Tour of Joan of Arc Country (Meuse, Vosges)

Starting in Vaucouleurs, the medieval town where Joan of Arc began her epic journey, the trail follows the Meuse Valley, passing the Renaissance Château de Montbras and charming villages like Goussaincourt. The highlight is Domrémy-la-Pucelle, where the saint's birthplace and the Bois-Chenu Basilica bear witness to a unique spiritual heritage. The landscapes alternate between vast limestone plateaus, dense forests, and wetlands where nature remains wild and unspoiled. Leaving the Vosges Mountains and returning to the Meuse Valley via the villages of Vouthon and Maxey-sur-Vaise, hikers discover authentic rural architecture built of dressed stone. The meandering river offers soothing panoramas, typical of the hidden Lorraine region. The return to Vaucouleurs via Épiez-sur-Meuse completes a route where French history is intimately intertwined with the serenity of the eastern landscapes.

Born around 1412 in Domrémy, in the borderlands of Lorraine, Joan of Arc was a young peasant girl whose destiny changed dramatically during the Hundred Years' War. Claiming to hear heavenly voices commanding her to "drive the English out of France," she managed to convince the Dauphin Charles to entrust her with an army. In 1429, her incredible determination led to the lifting of the siege of Orléans, a major turning point that restored hope to the kingdom. She then led Charles VII to his coronation in Reims, thus restoring the legitimacy of the French crown against British claims. Captured in Compiègne by the Burgundians, she was sold to the English and subjected to a biased ecclesiastical trial in Rouen. Condemned for heresy, she died at the stake on May 30, 1431, at the young age of 19, leaving behind an image of courage and piety. Her trial was overturned twenty-five years later, before she was canonized in 1920, becoming an icon of French history.