Por el camino

AUBE (10)

Population: 309,000

Prefecture: Troyes

Sub-prefectures: Bar-sur-Aube and Nogent-sur-Seine

Surface area: 6,000 km²

Specialities: Champagne, Rosé des Riceys, Andouillette de Troyes, Chaource cheese, Prunelle de Troyes, Cidre du Pays d'Othe, Sauerkraut, Cacibel...

Sport: ESTAC (football). Events: Lakes Triathlon, Paris-Troyes (cycling), sailing competitions on Lake Orient.

Culture: Camille Claudel museum in Nogent-sur-Seine; Renoir family home in Essoyes; Museum of Modern Art of Troyes; Nuits de Champagne festival in Troyes (October), Festival en Othe in Aix-en-Othe (July)

Wine tourism: Route du Champagne en Fête, Saint-Vincent, Tumulte dans les Bulles, Marche des réconciliations, Vendangeur d'un Jour, Champagne Day...

Main tourist attractions: Orient Forest Regional Nature Park; Champagne vineyards; Troyes, historic capital of Champagne and European capital of brand centres; Essoyes, the Renoir village; Clairvaux Cistercian Abbey; Nigloland theme park (Dolancourt).

Economy: 2 Romilly-sur-Seine companies historically linked to cycling, Le Coq Sportif and Cycleurope. Agribusiness (world agricultural resources competitiveness cluster), textiles (Petit Bateau, Devanlay-Lacoste), metallurgy, packaging, logistics and transport (A5 and A26 motorways; river port of Nogent-sur-Seine), Aube Technopolis at Troyes/Rosières (Troyes University of Technology, EPF and ESTP engineering schools, LDR Medical, etc.).

DOSCHES (POP: 310)

The Dosches windmill is a recent reconstruction of a typical 18th-century windmill in Champagne. It was built between October 2004 and October 2006, under the aegis of the Association des Moulins à vent champenois (Champagne Windmills Association), based on the plans of the windmills of yesteryear. It is accompanied by an authentic 15th-century tithe barn, which was dismantled and rebuilt on site.

VENDEUVRE-SUR-BARSE (POP : 2,400)

Long known for the tractors that were made here, Vendeuvre also boasts a vast and beautiful château and its parkland, listed properties owned by the town and the department, which are struggling to find a new vocation. The château, listed in 1981, is not open to visitors, but the park is open to the public.

BAR-SUR-AUBE (POP : 5,000)

Bar-sur-Aube enjoyed a period of prosperity during the Middle Ages, when the town was renowned for its trade in silk, spices and textiles between Flanders and Italy. Silks, spices and textiles were traded between Flanders and Italy... Today, the old town, ringed by boulevards where the ramparts once stood, retains its picturesque little streets, its old hotels and its two churches, Saint-Pierre and Saint-Maclou. A young professional who contested two Tours de France and a world championship in 1974 and 1975, local rider Jean-Claude Misac was killed in training in Bar-sur-Aube at the age of 26.  In this Olympic year, René Bondoux, a native of Bar-sur-Aube, won gold in the team foil event in Los Angeles in 1932, and Marinette Pichon, the first star of French women's football.  

Saint-Pierre Church

Construction: 12th, 16th and 19th centuries.

Style: Gothic.

History: it was united with the chapter of Saint-Maclou of Bar-sur-Aube in 1378. The bell tower was struck by lightning on 24 May 1706 and badly damaged, with all seven bells destroyed.

Characteristics: it is mainly 12th-century, with 16th-century chapels and 19th-century vaults in the apse and choir. It is famous for its "halloy". This wooden portico, which extends across the south and west of the building, was used for fairs and also as a burial ground, as attested by the parish registers. Its marble high altar comes from Clairvaux Abbey.

Listed as: historical monument since 1840.

ESSOYES (POP: 720)

The village cemetery is the final resting place of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, his wife Aline Charigot, and their sons, film-maker Jean Renoir, actor Pierre Renoir and ceramist Claude Renoir. Renoir, whose wife Aline Charigot was born in the village, owned a house and the Renoir studio there. Many of his works depict the village from which his wife Aline and his governess and model Gabrielle Renard hailed, who looked after little Jean, the future director of La Grande Illusion and La Bête humaine. The former Château d'Essoyes, acquired and converted in the 19th century by the Hériot brothers, owners of the Grands Magasins du Louvre, is now a school and library. It was here that Virginie Hériot, France's first Olympic sailing champion in 1928, spent part of her childhood. Nicknamed "Madame de la mer" (Madam of the sea), she died prematurely from an injury at the age of 42. 

MONTIÉRAMEY (POP: 400)  

Church of Notre-Dame de l'Assomption

Construction: 12th and 16th centuries.

Style: Romanesque and flamboyant Gothic.

History: the church was built in three main stages. The oldest part of the current church is the nave, which dates from the 12th century (Romanesque). The choir and transept were rebuilt in the mid-16th century (flamboyant Gothic). Although built more recently, this part remains the weakest point of the building and has been the subject of numerous restorations. In 1870, the bell tower (initially on one side) was replaced in the extension of the central nave, in front of the large portal.

Listed as: historical monument since 1840.  

Former Saint-Pierre Abbey

Founded in 837. Rebuilt in 1669 and 1715.

Style: mainly Romanesque.

History: it was one of the oldest and largest religious establishments in the diocese of Troyes in the Middle Ages and had a profound impact on its surrounding area. Benedictine until 1655, the establishment was then reformed and affiliated to the Benedictines of the Saint-Vanne congregation until its closure in 1790. Partly destroyed during the Revolution, the remaining buildings became private property.

Listed as: historical monument since 2001.

VERRIÈRES (POP : 1,860) 

Saint-Pierre de Verrières church

Construction: 19th century.

History: the church of Saint-Pierre and Saint Paul in Verrières has two bells tuned to "A". One was cast in 1803 and weighs 450 kg, and the other was cast in 1815 and weighs 350 kg. The tower was built in 1863 with the "powerful support of His Majesty Napoleon III", who donated 4,000 francs at the time. The chapel's sanctuary is lit by five ogival windows, four of which feature stained-glass scenes from the life of Jesus.

Listed as: Historical Monument since 1937.

SAINT-PARRES-AUX-TERTRES (POP : 3,200)

Saint-Parres is located two kilometres from Troyes, on the top of the hill known as Mont-des-Idoles, where Saint Parres, a noble citizen of Troyes, suffered martyrdom in the year 275. It was in the place where he was buried that the archpriest Eusebius, when the persecution had ceased, had a chapel built, which later became a parish, under the patronage of Saint Patroclus. The present church was built in the early years of the 16th century and has been a listed building since 1942.