Hotel Camponile Épernay

We worked our way all the way up to Reims, the heart of the Champagne region. While Reims does have a pretty cool cathedral and I'm sure there is some historic stuff, we came for the champagne. We followed the Rue de Champagne down through all the little towns and Epernay. Then as was our luck, the Salon de Vins festival was taking place, so over 250 vintners from all over France were there to let us taste (and buy) their best. Some ...

... Well, it’s a good thing no one listened to me, because it turned out to be an excellent museum, with a generous collection of items preserved from the day that Europe declared victory over the Germans (hallelujah). It was easy to envision what it would have been like to be in that room, sitting at that long table (see pics) while the documents were signed. We spent enough time to appreciate all it had to offer, and headed for the train to…we had no idea…

... quick peeks of it over the rooftops as you approach, and there are great visas once you’re at the top. One thing we noticed was how skeletal it looked; the amount of arches and thin columns gave its towers a spindly appearance, or as spindly an appearance you can have when you’re talking about something made of tons of stone. According to my friend, it looked like it would be ...

... we climbed over the stones and half-walls to get the best vantage point. I’ve noticed in Europe that there’s not many signs or regulations in these kind of places; We basically had free reign of the place, whereas in the US, I’m pretty sure we would’ve had security guards and employees chasing us all over the place. So when we discovered that to get to the top of one of the walls, all you had to do was ...

This morning after breakfast we finished packing our bags and ordered a taxi. Our driver spoke not a word of English so in very poor French I told her we were going to pick up our rental car and showed her the address.

More than half an hour later was quite clear that we were lost. I translated the directions from the rental company to our driver and she did eventually get us there, after ...

... to a lesser extent in the Netherlands.
This evening we are 100 kms down the road at Troyes. We are here 2 nights and we are already ebchanted with the Tudor style houses...we're sure that many of them nelong to the "crooked man"" as so many of them lean!!! Looking forward to exploring more tomorrow. No lift in the hotel and on the 2nd floor. No kettles provided in hotels so have been rationed for cups of tea!!!
So have a cuppa rather than a champagne for me!!

... However, we would have about an hour's wait for the next train to Reims - a TGV (Train Grand Vitesse). It would be cheaper to go an hourt later on a less fancy train, but the trip would also be longer, so we decided to take the fast train. We still hadn't had time to eat our picnic lunch, so did so at 3pm on the seats at the station. A few more problems arose once the train arrived. We hadn't realised that we had to punch our tickets as we ...

... but the funniest part was when Ian got up on the counter to try & help her close it! After all our fun at the PO, we continued on to Epernay. There were heaps of Champagne makers in town (all with amazing buildings!), but naturally we decided to go with Moet & Chandon! The tour takes you down into their cellars where they explain all about the history of ...

... all manner of Australiana in shops etc, particularly in Villiniers Breteneoux (spelling? sorry) where children at the local school play in front of a large sign that reads DO NOT FORGET AUSTRALIA and sing the Australian National anthem at school assembly. Champagne, birthplace of the bubbly stuff. Eppernay is the heart of the region and surrounded by rolling hills covered in vines, vintage (or harvest to ...

... had to send the only English speaking staff member out at one point to ask why some of us had not eaten our asparagus...) and did manage to fit in breakfast the next day. Day 3 - Ambonnay to Reims, 32km: Thankfully the rain stayed away on Day 3 so we had a dry run to Reims. Not sure if it was the 4 courses for dinner the night before of the fact that we haven't done much exercise in a while but the hills on Day 3 were killers. Even the small climb getting out of Ambonnay ...