A walk in the wet Champagne region: the Gros Chêne

Park at Crot Saint-Marc, playground and at the end of the botanical trail.

(S/E) Start on the forest road with the agricultural slope on your right and the forest on your left, continue for about 1 km until you reach the sign indicating the Bois Communal de Flogny-la-Chapelle.

(1) At this point, at the end of the old cider pear orchard, take the small path on the left.

(2) After the first right-hand bend, turn left at the crossroads and you will arrive at the top of the small plateau on a cross path.

(3) Turn left again, then 100 metres further on, turn right downhill and join a stony path.

(4) Follow it to the left for over a kilometre, with cultivated fields on either side, until you reach several piles of wood.

(5) Take the path on the left that leads to Crot Saint-Marc (S/E).

On the edge of the forest, these lands, which are now cultivated, were once mostly pasture, like many in the humid Champagne region. The clay subsoil, so characteristic of the geology of the humid Champagne region, retained moisture in the surface layers of the soil for too long to allow for easy tillage, so permanent grassland was more suited to these lands, with the livestock farming that goes with it. Mechanisation and drainage have enabled the clearing of many pastures, which have now been converted to annual crops. These drainage works are now highly regulated and subject to strict administrative authorisations aimed at maintaining the last remaining functional wetlands.

There is a forest botanical trail nearby. It showcases the different tree species found in the wet Champagne region.

As you approach the communal forest sign, you will pass an old orchard of cider pear trees on your left. These were planted following the phylloxera epidemic at the end of the 19th century, which destroyed most of France's vineyards. These pear and apple trees compensated for the shortage of wine, as their pressed fruit produced cider, which was drunk by the large rural workforce of the time.