Lourches is a small mining town in the Nord department, on the banks of the Escaut river, between Denain and Valenciennes, in the heart of the old coal mining basin that stretched across northern France. The memorial named after Charles Mathieu is one of the elements listed as part of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin UNESCO site, alongside pitheads, slag heaps, miners' housing and the buildings of the mining companies.
The Denain and Valenciennes area was one of the most industrialised in France, with coal mines, steelworks and factories, and it suffered greatly when they closed in the late twentieth century. The towns are full of reminders of that past: rows of brick miners' houses, called corons, mining company churches and schools, and slag heaps, some of which have become nature reserves or leisure areas. Nearby, at Wallers-Arenberg, the old mine with its three headframes has been transformed into a film and media centre, and it was used as a location for the film adaptation of Émile Zola's Germinal, set in this very region.
The riding in this area is mostly flat, with straight roads between towns, many roundabouts and some heavy traffic around Valenciennes. The Escaut valley offers some green spaces, with canals, wetlands and towpaths, and the Raismes-Saint-Amand-Wallers forest, a large woodland to the north, provides quieter, shaded roads. The weather is often grey and rainy, and the wind can be strong, but the light on a clear evening, over the slag heaps and brick towns, has its own beauty.
Escaudain, about two kilometres away, has fuel, shops and services, and Denain and Valenciennes have more. Local food is hearty and comforting: carbonnade, beef stewed in beer, maroilles cheese, which has a powerful smell and a mild taste, and the many local beers. The people of the mining basin are known for their warmth, solidarity and sense of humour, and the local dialect, ch'ti, is a source of great pride.