Sunday, July 22, Eva 0 Comments. Home About Us Contact. On The Champagne Trail. If French is the language of love then French champagne is the magic drinking potion of love. What could be more sensuous to drink than a frosted flute of golden liquid that tantalizes the palate and nose. And those celebratory bubbles of joy are perfect for festivities. A recent trip to Uluru Ayers Rock in central Australia with a group of close girlfriends - all of us this year celebrating our milestone birthdays with bottles of bubbly — had me looking back from a distance of 8 months and thousands of kilometres away to our time in France travelling the Champagne route.
We spent a night in Chalons-en-Champagne at an Ibis hotel, a minute drive to Epernay, as moderately priced accommodation in town was full then moved to Epernay for 3 nights. In France we often make use of the hotel chain Ibis as they have hotels in numerous locations and are affordable, comfortable, clean and usually well located. Very formulaic but at least you know what to expect. There is an air of restrained affluence along this street.
We chose three cellar tours to do — Moet et Chandon, Mercier and de Castellane. These were the ones in this small town that were most readily accessible to the public and also easily reached on foot from our hotel. Mumm, Taittinger and Veuve Clicquot are located around Reims.
Mercier champagne house. Oooo-kay, so what does that imply about the well-marketed, brand-conscious ones that fill the shelves of international grog shops? This maison had the least showbiz factor about it but was the more realistic and interesting for two reasons — its Belle Epoque tower that stands as a landmark above Epernay and its real-life production plant.
In the factory we watched staff in action as bottles were being labelled and packed by modern machinery. Climbing the tall tower leads to panoramic views of Epernay and the surrounding Marne Valley. Maison de Castellane's Belle Epoque tower. Some interesting facts - a bottle of champagne has anywhere between 43 to million bubbles depending on the size of the bubbles and which scientific study you believe and has 3 times more pressure than a car tyre whoa, a live bubble bomb!!
