tourisme:
Place de la Nation, 55106 Verdun.
Ville de Verdun:
Mairie de Verdun, 11 rue du Président Poincaré, 55107 Verdun.
Staying in Verdun
Château
des Monthairons: (Dieue sur Meuse)
The Château is a four-star hotel and restaurant, situated 12km South of Verdun - on the
D34.
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