On the 11th we left Germany and headed west through Luxembourg (cheap diesel!) and the corner of Belgium to Charleville-Mézières, regarded as the capital of the French Ardennes. We parked for two nights at the Aire by a marina on the River Meuse. The site was very well equiped and positioned but did suffer a little from loud music late at night from the youths who gathered at the marina.

The next day we walked into the town, stopping for a very nice lunch at a cafe on Place Ducale – the main square (again, I was forced to try the local ice cream!).

The town is home to the International Institute of Puppetry (yes, such a place exists!) which hosts a big puppetry festival every two years. We were a few months too early for the festival but in the side of their building, every hour, a giant mechanical puppeteer appears to act out a different short scene from some local historical saga (click below to play the video).