Taking ten years to build, the Canal des Ardennes was opened in 1833 linking the Canal lateral a l'Aisne at Vieux-les-Asfeld with the Canal de l'Est at Pont-a-Bar. It covers a distance of around 88km, has 44 locks and a single 197m tunnel at St. Aignan. It doesn't actually pass through the Ardennes as its name suggests but points in that general direction. The canal follows the river Aisne upstream until it reaches the small village of Semuy, where it climbs through the Montgon flight of 27 locks over a distance of just 9 km. At Le Chesne, it joins the course of the river Bar through to Pont a Bar. From Vieux the canal rises 105 m above the river Aisne before falling 15 m in order to link up with the river Meuse. It's delightfully rural canal from one end to the other with much of it overgrown, foliage tumbling right into the water. Commercial traffic is now rare except in the lower reaches where, particularly in the autumn, barges transport champagne grown cereal from canal side silos.

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