These attacks on the west, joined to those on the north and east, led as we have seen to the fall of Maurupt. _Return to the village_, which is in course of reconstruction, _and at the church go straight on, then turn to the right, towards Cheminon, into_ G. C. 16, _which follows the line of telegraph posts_. _On arriving in =Cheminon= (43 km.), turn to the left to descend the principal street, shown in the photo above_. Cheminon did not experience the German invasion, and, after the desolation of the villages which we have traversed, this little township gives an impression of repose, with its picturesque houses sloping down towards the old thirteenth-sixteenth century church, which is classed as an historical monument. _We pass under the market (beware of the depression in the ground), then turn to the right towards Trois-Fontaines._ _Reaching the fork in the road, go straight on. Pass through =Le Fays= (47½ km.). 800 yards further on, leaving the road to Saint-Dizier on the right, turn to the left to enter the village of =Trois-Fontaines= (49 km.)._ At the end of it the monumental doorway of the old abbey of Trois-Fontaines is visible, as shown in the photograph on next page. [Illustration: VIEW OF CHEMINON (looking west)] [Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE OLD ABBEY] The Germans did not get as far as Trois-Fontaines, but fighting took place to the north and to the north-east, in the forest. This region, where the Fourth and Third French Armies linked up, was particularly important. At Trois Fontaines, the Germans would have been 9 km. from Saint-Dizier, from whence they would have been able to outflank the whole of the Army of Langle de Cary. The Second Corps' admirable resistance, and the aid given by the flank attack of the Fifteenth Corps of Sarrail's Army, brought about the German defeat. The abbey is at the present time the property of the Count of Fontenoy. _After asking permission to visit, cross the court to the left, in order to view the ruins of the church which are still standing in the corner of the park._ The photos on pp. 231, 232 and 233 depict the interior and the exterior. [Illustration: RUINS OF THE CHURCH] The abbey was founded in the beginning of the twelfth century by Saint Bernard. The major portion of the church dates back, however, a century earlier. It was sacked during the Revolution, but the ruins now covered with verdure have an impressive grandeur. Enter the principal nave by the doorway seen on the left in the view opposite. After traversing the body of the church, consisting of the central nave and two side aisles, we see enormous fragments of the arches strewn on the ground. As seen in the photographs on p. 232. Nature has resumed her sway, and tall trees rise from what was the choir and the apse of the old church. [Illustration: RUINS OF THE CHURCH]