The word Ardennes means in Celtic "dense forest". Cruising these waterways from your base at Pont à Bar, and breathing in the pure country air, you will understand how the area acts as a lung to Europe.

Home of wild boar, roe-deer and some of France's rarest birds, the Ardennes forests also shelter in their protected wetlands such rarities as orchids and the flycatching sundew. You will be charmed by the Meuse as it twists and loops its way to Charleville-Mézières. Beyond, deeper into the Ardennes, there are delightful towns to discover such as Fumay and Givet, know for their sausages. With its 650km of cruising waterway, the Champagne-Ardennes region offers tremendous scope and variety.