The Champagne fairs played a significant role in the economy of medieval Europe as well. The city of Reims (in Champagne), where Frankish king Clovis I had been baptized in 496 AD, would later play a prominent ceremonial role in French monarchical history as the traditional site of the coronation of the kings of France. Most of today's Grand Est region was considered 'Eastern' as early as the 8th century, when it constituted the southern part of the Francian territory of Austrasia. This history is reflected in the variety of languages spoken there ( Alsatian, Champenois, and Lorraine Franconian).

The East of France has a rich and diverse culture, being situated at a crossroads between the Latin and Germanic worlds. The prefecture and largest city, by far, is Strasbourg. As of 2017, it had a population of 5,549,586 inhabitants. It shares borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland. The region sits astride three water basins ( Seine, Meuse and Rhine), spanning an area of 57,433 km 2 (22,175 sq mi), the fifth largest in France it includes two mountain ranges ( Vosges and Ardennes). It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine ( pronounced ACAL or, less commonly, ALCA), as a result of territorial reform which had been passed by the French Parliament in 2014. Rhine Franconian: Groß Oschte German: Großer Osten English: 'Great East') is an administrative region in Northeastern France.

Grand Est ( French: ( listen) Alsatian: Grossa Oschta Moselle Franconian/ Luxembourgish: Grouss Osten

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