Population: 15,998
If you want pretty and quaint, go elsewhere. If you want modest heroism, come to Verdun, symbol of all that’s valorous about France’s Great War record.
From February to December 1916, some 305,000 men died as the Germans tried to blast their way through to Paris. “They shall not pass,” said Général Robert Nivelle. And they didn’t. But it was a close-run thing.
Above the town, the former killing fields and forest – 40,000 acres, reduced to sludge back then – are now tranquil, as former battlegrounds usually are. There have been no new developments. There are skeletons of destroyed villages never rebuilt, new forest, two terrific forts, a monumental ossuary, a startlingly good battle museum and a sense of nobility withal.
Meanwhile the town, pounded to smithereens in 1916, wears international renown with hard-bitten restraint. The River Meuse provides a running commentary, the centre has all the food and drink you need. Verdun combines a bloody past and brighter present with great composure. It’s admirable.
My favourite? The disarming Hotel de Montaulbain (doubles from £92).
Cognac
Charente, Nouvelle Aquitaine
Population: 18,338
Everyone’s heard of cognac, the sleek spirit for international sybarites (not least US rappers, Jay Z and co; they term it “yak”). But who knows that its home town is a quiet country spot amid one of the comeliest landscapes of south-west France? Well, all of us now, and so much the better.
The tranquil Charente river sets the rhythm. Soft light bathes white stone. The food is good, the drinking better and life gentle enough to mend the bruised soul.
Stroll Vieux Cognac towards the river for a sense of a tight-packed past. Dark stains on the buildings are caused not by filth but by microfungus nourished by evaporating brandy fumes.
The Musée des Savoir-Faire du Cognac tells the spirit’s story, including the starring roles taken by folk from the British Isles: Messrs Hennessy, Martell and Hine. Also Mr Otard, originally from Scotland.
His brand – now owned by Bacardi – invests the riverside Cognac château, where François I, France’s Renaissance king, was born. Thus it provides the best of all the town’s cognac visits.
Stay in the cabins and over-water lodges of the Quai-des-Pontis (doubles from £75).
Saint-Omer
Pas de Calais, Hauts de France