Les Faux de Verzy

Verzy

On the heights of the Montagne de Reims grows the largest concentration in the world of twisted dwarf beeches: nearly 800 'faux,' dwarf trees with gnarled trunks and branches cascading like cradles, whose mutation science still cannot fully explain. For centuries, these contorted silhouettes have fed stories. Local tradition has seen in them by turns a divine punishment, a curse cast on the inhabitants of Verzy, or the patient work of the monks of the Saint-Basle abbey, founded in the 7th century in this forest at the spot where Saint Basle, a 6th-century hermit who came with Saint Remi to evangelize the region, had withdrawn. The location of the faux is said to correspond to the abbey's old gardens, destroyed after the Revolution: the monks are said to have planted and protected these 'magic' trees. Another tradition tells that Joan of Arc herself, going up to Reims for the coronation of Charles VII, dozed off in the branches of the 'Fau de la Demoiselle' — struck by lightning in 2017, its remains are kept on site with an explanatory panel. Until the 1960s, the 'bal des demoiselles' was still held under the trees' natural vaults. Today a biological reserve managed by the ONF, the site is crossed by a discovery trail where each fau, sometimes centuries old, seems frozen mid-dance. A place where botany, monastic legend and the memory of Joan of Arc are literally intertwined.

Getting there : State forest about 15 km southeast of Reims, signposted from the D944 Reims-Chalons road. Marked trails from several car parks (Parking des Faux, Parking des Pins); a discovery loop of about 3 km suitable for families. Free access year-round, staying on the trails to protect the roots. Coordinates given for the Parking des Faux, the starting point of the trails.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound