Champ de Mars, Esplanade in Valence, France.

Champ de Mars is a 3-hectare esplanade in central Valence, measuring 300 metres long and 100 metres wide, laid out in 2001 as a tree-lined garden with two rectangular lawns flanking the Kiosque Peynet. The kiosk, a hexagonal gazebo with slender dark metal columns and a pale blue-grey faceted roof, stands on a low base surrounded by a shallow pool with fountain jets. A pale stone tower rises at the far end of the sandy path.

The esplanade was laid out in 1773 on an alluvial terrace above the Rhône. Under the Ancien Régime, army regiments drilled here, and in the 18th century the garrison included the young Napoleon Bonaparte and General Jean-Étienne Championnet. In 1848 a statue of Championnet by Victor Sappey was placed at the north end. The underground car park that occupied the site until 2001 was buried and replaced by the tree-lined esplanade.

The kiosk is named after Raymond Peynet, whose 1942 painting of two lovers made it known across France; the city renamed it in his honour and Peynet returned for the ceremony in 1966. It was listed as a monument historique in 1992. Each year the esplanade hosts the Festival sur le Champ ! music festival.

A large underground parking facility beneath the esplanade provides convenient vehicle access to the city center. The site is flat and easy to walk through, with nearby parks and green spaces offering additional outdoor options.

From this level, visitors can see the forested Ardèche hills and the ruins of Crussol Castle on the horizon. This distant view connects the urban space to the surrounding landscape in an unexpected way.