Blogs from Champagne-Ardenne, France, Europe
May 20th 2012
Day 8 No queues. Champagne, champagne........ On the TGV should be TGVF - Train goes very fast..... Wow what a trip. Super smooth, super fast and very comfortable - probably coz we were in 1st class, but hey, the fare difference was minimal. Not sure how fast wenweregoing but the cars on the motorway were being swallowed up by the train and they normally sit on over 130 kmh so whatever it was, it was fast...... Got to Reims at 0945 and walked down the semi deserted main street to the tourist bureau. They were very helpful and next thing we are off in a cab to our first champagne tour, to be followed by a self walk audiologue of 2 old churches (Basilique de Reims) and the Cathedral de Notre Dame (Reims version). Add tthat ... read more
February 27th 2012
Today we get out of the city with a drive to Epernay, the capital of Champagne. This of course means I must drive in Paris. I have driven all over Spain, Boston and New York, so I figure I can survive this city as well. The day starts with the usual metro ride; we are picking up the car at the Air France Terminal at the Invalides Railway Station. The car was pre-paid before leaving home, so the check in was fairly easy. After I signed all the paperwork the agent walked us to the car, showed us where to get gas upon our return and where to drop the keys. Then the fun began. The car was a Renault Clio, small but not smart car small. It drove fairly well once I figure out how ... read more
June 29th 2011
On Wednesday morning, we meet Erwan at his office in the village of Ville sur Arce. He shows us the process by which champagne is produced. The huge hall is empty now, but this is where the grape harvest will arrive, to be washed and placed in the pneumatic presses. The new facility has been designed so that gravity feeds the juice to tanks beneath the presses, to minimise the use of electricity for pumps. The tank room is like the engine compartment of a vast ship, all gleaming stainless steel and wire walkways. We see how the wine is riddled: residue is frozen in the neck of the bottle and removed in a lump of ice. We taste a selection of vintages before a lunch of local artichokes and trout at a nearby hotel. Fortified, ... read more
June 28th 2011
After breakfast with Erwan and Cheryl, we set off on foot to explore ancient Troyes in bright sunlight. There are knots of tourists in the square by the cathedral, but the town is quiet. The café owner can't offer us croissants with our coffee, but proposes that we buy our own from the boulangerie opposite. In a corner shop filled with model cars, David buys a replica of a Lotus Elan Sprint in British Racing Green. The proprietor tells us that he is repairing his Solex, his motor bicycle, which is in a state of "decollage". He enthusiastically points out his many original Corgi toys. On Erwan's recommendation, we visit the covered market. Here, we find M. Morel's stall, and buy camembert and chevre. We stop at a café in the centre ville. Our request for ... read more
June 14th 2011
We arrived in Reims in the early afternoon and went right away to the most important sight in the city: the Cathedral of Reims. Completed in the 15th century it used to be the crowingchurch of the french kings. Since 1991 it is UNESCO world heritage. We visited the inside and rounded the church to see the impressive outside as well. Sadly we didn't have enough time to see more of the city itself, because we still had quite a distance to take to go to Paris and didn't want to get stuck in the rushhour.... read more
May 29th 2011
It always amazes me when you travel to another country and have mutual friends with someone on your trip. Our last entry for this trip is about the many champagne houses in Epernay and Oger. A 9:20 meeting time on a sunday morning means there were bound to be a few sore heads in the group, luckily Nikki and I were not one of those people. We hopped on our coach and made our way to our first champagne house, The Moet et Chandon house, one of the biggest champagne houses. It has over 28km of champagne cellars beneath its grounds and sits proudly at the start of Avenue de Champagne, a street lined with the biggest champagne houses. After sitting through Moet’s most recent promotional video (yawn) we started our tour, the cellars are much ... read more
One man's trash is another man's....
Published: June 6th 2011Europe » France » Champagne-Ardenne » Reims
May 28th 2011
When Nikki and I first booked our trip to Reims in the Champagne region of France our imaginations instantly began to conjure images of a huge chateau set in rolling hills basking in sunshine whilst the two of us sat out with a glass of champagne and some fine French cuisine. We took the TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse, meaning high speed train) from Paris to Reims and as we pulled in to Reims station it looked a lot more built up than we had both imagined. Our hotel was a 5 minute walk from the station and as we crossed the road from the station to head towards our hotel our image of Reims was shattered. Our hotel was just off of the main street and along that street it was lined with a number ... read more
May 26th 2011
Not quite as sunny a day but perfect for a day of city sightseeing. We decided to take the bus into the city rather than walking and managed to negotiate the ticketing system, not something we do often as we so rarely use public transport. Found Troyes to be a delightful city. Just the right size for a day’s visit and so much to see. Fantastically decorated and colourful half-timbered buildings everywhere we looked as well as some large, very ornate stone mansions as this was a very wealthy and thriving city of trade in the 1500s. We visited the cathedral and several churches all of which were superb with features of delicately carved stonework and vibrant coloured stained glass windows (I note that the pictures in the many of the windows were painted rather than ... read more
May 25th 2011
Woke to a gloriously sunny, blue-sky day and set off straight away heading south. We had decided not to use the motorways for this leg of the journey but Bob had had difficulty when planning the route in finding a non-motorway one which went North / South as all round the area we had to travel the roads go East / West instead to converge on Paris. Bob did find a route and the first 1/3 of it at least was quite delightful as it took us through small, immaculately kept and oh so French, villages and rolling beautiful countryside. Had to stop twice to allow the cows to cross the road and we did get stuck behind a tractor or two but on such a lovely day it didn’t matter at all. In places it ... read more
May 15th 2011
From the Jean-Paul apartment in Paris to the Jean-Paul Moet hotel in Epernay and from one extreme to the other with regards to luxury and spaciousness and modern decor. It felt like pure luxury having a huge bubble bath and getting the city grime off. My feet never got completely clean all week in Paris. Our many kms were all done in jandals, and the dust and dirt was pretty ground in. We did the Moet & Chandon tour which was awesome. The tour was only a smallish group, all in English and extremely informative. The caves and wines being stored there although old and authentic almost seemed staged, it was all so perfect. Their house alone had 28km of caves underground, and Epernay was full of other champagne houses with their caves. It’s a wonder ... read more
