Champagne Day Five

A lovely leisurely morning - taxi pick up at 10.30. I went for a walk right round the cathedral and said hello to Joan of Arc’s statue (she came her in 1429 for the coronation of Charles V11. And she liberated the cathedral from the marauding English armies…)

JR went to the gym, and Hazel went for a run to the canal.

Then we went to Éperney for the day, we had a tour booked for the afternoon, but wanted to explore the town a bit. We walked along the Rue de Champagne - full of the huge, grand, opulent Champagne Houses. We had a nice lunch in the sun back in the town - a platter of lovely bread and three spreads - hummus, aubergine and artichoke. Perfect - we were getting a wee bit tired of meat and cheese platters, so this was a welcome change.

Our tour today was at Moët et Chandon - ending our visit to the champagne region with the Biggie! And it was mobbed. But when we got to the counter to book in, we were told we were on a ‘private tour’. Wow! We had a very personable young woman, didn’t catch her name, who was, of course, very passionate and knowledgable about champagne.

We walked along a few of the 48 (or was it 84?) kilometres of caves, all jam packed with stored bottles with various amounts of dust on them. And learned more about the amazing man Dom Pierre  was. Then we went into the private back garden of the house. We had already seen the painting of the historic meeting of Napoleon and Jean-Remy Moët, the owner of the House, under a big tree, which is still there. Napoleon’s big old battered hat was also on display. It had fallen in the sea when he was being taken to Elba!

The handsome young sommelier, Brian, then explained a bit more about the vintage we were going to sample, Dom Perignon, 2012 (which costs about €200 - we checked afterwards). We sat for ages in the sunshine, chatting to our guide, Hazel taking notes, and enjoying the most expensive champagne I’ve ever had. In a blind tasting would I know it was an expensive, vintage brew? Er, no…

In the evening we had a nice sharing platter in the cafe next to our hotel. The sun was on the cathedral. (EXtra) What could be better? 

We leave tomorrow, but not until midday. Hazel will go for a run, JR a walk or the gym, and I am - wait for it - going for a spa. That’s not a sentence I’ve ever said before!