The Sacred Way is a historic 56-kilometre road between Bar-le-Duc and Verdun, marked by bollards topped with helmets in reference to the French soldiers of the Great War.

Numbered RD1916 and passing through the localities of Bar-le-Duc, Naives-Rosières, Érize-la-Brûlée, Rosnes, Érize-la-Grande, Érize-la-Petite, Chaumont-sur-Aire, Issoncourt, Heippes, Souilly, Lemmes and Moulin-Brûlé, it was used for transporting soldiers and equipment, as well as supplies during the Battle of Verdun. At the height of the fighting, 8,000 vehicles were on the road constantly.

Now a major memorial site of the Battle of Verdun, it was inaugurated in 1921 by the President of the Republic, Raymond Poincaré.

In Nixéville-Blercourt, a memorial was erected on the Moulin-Brûlé plateau in 1967, a tribute to all those who worked to keep this strategic road in operation.

Based in General Pétain's former HQ, the Museum of the Sacred Way in Souilly tells the story of the Sacred Way's major role in the battle of 1916, through maps, documents and photographs.

Created in 1967 on the initiative of the National Committee of Remembrance of Verdun and its president Maurice Genevoix, the museum is a place of memory for veterans of the First World War. From late 2013 to early 2016, the Memorial closes for renovation and extension work. On February 21st, 2016, it reopens on the occasion of the centenary of the beginning of the battle of Verdun. The scenography of the museum is modernized and more educational, and the conflict is now presented from a Franco-German point of view.

A small village in Meuse, Romagne-sous-Montfaucon is located 38 kilometres north-west of Verdun. The municipality is known for having in its eastern section the biggest American First World War cemetery, the World War I Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial. It was designed by two American architects, opened in 1937 and is accessible all year.

14,246 American soldiers who lost their lives in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive are buried there, in an area of 52 hectares. This spectacular field of gravestones, in the middle of a superb tree-lined park, is dominated by a Memorial and a chapel containing the flags of the Allied countries, and stained glass windows depicting the insignia of the American divisions. In one of the commemorative loggias, a sign lists the names of all the soldiers who were unidentified or went missing. Also including a peaceful lake where water lilies grow, this memorial site invites contemplation.

Meanwhile, the visitor centre helps people to understand the stages of the Meuse-Argonne offensive, the Americans' intervention and soldiers' everyday life, using historical reconstructions and period footage.

Beaulieu-en-Argonne is a charming village in Meuse, located 35 kilometres from Bar-le-Duc and Verdun.Filled with a stunning amount of flowers, this haven of peace stands on a promontory offering a lovely view of the Meuse and the forests of the Argonne Massif, where visitors can enjoy many hikes and discover local fauna and flora.

In the 7th century, Beaulieu-en-Argonne already had an abbey, founded by a Scottish monk, St. Rouin, after whom the village church is named. Some of the abbey still remains, including an old oak press form the 13th century, of impressive dimensions: it is one of the biggest in Europe and weighs 30 tonnes! Next to it, a fresco depicts the village as it was in 1789. Outside are a few traces of the old abbey walls.

You can access the village ponds via Rue de l'Abbaye, taking the steep steps.

Nearby, close to the Hermitage of St. Rouin, don't miss the chapel of the same name, nestling at the heart of the forest. This is the work of a student of Le Corbusier, and a young Japanese artist designed the stained glass windows.

Le Vent des Forêts is a contemporary outdoor art space, around thirty kilometres form Verdun, in the department of Meuse. It was created in 1997 in the territory of six farming and forest villages: Dompcevrin, Fresnes-au-Mont, Lahaymeix, Nicey-sur-Aire, Pierrefitte-sur-Aire and Ville-devant-Belrain.

This original marked trail features over a hundred works of art created on site by resident visual artists from all over the world. They are made using materials from Meuse: limestone from Euville and Savonnières, untreated wood, iron… Each new work strengthens the ties between artists, the local population, artists' host families and volunteers from the association that manages the site.

Along 45 kilometres of marked paths, free to access from March to the end of September (outside of the hunting season), visitors can discover the works of art, spread across 6 circuits of 3 to 14 kilometres each. Ephemeral or long-lasting, they are exposed to time and the vagaries of the weather… and are therefore kept in place as long their condition allows.

Since 2013, houses in the forest have been available to hire at the site, for those who might be tempted by a night deep in the woods…

Covering 219,400 hectares, the Lorraine Regional Nature Park spans three departments, Meuse, la Meurthe-et-Moselle and Moselle.

Its natural treasures are significant: landscapes made up of agricultural plateaus, forest valleys, waterways, wetland prairies, and 340 ponds spread across the Woëvre and the Land of Ponds (Pays des Étangs). Among its wetlands, the Petite Woëvre ponds and the Lindre pond complex are recognised as being of international importance. There are also many orchards, where the famous Lorraine mirabelle plum is grown, amongst other crops.

The park is a mid-migration stopping place and mating site for 200 bird species. You can watch them from the Lachaussée Regional Nature Reserve and from Lake Madine, where you can go swimming, fishing, sailing and canoeing. Both are equipped with observatories.

The best way to explore the park and enjoy its fauna and flora is on foot or by bike, travelling along its many marked paths: there are nearly 500 kilometres of them in store for walkers!

The territory of Lorraine Regional Nature Park also boasts many heritage sites: themed houses, museums, castles, forts, abbeys… A few remarkable villages are also worth a look: Viéville-sous-les-Côtes, with 18th-century architecture; Prény, an old medieval town dominated by a residential castle of the Dukes of Lorraine; Arnaville, a winegrowing medieval village; Bayonville-sur-Mad and its fortified churchyard; Hattonchâtel and its fine buildings from the 12th to 16th centuries, including a castle that offers an outstanding view of the Woëvre plain.

Lovers of religious heritage should head to Saint-Mihiel, a small town renowned for its Benedictine library and the Entombment statue at its Church of St. Stephen.

A land of remembrance, the park's territory includes many First World War sites, such as the grave of Alain-Fournier, author of Le Grand Meaulnes, who fell at the front in 1914.

Not far from Lake Madine, on Montsec hill stands a memorial to the offensives led by the US Army in 1918. It offers a superb view of the neighbouring lake and the Côtes de Meuse hills!

Open since 1986 in Stenay, Meuse, the European Beer Museum is based in an old malt house, in tribute to the region's brewing history.

Located near Sedan Castle and the historic sites of Verdun, the museum is based in an old military and industrial building which is a listed Historic Monument.

The entire history of the traditions surrounding this beverage is documented there, in a fun exhibition covering 2,500 m² with 50,000 beer-related exhibits. Visitors can see the materials needed to make beer, one after the other: water, barley and hops. Then they learn about different brewing techniques, from Antiquity to the present day. There is a nice exhibition area devoted to advertising posters proclaiming the merits of beer. Another area recreates the atmosphere of the Belle Époque cafés and estaminets. Another part is devoted to the transportation of the famous beverage.

The visit ends at the tavern, tasting beers in many flavours and colours. To round off your trip, feel free to stroll around the beautiful botanical garden, which has its own hop field!

A Maginot Line fortress or ouvrage built from 1930 to 1940, Fermont Fort is located 7 kilometres from Longuyon in Meurthe-et-Moselle, on the border of the municipalities of Viviers-sur-Chiers, Montigny-sur-Chiers and Beuveille . Besieged several times without ever being captured, it is one of the most important Maginot Line fortresses to be open to the public.

The 2-hour tour takes the visitor to see its seven combat blocks connected by underground tunnels, and its equipment and weapons. After the ammunition store, you board a small electric train to discover an artillery bunker 30 metres underground. Then you continue to the infirmary, the barracks and the generator room, with their reconstructed scenes. Outside, you can see the other blocks, including a 75 mm gun turret in block 1, and a museum of Maginot Line equipment covering more than 1,000 m², including a unique exhibition of retractable gun turrets as well as numerous pieces of artillery.

Monday: 02:00 PM – 04:00 PM
Tuesday: 02:00 PM – 04:00 PM
Wednesday: 02:00 PM – 04:00 PM
Thursday: 02:00 PM – 04:00 PM
Friday: 02:00 PM – 04:00 PM
Saturday: 02:00 PM – 04:00 PM
Sunday: 02:00 PM – 04:00 PM

Bar-le-Duc, prefecture of Meuse, is located 53 kilometres from Verdun and 38 kilometres from Commercy. The River Ornai runs through it, crossed by seven bridges, and so does a parallel artificial canal, the Marne-Rhine canal, which is used for water tourism.

Bar-le-Duc shows the influence of the Renaissance, a prosperous period for the town, when many buildings developed in the upper town and in the lower town, the original settlement in the Gallo-Roman era.

The upper part forms an exceptional architectural ensemble from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, when the nobility came to settle around the castle of the Dukes of Bar. Many mansions made of blond stone have gardens and pretty inner courtyards. The district is traversed by Rue des Ducs de Bar, the former high street or "Grand-Rue" of the upper town.

The beautiful Place Saint-Pierre is occupied by some fine Renaissance houses, including the Florainville mansion, now the Law Courts. A sight to see in the 14th-century Gothic Cathedral of St. Stephen, a listed Historic Monument, is a statue by Ligier Richier named "The Cadaver" ("Le Transi") or "The Flayed Man" ("l'Écorché"), representing René of Chalon, Prince of Orange, as a skeleton. In the Romanesque Church of Our Lady, there is a figure of Christ on the cross by the same Ligier Richier. The 14th-century Church of St. Anthony in the Bourg district is also a listed Historic Monument.

At the end of Rue des Ducs de Bar is the 12th-century Clocktower, which was part of the old ducal palace; the Gilles de Trèves College, with beautiful stone balustrades, built between 1571 and 1574; and Rue du Bourg, one of the most elegant streets in the town.

The Barrois Museum in the former Dukes' castle tells the story of the town, with some fine archaeological collections, French and Flemish paintings, and works of art from the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

For a beautiful view over the lower town, head to the Grangettes belvedere.

Located behind the front during the First World War, Bar-le-Duc had a strategic role. Bollard zero on the Sacred Way can be found there.

Bar-le-Duc est is also the land of redcurrants, which produce a succulent jam called "Bar caviar" when the seeds are removed using goose feathers!

Two centuries of pottery history await you in the former bakery of Longwy citadel, in Meurthe-et-Moselle.

The enamel and pottery collections from the town's most prestigious factories provide a great opportunity to learn about this unique expertise: there is a short film to help you understand the manufacturing techniques in use in Longwy, the pottery town par excellence since the first pottery factory opened in 1798.

Take a walk around the museum to admire pottery items from the 19th and 20th centuries, and through them learn about the art movements that punctuated both centuries.

A true example of living heritage, the exhibits are put in the context of their creation and connected to the artistic, historical, social and political events of the day.

As a point of interest, it was a vase by Maurice-Paul Chevallier that would win the gold medal in the Decorative Arts section of the 1931 World's Fair in Paris.

Located in the department of the Ardennes, in the communes of Villy and La Ferté-sur-Chiers, Villy-La Ferté Fort, built from 1935 onward, is a structure on the famous Maginot Line, made up of two infantry blocks joined together by an underground gallery.

In the night of 18 to 19 May 1940, under attack by the German army, 104 French soldiers suffocated here. A monument to the dead was erected in 1949 to commemorate this tragic event.

The impressive guided tour of the fort, available on weekends from April to November and every day in July and August, is a chance to learn all about the history of this memorial site, and goes 35 metres below ground.

Monday: 02:00 PM – 06:30 PM
Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 12:00 AM, 02:00 PM – 06:30 PM
Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 12:00 AM, 02:00 PM – 06:30 PM
Thursday: 10:00 AM – 12:00 AM, 02:00 PM – 06:30 PM
Friday: 10:00 AM – 12:00 AM, 02:00 PM – 06:30 PM
Saturday: 10:00 AM – 12:00 AM, 02:00 PM – 06:30 PM
Sunday: 10:00 AM – 12:00 AM, 02:00 PM – 06:30 PM

In the Ardennes, at the edge of the Argonne Forest in the commune of Olizy-Primat, lies a park covering 13 hectares. Visitors can watch animals in their natural environment, and learn about how nocturnal animals behave. Nocturnia, an interpretation centre about nocturnal life in the countryside, invites children and adults alike to meet bats, owls, fireflies and other night animals... This fun, educational interactive exhibition-show will show you how animals live when we sleep, with a chance to listen to them, touch them, play and laugh! A real journey to the heart of the night...

Argonne Discovery Park also has a wolf park covering one hectare, where a pack of wolves has lived since 2010. You can admire them in peace from the observation points provided.

Visitors can also enjoy a forest trail inviting you to discover the fauna of the Ardennes, a scavenger hunt based on the role of an animal behaviour researcher, a village of old trades, an animal farm and a bouncing hammock (trampolines in the trees).