Castel Jeanson Hotel Epernay Épernay

... a hot pocket. It was very good, albeit messy; and went great with the Bordeaux that we had been trying. All in all, the Champage region treated us very well. But alas, our wine days are over. Now it is off to Paris to drop off the car and get back to the hostel living, metro taking, sight seeing routine. But at least we'll be doing it with some good wine for dinner. Here's hoping the rain that plagued us all week decides to take a break!

... I was happy the dryer was finishing up because I almost lost Chad to this desire!

We had one of the most delicious dinners that night and ran into some really old ruins on the way back to the hotel, including carvings of Romulus and Remus!

Before leaving town, we visited the Armistice museum. Although I wasn’t too keen on going to a museum, I was outvoted. I also didn’t know which museum I was actually declining (yes, like a child ...

... time like we planned so no harm no foul. After a snack in the station we boarded our train and we were off to Reims!!

Reims is a very small town that is probably only a few miles wide. After getting off the train we walked through a park and were suddenly on the main boulevard in the town. Many of the streets are reserved for pedestrian use only and so it happened on the day we were in Reims that a festival was going on in the middle of this very wide ...

... back and had further entertainment when rushing into one of the service stations to find police with guns. We were told in French by a policeman that the service station was closed. I of course had no idea what he was telling me and must have wrinkled my eyes in confusion as it was quickly translated into English. It was only then did I spot the four people sitting on the floor handcuffed - I guess that was the reason why it was closed ...

... on. It was already getting quite late in the day considering we still had more than five hours of driving ahead of us. We stopped only for food and in Rheims to check out the cathedral. We had planned to make a few trips along the route but we had also planned on being out of Paris a lot earlier in the day, and I have to work tomorrow, so we didn't get to have much fun driving through France.

...and you will know who you are. Visited 2 champagne caves today..Moet & Chandon and Mercier...would advise anyone to do it after lunch as we hadn't found a cafe before the first one so apart from water champagne was the first drink of the day. The avenue that houses many of the champagne houses is certainly opulent! Had been looking forward to a fabric market here but we've discovered a lot of France is on holiday..they shut the shops and go away!!! We'd noticed ...

... upstairs and tried to book, only to find that we were at the wrong station and that we had to return to Gare de L'Est. So, we traipsed back with our cases to the Metro and went back one stop to start again. We repeated our unsuccessful attempt to book using the ticket machines, then queued again to talk to a real person to make the booking. He was very helpful and confirmed the problem was that the machines did not accept overseas credit cards ...

... the next morning. On the way, we stopped at a place called Fagnieres to pick up supplies for the next few nights in Paris. The shopping centre had a Post Office, so we went & inquired about the price of posting some stuff home. We ended up pulling the car apart & standing in the Post Office as the lady behind the counter was trying to shove all our stuff into a ...

... buried in 1918, aged 22. Private Hume was my Grandma's Uncle (on Mum's side). It is a peaceful location located near Merricourt L'Abbe in the french farmland. A quick flick through the visitors book shows just how many Aussies and others make this type of pilgrimage. The Australian contingent of the allied forces played a major role in halting the German advance, a fact that is still remembered by the locals who ...

... Luckily we had pre-purchased some baguettes in Epernay so we didn't go hungry, and I think the record was set for the fastest time in which a block of Milka was eaten. Dinner at the hotel was included and it was unbelievable - very very French, 4 courses that were all as big as each other. The entree could have been a main and the whole French thing of having cheese before dessert is delicious but hard work. We got through it with out offending too many waiters (hopefully ...