Forêt d'Orient Regional Nature Park (Gateway)
Nogent-sur-Seine sits at the southwestern edge of the Parc Naturel Régional de la Forêt d'Orient, a vast mosaic of managed forest and man-made lakes that is one of the great undiscovered nature destinations of northern France. The lakes attract tens of thousands of migratory cranes and ducks each autumn, and the forest trails are serene year-round.
The lakes and their wildlife
The Lac du Der-Chantecoq, Lac d'Orient and Lac Amance together form one of the largest artificial lake complexes in Europe, created in the 1960s and 1970s to regulate the Seine and Marne rivers. What was engineering pragmatism has become an extraordinary wetland habitat.
Between October and December, common cranes pass through in flocks sometimes numbering 50,000 birds — a sound and spectacle that stops you in your tracks. The park's ornithological observatory at Lusigny-sur-Barse (about 25 km from Nogent) is the best vantage point, with hides and telescopes provided.
Trails and water activities
A network of marked cycling and walking trails fans out from the lakeshores, passing through cathedral-like beech and oak forest where deer are commonly spotted at dusk. The GR2 long-distance footpath skirts the southern edge of the park and is accessible from Nogent itself.
Kayak and pedalo rental is available at Lac d'Orient in summer; sailing schools operate on Lac Amance. Even a half-day on the water, watching the forest reflect in the flat lake surface, feels restorative in a way that is hard to replicate elsewhere in the Paris Basin.
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