Source de la Meuse (Pouilly-en-Bassigny)

Le Châtelet-sur-Meuse (Pouilly-en-Bassigny)

The Meuse rises in a meadow of the Bassigny, in the south of the Haute-Marne, at Pouilly-en-Bassigny, now part of the new commune of Le Châtelet-sur-Meuse. Wikipedia gives an altitude of 409 metres. The place is modest: according to an RTBF report, a small monument marks the spot, from which a thin trickle of water emerges, in the midst of meadows where cows graze. Yet the river runs about 950 kilometres, through France, Belgium and the Netherlands, before the North Sea. The exact location has been debated: several communes of the region disputed the honour of harbouring the source. According to Michel Thénard, cited by the RTBF, the Belgian abbé Justin Evrard went up the river in 1967 to fix the place definitively, after years of debate. The report notes that visitors are mostly Dutch cyclists. The commune is also crossed by the watershed between the Meuse basin and that of the Saône (Wikipedia). No ancient legend specific to this source was found in the sources consulted; to be verified locally (sign, town hall).

Getting there: On the D 130b, near the Febvre farm, at Pouilly-en-Bassigny (hamlet of the new commune of Le Châtelet-sur-Meuse). Coordinates: “Source de la Meuse” marker of OpenStreetMap (Nominatim). Access and parking conditions not verified.

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

Ambient sound