Taxi Sedan → Charleville-Mézières

The Sedan — Charleville-Mézières journey is the natural link between the Ardennes department's two main towns, united by the Meuse and a shared history. Sedan, dominated by the massive silhouette of its castle — Europe's largest fortified castle with 35,000 m² of built area — is a town steeped in military history whose name echoes through history books for the 1870 surrender to Prussia and the 1940 Panzer breakthrough. The castle, built from the 15th century on a rocky spur overlooking the Meuse, was enlarged by the princes of La Marck, transformed into a citadel by Vauban, then used as military barracks and even a textile factory. Its seven-metre-thick walls, corner towers and star-shaped bastions make it an exceptional military monument. Charleville-Mézières, at the other end of this short journey, offers a different face: a Renaissance and poetry city. The Place Ducale, built between 1606 and 1624 by Clément Métezeau for Charles de Gonzague, is one of France's most beautiful arcaded squares. Arthur Rimbaud, born here in 1854, imbued the city with his rebellious genius, from the eponymous quay to the museum in the Old Mill on the Meuse.