The soil

Chalk, slate, gaize, flint, shale, coloured earth, clay...over the centuries, men have used the resources of the region's soil for housing, decoration or craftwork.

From Fumay to Rimogne, the pretty rooftops show off their blue, green, pink and violet flecks. Ardennes slate began to be quarried in the 11th and 12th centuries, and is renowned across the world for its smoothness, its hardness and unrivalled compactness. 

The wet clay of Champagne, thanks to the skills of generations of potters, has been used for tiles, bricks and pottery since antiquity. Soulaines, Amance and Chaource maintain this tradition today. 

At the Colours Mill in Ecordal, the clay is quarried, dried, crushed and mixed before being subjected to a palette of 85 different natural pigments which can colour almost anything from building materials to cosmetics.