22-Aug-2001 -- Le point de confluence Charles De Gaulle

It all began when Carolin Lehner told me, she reached a Confluence Point at N 49° E 8° which is located just a few km away from my home in France. After a visit to the www.confluence.org site, I decided to find my own unexplored Confluence Point.

The D-day was the 22 of august 2001. A wonderful day, clear sky and 31°C, for Daniel and me, excellent start conditions!

Our destination is N48 E5 near Chaumont in the Haute Marne region, France. After a drive of 300 km thru the scenic French countryside, we got near Arc-en-Barrois, at the edge of a green forest. Cars are not allowed to get closer to the 3km away spot.

Most of the remaining way is rather flat, unpaved forest road that can be easily hiked. The only nice and peaceful inhabitants we met, were several birds, hinds, roebucks and wild boars. We hiked a while ending between trees and bushes.

And then, the magic moment…my heart beats faster (This is probably due to the long hiking), still a few meters, then 2 meters, one meter! Here we are! If the soil had not been covered with grass and moos, I would have kissed the Confluence Point! Not this time, maybe the next one? So I just kissed my GPS. We took pictures all around us and it was already time to return back with a satisfied mind.

Our GPS reading at destination:
Position: N 48° 0.000 E 5° 0.000
Precision: 7m
Altitude: 311m
Date: 22 of august 2001
Time: 15:40

Interesting spot in the neighbourhood:
A pretty village, called “Colombey les 2 Eglises” is located at about 30km. It’s the place of the home, tomb and memorial of the well known General Charles De Gaulle.

So we decided to name this spot: “Le point de confluence Charles De Gaulle”

Hints for the next visitors:
Best car parking:
On the road from “Arc-en-Barrois toward north, at a spot called “Les Essarts”. The position is N 47° 59.200 E 5° 2.780
Walk into forest toward N 47° 59.420 E 5° 2.520
Turn left and follow road for 2.6km toward N 47° 59.660 E 5° 0.350
Turn right toward north, on a small track into the forest for about 14 min (Have your camera ready for the wild life you may encounter).
You have reached it (Better use a GPS to verify)!

P.S. After this success, we already have selected our next target. This time it will be VERY far from home! The spot is located in French New Caledonia, the distance from home is roughly 20000km. We’ll try to visit the spot in October 2001. Lets become adventurous!