INTRODUCTION
Discover four of the best
From batlefields to beautiful countryside, splendid architecture and great food, the northeast has it all
Visiting Meuse, Aisne, Somme and Pas-de-Calais – four diverse, fascinating and very welcoming départements in France’s northeast corner that served as grisly, Western Front theatres of war from 1914 to 1918 – means so much more than paying your respects to brave soldiers from all sides (and many innocent French residents) killed, wounded or missing during the Great War. Verdun in Meuse (Grand Est)
and Somme (Hauts-de-France) are household names for visitors because of the batles that took place here, and there are many stories to honour. Museums play a key role in each
département, offering humbling glimpses into the endurance of the human spirit in the face of atrocity and destruction. From small, personal collections of wartime memorabilia to behemoth, state-of-the-art historials, and from
passionate, knowledgeable tour guides to tech-driven interactive displays, each demands our time and atention. In terms of Remembrance, the
2018 centenary of the Armistice may have atracted huge numbers of visitors, but the moral obligation to remember the lost continues at impeccably-maintained, intimate cemeteries and colossal, landscape- redefining memorials. However, beyond the batlefields
and memorials, life today in this part of France goes on with a spring in its step. Just as, post-World War One, the forests were replanted – on soil scorched and scarred by endless shelling and artillery fire – so the regions also move forward with their rich cultural, culinary and tourist offerings. Visit Meuse in summertime,
when golden wheatfields and bright yellow mirabelle plums are all sunshine and regrowth.
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IMAGES © M HARMEL; R LE BIDEAU; HORIZON BLEU; S CAMBON; LA PEYLOUSE; H BALESSE
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