Cave diving in the Barrois

Around Saint-Dizier and Bar-le-Duc lie clay-laden karst springs with long, shallow sumps, from the Rupt-du-Puits pool to exploration sumps such as the Bezerne and the Fontaine de Laneuville. This is ground for full cave divers who can cope with little visibility: the clay usually keeps it to 0–2 m, except in the clear Dhuit south of Joinville, and the water is cold (11.5 °C measured in the Rupt-du-Puits), so a drysuit is needed. The springs react strongly to rain, so plan after a dry spell. There is no central access scheme: the sumps behind the Rupt-du-Puits borehole need a key through the regional caving league, and the local clubs lay the lines, so get in touch with them beforehand.

Don't miss

• Fontaine de la Dhuit: clear water, even in flood, through pale limestone full of fossils such as sea-urchin spines, corals and crinoids.
• Vasque du Rupt-du-Puits: the overflow spring of what the Meuse département calls the largest cave in the Paris Basin.
• Source Bleue (Villiers-sur-Marne): a blue spring with a 700 m sump, according to the local paper the best-known in Haute-Marne.

On a rest day

• Lac du Der-Chantecoq: A large reservoir close to Saint-Dizier, where tens of thousands of migrating cranes rest from October to March.
• Bar-le-Duc Upper Town: Walk through the old upper town and see Ligier Richier's sculpture Le Transi in the church of Saint-Étienne.
• Charles de Gaulle Memorial: The memorial at the foot of a large Cross of Lorraine in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, where you can also visit his home La Boisserie and his grave.