Champagne

May Bank Holiday Weekend 2004

After leaving the battlefields of Verdun, we felt we should finish off the day and our last night in France on a positive note and headed straight for the home of champagne - Epernay.  We got there late in the day and after an hour and half of driving around, finally managed to find some accommodation ten minutes out of town, a nice restaurant and a bottle of champagne to go with dinner.  Style. 

Except for the fact that we were totally and utterly exhausted and almost fell asleep during what was an excellent dinner.

The next day, we decided to get up and explore the delights of Epernay ... the Champagne Houses.  Next time, I'll take a car.  There's not a lot of tasting you can do on a bike (or in a car if you're displaying any type of strict social responsibility).

We decided we'd take a few happy snaps of the bikes outside Moet et Chandon and hit Mercier ... one of the France's closely guarded domestic secrets.

Morning in Champagne

Danny's early morning shot of the vineyards near our hotel.  Needless to say, I was still unconscious at this point ... or faking it so Dan wouldn't try and get me to get up.

Church and vineyard

More vineyards

Moet et Chandon

At The Pearly Gates

Mercier

Mercier so they say is one of France's little domestic secrets.  Most of it is is consumed in France and very little makes it out of the country for export drinking.

Dan and I stopped in for a little cellar tour, some tasting and some buying.

Underground carving and murals in the cellars - deep, deep underground. 

Coat of arms of someone. 

Errr ... thanks Simon ... that's really informative!

Monks making champagne.

Champagne bottles matturing up against a wall.  The cellars are huge and once played host to a motor race.  Amazingly enough, no-one crashed and no bottles were broken during the race.

Dan and I after our tastings.

The New Bitch with full touring kit.

And a six bottle case of vintage champagne in the back. 

It didn't really do much for the handling.

Riems

Roman arch or aqueduct in Riems

Riems is also home to a spectacular cathedral ... although I didn't take any pictures of it ... I just sat in a cafe and admired it.

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