Meuse Valley

(Local Name: Vallée de la Meuse) The Meuse (Flemish Maas) rises at an altitude of 456m/1,497ft in the French plateau of Langres in Champagne. It has a course of 450km/280mi in French territory and after crossing into Belgium near Givet - from here it is navigable - it flows for 192km/120mi through Belgium until it reaches the Netherlands near Maastricht, where after a further 250km/155mi it reaches the North Sea. Between Givet and Namur the Meuse has cut a deep valley in the Ardennes plateau and flows northwards, sometimes between fine wooded slopes and sometimes between bare slopes. In the shadow of the steep ridges nestle pretty villages, with hotels and villa settlements in the valley of the river, which are popular summer resorts. The valley has always been of great attraction. As long ago as the Stone Age hunters and gatherers lived in caves along the river, and much later monks chose the lower reaches of the river to build their monasteries, while the secular lords erected imposing castles and fortresses on the heights. Some of these were rebuilt in the 17th and 18th C. and converted into fine châteaux.