 Les Ardennes
Capital: Charleville-Mézières
Sub-prefectures: Rethel, Sedan and Vouziers
The department of the Ardennes offers wide variety, from both a geographic and climatic point of view. A patchwork of plains, hills, forests and fields, successive landscapes are all unique in their own way, ensuring an engaging backdrop every few kilometres, punctuated by 3,500 kilometres of streams and rivers.
History has left its mark on the Ardennes, which also include a rich past of industrial know-how that is still maintained by its inhabitants, blessed with an especially rich industrial fabric of foundries, steel production and wood products. The same holds true for agriculture, which is very present in the southern part of the department and in le Vouzinois.
Vouziers, and the many charming villages in the vicinity, lies at the centre of the Argonne, at the edge of the Ardennaise crests. Dynamic sub-prefecture in terms of its active associations, it has managed to preserve its historic heritage and numerous châteaux.
The Ardennes, a place where the past has left deep scars, look to the future with optimism. They are open to Europe offering a highway infrastructure of high quality.
>> www.cg08.fr
 Vouziers Town Hall |
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 Charleville-Mézières
Charleville-Mézières, departmental capital of Ardennes, has developed a unique cultural dimension. Since 1972, the city has played host to the world festival of marionette companies, thereby establishing itself as the international capital of this art form.
Charleville-Mézières is also known throughout the world thanks to its native poet, Arthur Rimbaud. The town celebrated the 150th anniversary of his birth, taking advantage of the occasion to mount an ambitious commemorative programme, inaugurate the “Maison des Ailleurs”, a space open to the world of the imagination, as well as launch an official website site: www.rimbaud-arthur.fr
Hosting a sporting event as important as the Critérium international de cyclisme allows us to see the town from another angle: as a place totally committed to the world of sports. In 2004, Charleville-Mézières received a prize from the sports daily “L'Équipe” as the most sporting city in France. With the meeting in 2005, the adventure continues!
>> www.mairie-charlevillemezieres.fr
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