Logis De France Hostellerie De La Reine Blanche Vertus

... 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!

... touch to the gothic structure that somehow seemed to fit. The cathedral was also the site where Clovis was baptized as the first king of the Francs, thus determining the country’s religion, and it was the coronation site for French kings including Charles VII in 1429. He was led to the cathedral by Joan of Arc, who encouraged him to rebel against English rule of France, marking the beginning of the end of the Hundred Years’ War.

The city ...

... for the day would include seeing the cathedral as well as atleast one champagne tasting. After consulting our handy travel books we decided on the Pommery champagne caves and possibly one other. Our goal was to set out around 9:30 am to buy tickets at the station for the 10:25 am train. Well... that didn't quite work out.

The night before was a classmates birthday so we celebrated for a little while with them before heading to a local (within 5 minutes ...

... complete so you can fully appreciate the beauty of the city.

We stopped for some lunch before exploring the city at Ernest Hemingway's on the main shopping street. A lovely atmosphere bustling with people we spotted the huge hamburgers and made it our instant choice. To be fair with my non-existent french it was the safe choice but word of warning for those not familiar with french cuisine - the hamburger is made of mince meat ...

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 ...

-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 ...

... there must've been 100 or more locations in France, a few in Spain, some in Belgium and there may have been a few more in other places. Who knew the French love American meat that much. ;o) After our gourmet American meal we went back to the Etap, watched some French American Idol or "Nouvelle Star" as they call it (it's their own version with cheesy French singers) and went to bed.

... or at least easier to understand, since we had already basically heard the same thing once before. Here we got to try 3 champagnes. We had a demi sec rose, which we were told was made for the ladies (we looked awesome drinking it). We also had a vintage brut. However, Mercier releases a vintage every year, based on the best grapes in the harvest. This is a little less prestigious than Moet & Chandon, but it was still good.