Avenue de Champagne

Leaving the 'City of Love' in our brand new car we started our long drive east, with the first stop in Burgundy to visit some of Louise's family friends. After rectifying a slight hiccup with the car, that being the fuel cap stated 'only use unleaded' however we ordered a diesel and the engine was in fact diesel, we made it to Nuits-St-Georges where a warm and friendly greeting was awaiting us. During the two nights we spent at the chateau, we were treated to some delightful french home cooking and of course some excellent 'home grown, produced and bottled' Pinot to match. During the day we explored the region, starting out in Dijon to buy some mustard, traveling along the Route des Grands Crus to soak in the breathtaking scenery and finally finishing in Beaune to brush up on our history at the Hospices de Beaune. Unfortunately as there is so much to see we had to get moving, but not before Partice gave us a tour of his winery and cellars.

Of course a trip to France would not be complete without visiting the champagne region and sampling some of the worlds top drops. So what better a place to start our fantastic fizzy festivities than a stroll down Avenue de Champagne. Whilst the streets are filled with happy tourists carrying their recently purchased bottles of bubbles, underneath amongst hundreds of kilometers of cellars lie millions upon millions of champagne bottles aging away to perfection. Fortunately enough for us most of the major wine houses allow tours of these grand cellars for a small fee, including a complementary tasting of their bubbly. Not to be too greedy we decided to only visit 4 of the more prestigious houses, them being Mercier, Taittinger, Moët & Chandon and of course Louise's favorite G.H. Mumm. Whilst all the tours were more of less the same in essence, starting with a short film about the family and house, followed by a guided tour through the cellars with an explanation about the champagne process finishing with a tasting session and stroll through the shop, each house still managed to put its own little touch towards the tour.

Mercier with its elaborate history of grand campaigns and public stunts continued its tradition by treating guests with a very visual elevator ride down to the cellars, followed by an audio guided train ride through the elaborately decorated cellars. Next on our list, Moët & Chandon stepped it up with a more elegant tour throuh the cellars and included a little more history about the family origins, not to mention its memorial statue of the creator of champagne Dom Perignon. G.H. Mumm gave a very friendly welcome and our happy go lucky guide was very informative. Although overall the younger wine house Taittinger, gave the best all round tour explaining the houses rich local heritage, due to its location and also giving the best description into the process of champagne.

But fizzy grape juice wasn't the only bubbles we partook in during our stay in Champagne. After an awesome dinner of savoury crepes we took a stroll through Epernay enjoying the almost ever lasting twilights. Upon our walk we discovered, much to my delight, a Belgium beer festival in full swing taking up one of the town squares. So with still plenty of daylight in the sky and spare room in my belly we ordered a couple of pre Belguim warm up beers to get us into the swing of what's yet to come.

- Ryan -