Inter Hotel La Peupleraie Montreuil Sur Mer Montreuil-sur-Mer

... 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!

... to the bottle leading to the wine’s second fermentation, and the bottles are left to age in the myriad of caves beneath the cities of Reims and Epernay. Over time, the bottles are twisted and rotated upward so the yeasty sediment enters the mouth of the bottle. When it reaches the tip, the bottle is flash-frozen, the sediment is removed, the bottle is topped off, and then it is finally corked.

After we learned all this, we drank.

Almost ...

This past Friday Caroline, Angela and I took a day trip to Reims (pronounced 'Rhanes'... I still cant say it). Reims is one of the two largest cities for producing champagne, after all it is not called champagne unless it comes from the region in France by the same name. From anywhere else in the world it is just simply sparkling wine. Reims is also known for the Notre Dame de Reims. All but 2 French kings have been crowned in this cathedral.

We knew our ...

Birthday times are always exciting. It is generally an excuse to hang out with friends you have not seen in a while and have a few celebratory drinks. This year my birthday was no exception with the extra bonus of being taken away for a mystery weekend to celebrate by my two friends, Kerry and Martin. I had no idea where I was going and it was very exciting when I was told that I needed to bring my passport!

Having received my ...

... onto the highway was crawling, and continued to crawl for several more minutes once we were on the highway.

We did eventually hit the speed limit and at our second or third toll booth, mom realized one of her wallets was missing. Luckily she had separated her many currencies into different wallets and the one missing was the one with a little bit of Canadian money. Unluckily it also ...

-We drove through Reims on the way back to Maastricht and stopped at the Pommery estate for a tour of its cellars. It felt like we were spelunking in the underground cellars, which are more similar to mining caves, housing over 20 million bottles of champagne. It was even complete with riddling racks, though they don't use that technique anymore. After the tour, we had a tasting, which ended in purchasing four bottles that complete with the Pommery logo straws... weird french people.

... and process, how much patience one must have before tasting the final product!

I have to admit that I was a little impressed by Moet...but primarily due to all the glam of the family fortune. I'm sure the family heavily pressured its sons to continue the tradition...

So here's the rest of my pictures, varying from the tour, to a stroll in the park!

... silence...surely not as busy nor loud as Paris!

The dinner created a bit of a problem...

Apparently there was a misunderstanding regarding the dinner; the owner thought he'd be providing us with dinner, but we decided we'd cook our own or find a nearby restaurant. By the time this was all sorted out, we realized that we had only brought 1 kilo of pasta, 2 jars of asperagus ...

... before making my decision. Bakeries contain an equal amount of variety. I sometimes feel perplexed as I am in a Starbucks with having to make several decisions just to have a single final product. Grande. Low Fat. Chai latte. Extra chai flavoring. No sugar.

Aside from these three iconic products, France is also known for its bubbly (slang for champagne).

Between two cars, the 8 of us ventured to champagne ...

... had another crash and skinned her knees outside just prior to entry. As with all regularly operated Champagne caves tours, the tour started with a short video of the history of the company and then you head down to the cellar. The Mercier descent is slightly different in that you head down in an elevator that has a glass back and you see several dioramas of wine and wine-making. The tour is on a small 'train' (with no tracks, as James so astutely observed ...