Belval-en-Argonne

If you only associate champagne with vine-covered slopes, Belval-en-Argonne will show you another side of the region: forest, meadows and water. The village has 44 inhabitants (as at 1 January 2023) and is neither a grand cru nor a premier cru commune.

Location

The commune lies in the east of the Marne département, right on the border with the Meuse, in the southern foothills of the Argonne and close to the source of the Aisne. The Coubreuil, a river 11 kilometres long, marks the boundary to the south and east and separates the commune from the Meuse. Across 1,217 hectares the land rises from 152 to 192 metres. Roughly speaking, it divides into three parts:

• the village in the east,
• the ponds of Belval in the middle,
• the higher forest of Belval in the west.

By road it is 53 kilometres to Châlons-en-Champagne, 26 kilometres to Sainte-Menehould and also 26 kilometres to Bar-le-Duc. The commune is classed as rural, with very scattered housing. About half of the area is woodland (48 per cent), with pasture (32.7 per cent) and water making up much of the rest. The climate is temperate, with a mean annual temperature of 11.0 °C most recently and rainfall of around 800 millimetres a year.

“In 2007 it was bought by a farmer who wanted to drain it and turn it into a maize field.

Viticulture

Vineyards play no part here. They do not appear in the land-use figures, and the Argonne is not one of the classic growing areas of Champagne. For wine lovers, Belval-en-Argonne is therefore not a destination for tastings, but rather a quiet detour on the edge of the region.

The ponds of Belval

The Étang de Belval covers 73.3 hectares and is one of the largest ponds in the département. In 2007 it was bought by a farmer who wanted to drain it and turn it into a maize field. Under pressure from the commune and several nature conservation groups, he abandoned the plan. Today the pond belongs to the commune, the bird protection league LPO, the association Natuurpunt and the Conservatoire d'espaces naturels de Champagne-Ardenne. A dam dating from the 14th and 15th centuries had to be repaired for this purpose.

Belval-Bois-des-Dames in der ChampagneFoto: Roland45, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Since 2012 the area, at 203 hectares, has been a regional nature reserve. The birds that live here include bitterns and cranes. 273 plant species have also been recorded, among them several that are rare in Champagne-Ardenne. With 41 recorded species of dragonfly, the reserve is regarded as the richest site for dragonflies in the region.

Name and administration

Until 1922 the village was called Belval-sous-Hans. The present name refers to the "beautiful valley" and to the Argonne, a natural landscape that stretches across the départements of Marne, Ardennes and Meuse. Administratively, Belval-en-Argonne belongs to the arrondissement of Châlons-en-Champagne, the canton of Argonne Suippe et Vesle and the Communauté de communes de l'Argonne Champenoise.

If you are looking for a change from vineyards and cellars on a trip through Champagne, you will find nature and quiet here. For a picnic by the pond, though, you will have to bring your own wine.