Varennes-en-Argonne was best known for being the town where, in June 1791, Louis XVI and his immediate family, were arrested, while fleeing from France. The house of judge Sauce where the royal family passed the night, the tower where they were kept prisoner and their last route back to Paris, became touristic highlights of the area; until the Great War and the battles the Argonne.
Varennes en Argonne
[point 1]
View of the city from the clock tower, before the war.
[point 2]
View from the clock tower today. Houses have changed but thestreet lay-out is still recognizable.
PEnnsylvania monument
[point 3]
Erected by the State of Pennsylvania for those who fought to free Varennes en Argonne.
Civil cemetery
[point 4]
Here is a mas grave for the falls soldiers, French and German, from the 1870 war. Also the mausoleum of one of the chief actors of the Louis XVI’s arrest.
Musee de l’Argonne
[point 5]
Two main happenings dominate this regional museum… Louis XVIth and the Great War. There is also a worthwhile collection of regional faience (Les Islettes).
Route Louis XVI
Along the main sites related to the arrest of the Royal Family:
[point a]
Clock tower where the family was kept prisoner.
[point b]
Judge Sauce’s house where the royal family passed the night. The house was destroyed during the Great War.
[point c]
Grand Monarque hotel at bridge over the river Aire.
But Vauquois
[point 7]
Close to Varenne we find what is left of the village Vauquois. Originally it was located on a hill which gave it a perfect overview of its surroundings. The Germans conquered it in the first year of the war. Subsequently the French tried to recapture it and as the war progressed, both sides dug themselves in to fight each other in a maze of tunnels and mines, until nothing was left of the hill or of the village.
