Haussimont

Location

Haussimont lies in the Marne département in the Grand Est region, about 30 kilometres south of Châlons-en-Champagne and roughly 30 kilometres west of Vitry-le-François. The village belongs to the arrondissement of Châlons-en-Champagne, which it has been part of since 31 March 2017; before that it was assigned to the arrondissement of Épernay. It is a member of the Communauté d'agglomération Cités-en-Champagne. In 2023, 139 people lived here, on a municipal area of 17.63 square kilometres. The population peaked in 1806 at 216.

Landscape and viticulture

Haussimont belongs to the Champagne sèche, the "dry Champagne". The terrain is mostly flat, and there is hardly any woodland, apart from some riverside forest along the Somme-Soude. This river rises in the neighbouring village of Sommesous and, after 60 kilometres, flows into the Marne at Aigny. According to Corine Land Cover, almost 89 per cent of the municipal area was agricultural land in 2018, of which 86.7 per cent was arable.

The village is neither grand cru nor premier cru, and vineyards play no part in its character. If you are looking for the famous sites of Champagne, you will not find them here. What Haussimont does show is the other side of the region: broad farmland instead of vine-covered slopes.

“In 2023, 139 people lived here, on a municipal area of 17.63 square kilometres.

Economy

• Twelve farms grow cereals, pulses and oilseeds.
• A starch factory (féculerie) is based in the village.
• In the north-east, the commune shares in Châlons-Vatry airport and its logistics zone.
• The RN 4 from Paris to Nancy runs through the commune, and five kilometres to the east it crosses the A26 autoroute.

This position on a major transport axis makes Haussimont easy to reach for travellers between Paris and Lorraine.

Deutz Champagner Kübel

Things to see

The village is small, but it offers a few stops for a short break:

• the church of Saint-Eusèbe
• the sensory garden (Jardin sensoriel)
• a calvary
• a fountain
• a water tower

For its floral displays, Haussimont holds the "Ville fleurie" label with four flowers, which only a few communes in France achieve. The inhabitants are called Haussimoniots.

Climate

The climate is classed as modified oceanic. At the nearest weather station, in Sommesous, three kilometres away, the annual mean from 1991 to 2020 was 10.8 °C, with average rainfall of 816.9 millimetres. On 25 July 2019, 42.2 °C was recorded there, while the record low of minus 26.5 °C dates from 14 February 1956.

For champagne lovers, then, Haussimont is not a place for tastings but a quiet stop along the route through the Champagne sèche, a contrast to the vine-covered slopes further north.