Champagne-Ardenne

WW1 battles, notably in 1914 and 1918, account for a great deal of fighting across open land and the destruction of much of the region’s capital, Reims.

Significantly the encounter of 1918 is regarded as something of a turning point in the war and one in which troops from many lands, including Italy, France, Russia, America and the British Commonwealth, fought side by side.

The collapse and surrender of Germany followed soon after.

In WW2 the last fortress of the Maginot Line, at La Ferté, came under heavy attack and the Ardennes, to the north east of Reims suffered heavily from sustained action.

Significantly the signing of the surrender at the end of WW2 took place in Reims on 7 May 1945 and in 1962 Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Ardenauer signed an accord of reconciliation between France and Germany in this city.

The famous French general was finally laid to rest in his village of Colombey les Deux Eglises, near Chaumont.

His home since 1933, La Boisserie, has now been opened as a museum, while a giant Cross of Lorraine, dedicated to his memory, towers over the forested landscape.