Champagne for Everyone!

Tuesday 16 August

Another beautiful day as we set off early to visit the Chateau of Vaux le Vicomte in Melun before heading to the Champagne region. It was a last minute decision to visit this Chateau but we felt we couldn't pass it by seeing as it was the inspiration for Versailles, which has been the inspiration for so many other Chateaus and residences we've seen throughout Europe on this trip.

The gates open at 10am and we arrived 15 minutes early for prime position. This is a now a private family owned estate and has been extremely well maintained, though the exterior of the building could do with a touch up of yellow paint to bring it back to its original glory (and to match the advertising brochures). The gardens alone cover 33 hectares (82 acres), so when you add the Chateau, stables and servants quarters, you get the idea that this place is huge.

We would have loved to spend all day here but also wanted to get to our camp site in Epernay Champagne which we hadn't booked, so only did the basic tour which was basically everything apart from the original owner's (Nicolas Fouquet) private rooms.

Nicolas Fouquet was the finance minister in the day of Louis XIV, but a very wealthy man in his own right and dreamed up this magnificent Chateau with the help of 3 masters of the time – architect Louis Le Vau, landscape artist Andre Le Notre and painter-decorator Charles Le Brun.

Fouquet mastered his own downfall by building a Chateau that was better then the King's residence, which was a great insult. This situation was taken advantage of by one of Fouquet peers – Jean-Baptiste Colbert - who wanted to set him up, to hide his own money issues. A grand opening party was held on 17 August 1661 (350 years ago tomorrow) with the King and his mother as prominent guests together with fireworks and a play by Molière to entertain the guests. 

That night, Fouquet reached the peak in his life, and the next morning, his fate was sealed. In September of 1661, the King had the captain of the musketeers, d'Artagnan, arrest Fouquet. His farcical trial lasted 3 years ending with his imprisonment and death 9 years later. Louis XIV then had the same 3 masters build Versailles. This is totally fascinating and amazing stuff.

Our tour (with audioguides) took us through the King's rooms, where no monarch actually stayed, a games room, dining room, the kitchens and several other rooms, all beautifully appointed. It really was very impressive. The gardens are a work of genius and in fact the King had the gardener nobled after the completion of Versailles. His chosen coat of arms were 3 snails on a bed of soil with a cabbage atop. Very amusing.

A quick stop in the Carriage Museum was also very impressive with many different styles and a beautiful collection of saddles and harnesses.

This Chateau is far less visited then Versailles, though they do still get 250,000 visitors a year. But really it is very worth the 55km travel from Paris to see it as in a way it is more spectacular.

Just before we arrived in the Champagne region we saw the amazing sight of oil extracting machines in the fields. Apparently Oil was discovered here in 1959.  Who knew such a thing occurred here?

We arrived at our camp site, Allees de Cumieres, at Epernay, within 2.5 hours. This area is totally amazing and contains all the Champagne vineyards of note – Moet et Chandon, Pommery, Perrier Jouet and one we will definitely visit tomorrow, and our favourite bubbles, Veuve Clicquot.

We set up quickly and went to explore the town which itself has many caves to visit along the Avenue de Champagne. The Town Hall in fact was once the private residence of Mr Auban Moet and the Chateau of Mr Perrier is just up the road.

Dropping in at the Gare (train station) we bought our tickets for tomorrow morning's trip into Reims for our visit to the Veuve Clicquot winery. The journey will take 20 minutes at a cost of 13 Euros each for a return ticket which seems a touch excessive.

Back at camp we discovered an older group of American couples travelling in 8 motor homes accompanied by a guide set up just near us. This is our first encounter of a so-called Guided RV Tour.  It seems they've all hired their campers from Germany and set off with a guide to shown them this region and possibly beyond. The job of the guide is to not only show them the tourist sites, but to also describe the features of the camp site – the showers are here, the dump site is here etc. Good on them. They are here to see the sites and learn about other cultures. We know they won't be any trouble as they are older and need their sleep as much as we do.

Wednesday 17 August

Up very early to ensure we didn't miss our 9:01am train to Reims, which we found out later is actually pronounced Rance. The TER train is very modern and comfortable with pull down tables as well as power outlets for laptops and the like. We had an express service so the 20 minute journey went very quickly, passing through kilometres of vines growing on the sloping hills.

When we arrived at Reims we thought things looked fairly deserted, but then thought shops etc may not open until 10am. We picked up the town map at the Tourist Office situated in a historical stone building beside the massive Notre Dame Cathedral, then see off on the 30 minute walk to reach Veuve Clicquot.

Bill had previously read the story about the widow Clicquot and how she was forced to take over her husband's family winery upon his unexpected, early death in 1805 only 7 years after they married. She was 27 at the time with a 6 year old daughter. But carry on she did with the help at first of one of her husband's business contacts and years later, another, but she directed everything herself. The business would never be inherited by her daughter as Mme Clicquot did not believe her or her husband to have a strong business ethic.

The first big success for Mme Clicquot was in 1811 when she observed a comet which resulted in an excellent crop of grapes that year. She exported that production to Russia, received rave reviews which set her on her way. She also pioneered the méthode champenoise with the technique of remuage (gradually turning and tilting the bottle over a period so the sediment moves to the neck to enable its removal by disgorgement).

The 1.5hr tour of the caves was conducted only in French, so Bill satisfied himself with taking photos. It was a very chilly 10 degrees with a constant humidity of 90%. Just before the tour ended we were shown a bottle recovered last year in the Baltic Seas as part of a cargo which sank hundreds of years ago. An expert analyst was sent to attest to its authenticity, the result being that the Champagne could have been made no earlier then 1772 (when the Clicquot house was founded by Madame's father-in-law) and no later than between 1788 and 1789 and although it no longer contained bubbles, nor could it have been served for public consumption, the taste was not unpalatable (apparently).

At the end of the tour we enjoyed a delicious glass of the non vintage yellow label which is our favourite.

On our way back into the city we stopped in at the Pommery winery (enormous) but Sylvi couldn't face another visit or at this hour of the day another glass of bubbles, shameful as it is to say.

After lunch we visited the Notre Dame Cathedral from the 13^th century which must be the largest church we've seen on our travels. The outside is adorned by so many statues you could spend all day going around the exterior alone. There are in fact over 2500 statues inside and out. Inside is massive and beautifully decorated but not with gold or marble. Joan of Arc featured prominently here too, having been mainly responsible for settling the succession and therefore the coronation of Charles VII right here in Reims at this cathedral in 1429. It was also here that French President Charles de Gaulle and West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer attended a service on 8 July 1962 and publicly stated their determination to achieve reconciliation. An amazing place.

We walked along the main shopping mall and were surprised by how empty the place still was. A lot of shops were closed (still holiday time here) and the area quite deserted.

Another interesting site was the Cryptoportique built in circa 200 AD. These Gallo-Romain galleries were once built to store grain and now house different exhibitions.

The Town Hall was once again a work of art and although it has also housed a savings bank, library, police services and a museum, it was never someone's personal residence.

Before we caught the train home we stopped to look at Porte Mars (Mars Gate), the only remaining monumental gate built in the first part of the 13^th century giving access to the Roman city of Durocortorum.

Back at our camp site we met a lovely older English couple, Ian and Cath who gave us some good information about UK camp sites. We enjoyed a drink and a chat late into the evening.  

Thursday 19 August

The dark clouds quickly cleared to another fine day for us as we set off into Epernay.  The Synagogue was the first thing we came upon, built in 1880 but not open for visits. It was located very close to the Notre Dame Cathedral which may not have the elaborate statue decorations within and out, but is still a beautiful church with very life like stained glass windows.

There has been a church on this spot since 596. All that remains of the 16^th century version is the Gateway of Saint Martin which was repaired and moved to a location further along in 1916. This current church began in 1897, finished in 1917, partially destroyed in 1918 and restored in 1924. In fact the entire Champagne region was badly decimated during the first War with great loss of life and habitation.

We arrived too late to visit the Town Hall which closes for lunch at 12pm and doesn't reopen until 4pm, but the building itself and surrounding gardens are lovely.

Now in the Avenue de Champagne, we started at Moet & Chandon, just visiting the boutique. 

Scarlett Johansen is the new face of Moet and there are some great publicity shots. Something you don't expect to find in a Champagne house is the model of Claudia Schiffer's breast taken by Karl Largerfeld in a 1995 campaign to honour Dom Perignon. Apparently the original version was modelled on Queen Marie Antionette in 1787.

There was also this magnificent chandelier in the foyer of Moet made from - of course - Champagne Glasses...

We walked the rest of this Avenue admiring the beautiful Champagne houses – Pol Roger, Perrier Jouet, and a few we hadn't heard of before – as well as houses belonging to obviously wealthy citizens before coming to an amazing roundabout with giant champagne cork and capsule.

Bill had his first taste of rabbit for lunch which he thoroughly enjoyed in its two mustard sauce, and after a walk to see some other historical monuments, dessert at Dolci and Gelati which was recommended by the guide book.

To top off the day we wanted to do two Champagne houses – de Castellane and Mercier.

The exterior of de Castellane is very impressive with its tower of 200+ steps which we climbed and museum of historical equipment used in champagne production, but that's where the good bits end. The tour of the cave was conducted in such a slip shod manner followed by a glass of very average champagne, it could not possibly compare in any way to our tour of Veuve yesterday. We did get some good photos at the top of the tower however.

The Mercier house was a great revelation. Eugène Mercier was a very enterprising young man who at 20 started his champagne house in 1858 and later convinced other vignerons to come under his umbrella for production and marketing purposes. In 1889, a gigantic barrel is laboriously carted to Paris for the Universal Exposition at which Mercier receives rave reviews.  That same barrel was right there in the foyer!

We had audio guides for the tour, firstly watching a short film showing snippets of one of the first publicity films made during that time by the brothers Lumière, descended an elevator watching depictions of Mercier's exploits in miniature and toured the caves in a laser-guided train. Yes – a small train was needed due to the amazing size of the kilometres of interconnecting tunnels where 10's of millions of bottled champagne is stored to mature. 

You literally are walking on champagne wherever you go in Epernay.

It was all enchanting including an unexpected sight of a squirrel which we initially thought was a toy set up as part of the “show” until it moved. We both enjoyed the tasting of the non vintage Brut and bought a bottle of vintage to try later so we could compare with Veuve. The price of Mercier's vintage is around the same as the Veuve non vintage, so we'll see.

The weather held out for us all day, though a few clouds threatened, and we thoroughly enjoyed this town full of history, beauty and quality.

More photos here.