Sedan: Champagne’s Faded Glory

Situated 200 kilometres northeast of Paris and just 10 kilometres south of the Belgian border, on a peninsula formed by a bend in the Meuse River, lies the historic town of Sedan. If the name sounds familiar, it should. For the class of car we know today as the ‘sedan’ derives its name from this village in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France.

A History of Mobility

You see, Sedan was where the upholstery fabric for the interior of the chaise à porteur – Sedan chair – was first manufactured. This was the single passenger conveyance that was carried by two men using poles attached to a chair. The example below, now part of the permanent collection of the Petit Palais in Paris, was once owned by Elisabeth-Charlotte of Orléans (1676-1744), niece of Louis XIV whom, by the way, he married in 1698. Production began here in the 17th century. I had travelled to Sedan from Paris by train, departing the grand Gare de l’Est on a rainy morning last July. I was on my way to begin a great adventure: a rowing tour from Sedan to Namur, Belgium, covering 170 kilometres in 6 days. You can read more about that in my series: A Rowing Tour of the Meuse.

Glorious Rococo

In the meantime, I had a day or so before I connected with my fellow rowers. So I used that time to explore this charming town. I ventured out from the incredible Hôtel Le Château Fort de Sedan, where I was spending the night. And it wasn’t long before I discovered the faded charms of this once prosperous area. For magnificent Rococo-inspired homes lined its streets and spoke to its former glory.

End of an Era

I also wandered upon one of the former textile mills. It consisted of two buildings. One was a beautiful, 19th-century turreted, stone maison – house – to which a mid-20th century factory had been added. The ‘For Sale’ sign in the window spoke to the end of the textile industry here late in the last century.

Further exploration revealed more signs of Sedan’s affluent past. Across the river, I came across this once elegant estate. Now derelict and overgrown with vines and shrubbery, it exuded a different type of beauty. And not far from that, this edifice, with a number of its windows either partially or fully bricked up. On seeing this, I was reminded of something that I had learned in Bath, England years ago. There, property taxes were once based on the number of windows a building had. I wondered if that had been the case here too.

A Turbulent Past

Signs of less peaceful times were evident in this sun-screened town as well.  A World War I memorial, topped with a golden statue of an angel crowning a young soldier with a laurel wreath, held a prominent place. It is a reminder of the four years of German occupation that Sedan underwent during the Great War. The town was invaded again during the Second World War. Evidence of the associated battles was easily found in the pock-marked façade of the Lysée Turenne – Turenne School. However, just across the street lay the town’s Botanical Gardens. Strolling past the beautiful wrought-iron gazebo and watching ducks play on the pond, I was quickly returned to whispers of gentler times.