Epernay and Reims: a very bubbly weekend

So Rachel, Julia and I decided to get outside our respective cities (or town, in Julia's case) to explore another region of France: Champagne-Ardenne (which, rather obviously, is the champagne producing region of the country. If it's not from the area, it can't be called "champagne", and is therefore stuck with the much less fancy and snooty label of "sparkling wine". Commoners stuff!) Rachel and Julia arrived here Friday night, and after Robyn and I had our contemporary dance class (or crazy dancing "rainbow rhythms" as she calls it) we all had a little celebration in honour of Robyn's 20th birthday. I made a very nice tarte au chocolat and the girls went out and bought ice cream. Yum!

We headed out Saturday morning to the train station and caught our first train to Epernay, about 2.5 hours away. Even though we had to contend with the weather all weekend (drizzly, but thankfully not too cold...just windy...my new umbrella broke day 2), the town of Epernay was still lovely and quaint. We wandered past Hotel de Ville upon arrival (which has to be one of the nicest town halls I've seen yet in France...it's in a park!) and fuelled up with a lunch of a giant camembert sandwich (and croque monsieurs for the gals).

Hôtel de Ville - Epernay

NOM!

We then went to the tourist office to grab a map and some info and headed off down the "Avenue de Champagne", where all the big Champagne houses are situated.

The street is wide and glamorous, with huge ritzy mansions on large gated properties, one beside the other belonging to the various champagne producers, bearing their names proudly above entrances and on fancy golden plaques outside...and that's just a small handful of the many producers that exist! And of course, we had to stop and take pictures at the famous house of Moët et Chandon:

Our tour at Moët & Chandon wasn't until 4:30 and the weather wasn't exactly agreeable, so we ducked inside a nice looking house, a certain "A. Bergère".

The young sommelier, while well dressed, didn't really want to give 3 scruffy and damp girls carrying backpacks and broken umbrellas the time of day and was quite snobbish, however he answered our questions anyways and while he said they didn't necessarily do tastings (unless you bought a bottle), you could purchase a glass for 4 euros. Well, we showed him! After he explained the different champagnes, their flavours and his recommendations, we each ordered a different kind and tasted each others: one glass each of Sélection Brut (50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir); Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay) and Tentation (70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir), the latter turning out to be my favourite. It also happened to be the most expensive, being a "complex" flavour champagne. Go figure, I always pick the finest stuff! We had a lot of fun passing our glasses and tasting the differences, they were all very enjoyable!

Cheers to fine champagne!

We then wandered aimlessly for a bit trying to find an internet café so we could contact our Couchsurfer who we would be staying with that night. We found what was more of a hangout for societal rejects than an internet café, as it was full of teenage/20-something males engrossed of their games of violent-what-not-all...a breeding ground for a future generation of living-in-mama's-basement-til-I'm-40. After confirming our address in Reims, we headed down to Moët & Chandon, past many mercedes and porches in the parking lot and welcomed into a large and luxurious lobby. We were glad to get rid of our bags for awhile and were glad when our tour (in French!) started. We followed our French guide and about 10 other guests through a the hallways of the old house, she explained a bit of the history and then we were lead into a room with chairs and a tv to watch a cheesy short film (or propaganda) about M&C. We then followed our guide down into the cold, dark and creepy caves to find row upon row of (very dusty) champagne...millions of bottles of the stuff! One bottle in particular was locked behind gates, being the oldest bottle in existence there (from 1892) and thus safeguarded.

so many bottles!

After a thorough explanation of how grapes = champagne and everything in between, we ended off the tour with a glass of bubbly and a trip to the boutique.

glass #2 of the day

little out of my price range...

Our tour done, we headed to the train station to catch our train to Reims, a little over a 1/2 hour from Epernay. In the rain, wind and cold we found our way (with the help of a very nice French couple with a GPS and a barman) to the house of Céline and Manu, an extremely friendly young couple with the cutest little ground floor apartment. They were more than welcoming and we were told more than once to make ourselves at home. They had both done a fair bit of travelling, from China to Mali to Morocco, and while we sat and chatted with Céline (poor Julia had to go lie down because of a migraine), Manu made the most fabulous dinner of salads, spanikopitas (baked spinach and feta in phyllo) bread and cheese, eggplant dip, and of course wine! We had an excellent evening eating and chatting (en français) and headed to bed for a solid night's sleep in our own little room with a cot and air mattress. (Solid except for when we all woke up boiling hot, we had cranked the radiator before bed since the room was freezing, and except for when Julia kept moving over and had me pinned between her and the wall like a hotdog. Don't feel bad mon amie!) Céline very nicely put out breakfast for us in the morning, and after a sufficient fill of bread, nutella, coffee and clementines, we were on our way again. This couchsurfing thing keeps getting better and better! Celine even drew us a little map of the city and told us points of interest. We got free dinner, breakfast, and accommodation with amazing people...now this is travelling!

We headed to the main attraction in Reims (pronounced RANSE without pronouncing the "N" and making it very nasally), Cathedrale Notre Dame de Reims! Absolutely beautiful, and has been touched up a number of times after having been partially destroyed during various wars (like many French cathedrals.)

Since it was a Sunday and museums weren't open between 12-2, we headed to a nearby café to get some lunch and warm up. Before I could even enjoy my delicious homemade vegetable soup and café au lait I had ordered, I went to the washroom...and couldn't get out! Yes, I got locked in a public washroom in a nice restaurant. The lock would move, but the latch inside wasn't going back in the door. No matter what I did, that stupid door would not open. Thank god I brought my purse in with me and was able to call/text Rachel and Julia about a dozen times each (if there's one thing I've learned since living in France, it's always wise to have a supply of kleenex and hand sanitizer with you when you use the restroom...absence of TP and paper towel is unfortunately common). I was in there for a good 15-20 minutes, desperately hoping one of the girls would look at their phone, or at least realize I was gone for a really long time...I could only imagine what they were thinking I was doing...Just before I was about ready to start yelling for help to the next person that walked in, in came Julia with a parade of waiters behind her, one with a tool in hand to pry me out. Apparently she didn't even have to say anything to them, as soon as she got my text and came to help me, they followed her. And as they said, apologetically, I wasn't the first person this had happened to. I made a comment that maybe they should fix the lock (or, oh, I dunno, put a sign on the door? Am I way out in left field here?) but the waiter just shrugged. Oh the French...why am I always getting locked inside things?! First a mailroom, now a bathroom...bad things always come in threes, so I'm anxious to see what I'll get locked inside next...
After consuming my now luke-warm soup and coffee, we headed to the Palais de Tau beside the cathedral, the former Palace where French kings were coronated, and now houses relics from the French regal past, lots of gold chalices, tapestries, and original pieces of stonework from the cathedral that were too badly damaged to stay outside. We also checked out the Musée des Beaux Arts (yay free admission!) to admire some artwork, from religious to modern.

We had packed in a lot in a short amount of time, and we got to the train station in Reims to take our evening trains back home.

putting my feet up for a relaxing ride home

It was a fabulous weekend, we saw and did a lot and yet it wasn't exhausting in the least...a perfect weekend away!

And your probably wondering, did I buy any champagne? Well, for those of you back home who will see me at Christmas, it'll just have to be a surprise :)