_At 100 yards from Morains_ is the source of the Morin, which at this point is a tiny rivulet, often dry in the summer. The ditch in which it flows was used as a trench in the battles of 1914. The view below, taken on the left of the wood, shows this ditch bordered by a few shrubs and surrounded by graves. [Illustration: TRENCH AT THE SOURCE OF THE MORIN] _The road continues towards Mont-Aimé, which we reach about 5 km. beyond Morains._ This hill, 750 feet high, appears a veritable mountain as it rises solitary in the midst of the great Plain of Champagne. _Leave the car on the road and set out to climb the hill, an easy task. It is possible to climb direct, or to follow the zig-zag path which begins at the road._ From the top there is a very fine view of the marshes and of the whole Plain of Champagne. _The entire journey, up and down, takes about twenty-five minutes._ _Return to_ G. C. 9 _and continue to =Borgères-lès-Vertus= (78 km.), where we meet with_ N. 53, _where turn to the right towards Châlons-sur-Marne._ The Germans traversed this road in both directions within six days. They advanced in all the excitement of a victorious pursuit: they returned in the gloomy disappointment of defeat. _The journey to =Châlons= (106 km.) presents no difficulties, it being merely necessary to follow_ N. 33, _which passes through Chaintrix and Thibie. We enter Châlons by the Avenue de Paris, then take the Rue du Faubourg-de-la-Marne on the left. Cross the railway, then the Marne, and continue straight along the Rue de la Marne. Here cross the canal, leaving the cathedral on the right. Before arriving at the Place de Ville turn to the right into the Rue des Lombards, which leads to the Place de la République, where the hotels will be found._ [Illustration: GRAVES BETWEEN ÉCURY-LE-REPOS AND MORAINS-LE-PETIT] III THE PASS OF REVIGNY CHÂLONS--VITRY--BAR-LE-DUC CHÂLONS [Illustration: CHÂLONS IN THE SIXTH CENTURY] ORIGIN AND CHIEF HISTORICAL FACTS Châlons is of very ancient origin and was in the third century the capital of the "Catalauni." In that part of the Plain of Champagne which surrounds it, known as "the Catalaunian Fields," numerous invasions were brought to nothing. The invasion of 1914 recalled the epoch of Attila's Huns, who were beaten here in 451 by the Roman General Actius; Merovic, King of the Franks; and Theodoric, King of the Visigoths. It is between Châlons and Troyes, rather nearer the latter town, that the most eminent authorities assume this great victory over barbarism to have taken place. Up to the eighteenth century the bishopric of Châlons was one of the most important in France. CHÂLONS IN 1914 The town, which had been evacuated by three-quarters of its inhabitants, received a few shells on September 4. Some of the stained glass windows of the cathedral were smashed; a part of the roof of the Hôtel-Dieu was broken in, and the children's ward, which was fortunately empty, received a 4·2 shell.