From 4th of August to 16th of August 2025
With Chris, we cycled along the river Meuse, from Langres to Givet, flowing the path « La Meuse en vélo ».
Below is a summary of this cycling journey.
We cycled a total of 540 km in 10 days; we stayed two nights inn Verdun to visit the memorial of the bataille de la Meuse of WWI.
We drove from Sergy, where we live, to Langres; left the car on the parking and started to cycle on the 5th of August. We arrived in Givet, just on the border with Belgium on the 14th of August. We caught a train to Reims (where I was born and baptised) on the 15th, stayed one night in Reims, and caught a train to Langres on the 16th; then drove to Sergy.
It was a very nice time. A selection of photographs is available at this link.
We followed the bicycle route La Meuse à vélo which is very well documented at this link. It is not an official website though if I understand well it was partly subsidised. We went to the tourism office in Langres and were given the paper version of this website; having this booklet was very useful.,
Prior to leaving, I had downloaded the GPX points of the route on my phone; it was very useful. Chris prefers to use his antique GPS device which is close to useless… Except for registering the number of kms, the dénivelé and the cycling time.
Here is the list of our stages. We stopped in gîtes, hôtels, B&Bs.
Monday 4th August 2025 (Pierre a 32 ans aujourd’hui) Sergy – Langres en voiture – Four hours journey – We strayed in Hôtel de la Poste and had dinner at the very nice restaurant l’Aromatic.
Tuesday 5th August 2025 Langres – Montigny-le-Roi – 53.5 km – Dénivelé ?? – 4 hours cycling.
We cycled two hours to Neuilly l’Evêque where we stopped and had home-made tea seating outside the church. We had our picnic lunch at the source de la Meuse à pouilly en Bassigny. It was windy, cold and rainy. We stopped for a coffee when we arrived at Montigny. Chris’bike was not nice to him! The hôtel Arcombelle was bad and unpleasant. Dinner there was OK.
Wednesday 6th August 2025 – Montigny le roi – Bourg Sainte Marie – 39.3 km – Dénivelé positif: 365 m – 2h50.
Chris fixes his bike as the brake was braking constantly! We ride on small roads and meet the Meuse from time to time. Break in Bourmont (->): café, shopping for dinner, visit of the village on top of the hill. Picnic for lunch. Arrived at 15h00 at the camping where we stay in a cute chalet. Chris cooks delicious pork.
Thursday 7th August 2025 – Bourg Sainte Marie – Neufchâteau – 39.3 km – Dénivelé positif: 451 m – 3h.
Nice morning; nice lunch break (<-) along the river Mouzon. We made a mistake after lunch when we tried to be more clever than the marked path… We ended up having to climb more! In Neufchâteau we had book a very nice flat, with a hamam in the court yard. I go and shop and Chris cooks neck of lamb. Neufchâteau is a nice town.
Friday 8th August 2025 – Neufchâteau – Lérouville – 75 km – Dénivelé positif: 541 m – 5h.
71 km on the agenda today… I was a bit scared but finally all good. And the gîte in Lérouville is very nice: with a large, well equipped kitchen, and a cute garden where we have the dinner: leftovers from yesterday + compote de mirabelles + 1/2 bottle of Champagne bought from a local farmer. Super!
Saturday 9th August 2025 – Lérouville-Verdun – 60 km – Dénivelé positif: 338 m – 4h.
I saw this tree (->) with decoration, stopped and took the picture. As I was walking away back to my bike, a man was approaching: « Elles étaient bonnes les mirabelles ? »; oulala! My blood went round once: « Je ne sais pas! »; « Ah….. y-a des gens qui volent les mirabelles »; « pas moi! ». I think and hope that he felt guilty! More guilty than the ones who pick a couple of mirabelles on their way!. We meet a « voie verte » i.e. a path along the river reserved for bikes: super! We arrive in a very nice B&B in Verdun. We have dinner « chez Mamie » a nice friendly restaurant.
Sunday 10th August 2025 – Verdun – Champs de bataille – 28 km – Dénivelé positif: 310 m – 2h.
We went to the battle fields of Verdun (1916). The movie and the visit of the « ossuaire » brought me to tears; the visit of the fort de Douanmont (->) was difficult to bear for 30 min… The soldiers spent months in there. We had picnnic outside the fort. Then back home and visit of the Cathedrale in Verdun. We had dinner inside the city at the « clapier ».
Monday 11th August 2025 – Verdun – Stenay – 61 km – Dénivelé positif: 310 m – 4h.
A nice cycling day! We have a picnic in Dun, after having made shopping for dinner in a « producer shop » as many have been flourishing in France in the last five years. Nice flat au moulin des cygnes. It was very hot on that day.
Tuesday 12th August 2025 – Stenay – Sedan – 54 km – Dénivelé positif: 345 m – 3h30.
Chris understands that his gear cable is broken. We go to a sort of Decathlon, in a commercial center ~10min away. The owner of the house helps him, lends him tools and in « deux coups de cuillère à pot » the bike is fixed. We start at 10h30. Mainly on the voie verte, which we shall follow up to Givet. We have a picnic in from of the abbatiale de Monzon; it is hot. then we meet the voie verte Trans Ardennes qui va nous emmener jusqu’à Givet. In Sedan we stay at the Villa Notre Dame: géniale! We have a delicious dinner at the St Michel.
Wednesday 13th August 2025 – Sedan – Monthermé – 57 km – Dénivelé positif: 138 m – 3h40.
Hôtel moyen; pas trop sympa; dîner OK sans plus.
Hôtel vs flat vs B&B…
Still on the voie verte all day: such a luxury! A visit inside Charleville-Mézière… Difficult city; we could not easily find a café. The coffee is very bad; most of the people around us are drinking wine and beer; most of the shops are closed for ever; feels devastated. Break in a café along the river around 14:00 for a magnum…Miam miam. We arrive in Monthermé, in the hotel les boucles de la Meuse. Pierre nous appelle!
Thursday 14th August 2025 – Monthermé – Givet – 71 km – Dénivelé positif: 271 m – 4h20.
Et voilà que le dernier jour de vélo arrive…. Nous quittons l’hôtel vers 7h00, nous arrêtons à la boulangerie puis allons prendre un café. We pass by the nuclear power station of Chooz (LAPP, the lab I had been working at for 37 years, we involved in an experiment measuring neutrino from the reactor). We arrive in Givet ~14h30 and have a coffee along the river (<-) before heading for the flat we have booked which is superb! We go shopping and have dinner in the garden.
Friday 15th August 2025 – Givet-Reims en train.
Train at 10h20 to Reims via Charleville. Visit of the cathedral (<- view from the flat) where I was baptised. The flat is couch-couça. We go to a concert in the basilique Saint-Rémi (->). Then have dinner in the Brasserie « Au jardin » des Crayères.
Saturday 16th August 2025 – Reims-Langres en train puis Langres-Sergy en voiture.
Train at 7h30 – Arrival in Langres at 10h30. The station is at the bottom of the very steep hill where Langres, and our car, stand. We were wondering: one goes on his bike w/o any luggage; we both go with the luggages; and…. there was a free shuttle, waiting for us! The driver told us that he is not allowed to take bicycles but he thought it was good to take us. Indeed…. the slope is really steep and fairly long. While Chris install the bikes on the roof, I go and buy a picnic for lunch. And then we go on the rod to Sergy where we arrive around 16h00.
There we go…. I enjoyed very much this trip in a region I did not know. We had the luck to have very little rain, at the beginning. It was hot but we did not mind. The river Meuse is very beautiful. It was very touching and informative to visit the memorial of the Verdun battle (which actually lasted one year!).
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