The best walks and hikes around Villers-Semeuse

The beautiful and strikingly modern town hall of the Mezières district. The adjacent forecourt was traffic-calmed a few years ago. There's also a drinking water fountain in the southwest corner of the square.

An emblematic monument of the Cours Briand, the so-called “castle” of the Ardennais. This building built at the end of the 19th century was the headquarters of the newspaper l'Ardennais.

The Île du Vieux Moulin, or the Island of the Old Mill, is a beautiful park located on the River Meuse, between the city center and Mont Olympe. This island offers a relaxation area at the foot of the Rimbaud Museum. You can enjoy a walk at the viewpoint which offers a pleasant view of the Meuse and the water sports center on one side, and a rest and relaxation area on the other side with benches and the sculpture “Le Défrichement”, originally 2 ox drivers depicted pulling a plow pulled by 6 oxen. Only part of the original work remains (inaugurated in 1931) which was looted and destroyed during the occupation. The island is connected to Mont Olympe by a pedestrian bridge inaugurated in September 1934. It is a wonderful place to relax and enjoy the natural beauty of the area, with stunning views of an unspoilt natural landscape in the middle of the city.

Attention here is drawn to the mechanical giant - Grand Marionnettiste - located between the Musée de l'Ardenne and the Institut International de Marionnette. This mechanical clock plays an excerpt from the Ardennes legend of the Four Heemskinderen every hour between 10:00 and 21:00.

The bright colors of the local materials can be seen on the facades that were previously painted: yellow for the natural stone from Dom-le-Mesnil, red for the bricks and purple-white for the Ardennes slate. The whole falls under monument protection.

Place Ducale is the central and historic main square of Charleville, the northern part of Charleville-Mézières. The square is a copy of the Place des Vosges, the oldest square in Paris. The only big difference is that the square in Paris was designed by Louis Métezeau and that of Charleville by Clément Métezeau, so brothers. The square is a feast for the eyes with 28 monumental buildings, built in the same Baroque style. In the center of the square there is a fountain and a classic merry-go-round. The Place Ducale became the beating heart of the city and still is. The symmetrical lines, the chessboard pattern, the arcades and the facades in red and yellow stone now regularly form the backdrop to events for which the city is known. The square was founded by its ambitious founder, the Italian prince Charles de Gonzague, who had a completely new city built in the 17th century. The square is 126 by 90 meters and the current buildings on the edge of the square all date from the 17th century.

The street-art collective Créative color, under the guidance of artists Mehdi Amghar and Antoine Maquet, has undertaken a new fresco on the west facade of the Parc clinic, in Charleville-Mézières. The fresco, which represents the profile of a caregiver wearing a mask, can be seen from Cours Briand.

The statue of Carlo Gonzaga is the work of Alphonse Colle, from Charleville, who also created the monuments to the fallen of Charleville and Mézières. The fountain was first built on Place Ducale in 1899 at the initiative of a wealthy patron of the Industrial Revolution and then moved to its current location in 1999.