Prosperous Épernay, 25km south of Reims, is the self-proclaimed capitale du champagne and home to many of the world's most celebrated Champagne houses. Beneath the town's streets, some 200 million bottles of Champagne are slowly being aged, just waiting to be popped open for some fizz-fuelled celebration.
Avenue de ChampagneSTREET
Épernay’s handsome avenue de Champagne fizzes with maisons de champagne (Champagne houses). The boulevard is lined with mansions and neoclassical villas, rebuilt after WWI. Peek through wrought-iron gates at Moët’s private Hôtel Chandon, an early 19th-century pavilion-style residence set in landscaped gardens, which counts Wagner among its famous past guests. The haunted-looking Château Perrier, a redbrick mansion built in 1854 in neo-Louis XIII style, is aptly placed at number 13! The roundabout presents photo ops with its giant cork and bottle-top.
Moët & ChandonCHAMPAGNE HOUSE
Flying the Moët, French, European and Russian flags, this prestigiousmaison offers frequent one-hour tours that are among the region’s most impressive, offering a peek at part of its 28km labyrinth of caves (cellars). At the shop you can pick up a 15L bottle of Brut Impérial for just €1500; a standard bottle will set you back €31.
Champagne Domi MoreauVINEYARD TOUR
This company runs scenic and insightful three-hour minibus tours, in French and English, of nearby vineyards. Pick-up is across the street from the tourist office. It also organises two-hour vineyard tours by bicycle (€25). Call ahead for reservations.
The train station (place Mendès-France) has direct services to Reims (€6.80, 30 minutes, 19 daily) and Paris' Gare de l’Est (€23.60, 1¼ hours to 2¾ hours, 16 daily).
0 comments:
Post a Comment