Champagne-Ardenne

Champagne-Ardenne is a French région.

History

During World War I and World War II, Champagne-Ardenne was a major combat zone. Among the battles that took place there were the First and Second Battles of the Marne, which saw extensive trench warfare, the Battle of the Ardennes, and the Battle of the Bulge.

Since then, reconciliation with Germany has been important to the region. On July 8, 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer took part in a service at Notre-Dame de Reims to remember those who died in World War II.

Geography

Champagne-Ardenne is in the northeast of France, bordering Belgium. It consists of four départements: Aube, Ardennes, Haute-Marne, and Marne.

Its rivers, all of which flow west, include the Seine, the Marne, and the Aisne .

The region has three autoroutes, totaling 460 km:

• Autoroute A4 connecting Paris and Strasbourg and serving the Reims metropolitan area
• Autoroute A5 connecting Paris and Dijon and serving Troyes and Chaumont
• Autoroute A26 connecting Calais and Dijon and serving Reims and Châlons-en-Champagne

The rail network includes the Paris–Strasbourg line, which follows the Marne Valley and serves Épernay, Châlons-en-Champagne, and Vitry-le-François . The LGV Est TGV line also connecting Paris and Strasbourg will open in 2006 and will serve Reims with a new train station in the commune of Bezannes .

The région 's canals include the canal lateral to the Marne and canal from the Marne to the Rhine , which connects to the Marne at Vitry-le-François. These are petit gabarit canals.

The Vatry International Airport , primarily dedicated to air freight, has a runway 3650 m long, yet it is often unused. The airport is in a sparsely populated area just 150 km from Paris. Some people say it is a good candidate for transformation into a third Parisian airport. Les verts (the French green party) supported such a move because the resulting noise pollution would affect fewer people than an airport closer to Paris.

See also: Ardennes

Economy

• 61.4% of its land is dedicated to agriculture
• 1^st in France for the production of barley and alfalfa for (désydration == dehydration ?)
• 2^nd in France for the production of beets, onions, and peas
• 3^rd in France for the production of tender wheat and rapeseed.
• 282.37 km² of vineyards
• Champagne sales in 2001: 263 million bottles (4% increase from 2000) of which 37.6% were exported.
• 25% of French hosiery production
• 3^rd metallurgic région in France

Businesses

Food-processing

Demographics

The population of Champagne-Ardenne has been in steady decrease since 1982 due to a rural exodus. With 1.3 million people and a density of 52/km², it is one of France's least populated régions.

Tourism

Champagne-Ardenne has the following:

• 291 approved tourist hotels offering 8,000 rooms
• 152 structures offering chambres d'hôtes (roughly, bed and breakfast)
• 19 museums
• 92 screens in local movie theaters
• 16 theaters
• 10 golf courses
• 650 km of waterways
• 8 lakes reserved for tourists, including the Lake of Der-Chantecoq , the largest man-made lake in Europe

Visitors often go to Champagne because of its history and its world-famous wine. However, their itineraries diverge when they discover the region's cultural heritage and its cuisine: some visit Troyes and its ancient houses, others visit Langres and its walls, and still others visit Épernay, Reims, or Colombey-les-deux-Églises.

External link

• Région Champagne-Ardenne e-mag (in French)
• Champagne-Ardenne on Wikitravel