Lac du Der-Chantecoq
Forty kilometres south-west of Saint-Dizier lies one of Europe's largest artificial lakes — 48 square kilometres of shimmering water ringed by half-timbered Champagne villages and reed beds that host the continent's most spectacular crane migration. Between October and November, up to 70,000 common cranes descend on Lac du Der at dusk in a spectacle that stops even seasoned birdwatchers in their t
The Migration Spectacle
The cranes — Grus grus — arrive from Scandinavia and Russia, using the Der as a staging post before continuing to Spain. At dawn and dusk they move in vast skeins between their roost on the water and feeding fields inland; the sound of thousands of birds calling simultaneously carries for kilometres across the flat Champagne plain.
The Maison de l'Oiseau et du Poisson at Giffaumont-Champaubert provides excellent free interpretation panels and a panoramic observation deck overlooking the main roost area. Rangers lead guided dawn walks every weekend during peak migration in October and November.
Beyond the Birds
The lake is equally rewarding in summer for sailing, kayaking and cycling along the 70-kilometre lakeside trail that connects the three reconstructed villages — Sainte-Marie-du-Lac-Nuisement, Nuisement-sur-Coole and Châtillon-sur-Broué — whose half-timbered churches were dismantled stone by stone and rebuilt on higher ground before the valley was flooded in 1974.
Visit the Église Saint-Étienne de Nuisement-sur-Coole, a 12th-century timber-framed Champagne church that was relocated intact; it is one of the most quietly beautiful buildings in the entire region.
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