France 2011 - Champagne District

We left Reims and headed to Epernay. We are well and truly in the Champagne district of France. The canals are lined with trees and the hillsides covered in grape vines.

 It is all very picturesque but is being spoilt once again by the rain and the frustration of not much being opened. We arrived at a few towns along the way in the hope of finding a baguette. The shops are closed. The French have their holidays in the peak season and just close the doors. Apparently the grape picking season will happen at the end of the month so people are having their holidays. They just put a notice on the shop – Closed until August 20^th. One town we stopped at all the shops had closed for holidays. I suppose it’s OK for the locals as they have cars to go to another village. So take note - if you want to really enjoy this section do not come in August!!!

The locks along this route have been operated by twisting a rope that hangs over the canal. The picture below shows this.

or by a remote that we are given at the begining of a set of ecluse. We point in the direction of the ecluse and push the correct button - up or down.

others have a man that operates the ecluse. It is much faster if you can operate them yourselves. The ecluses in this area are quiet and more relaxing than the ones we first experienced.

I had my birthday in Epernay. We visited another champagne house in the morning then explored the town in the afternoon. We visited the Moet Chandon house and brought a bottle of Moet for 30 euro.

Finally a beautiful sunny day. Russel and I went for a ride out of town high in the hills to see the vines.

The following photo shows Russel talking to a local. Language doesn’t stop him.

Our Boat in Epernay










We are following the river Marne. This river is quite fast flowing and so is clean. I would have a swim if the weather was better.

We stayed in a few of the towns on the way down towards Paris. They are Dormans, Chateau Thierry, La Ferte Sous Jourre, Poincy and Meaux.

                                    Plenty of birdlife- if you look hard you will see a bird

     
                                     Plenty of fisherman. The fish they catch are quite big

                                   Lots of Bridges!!!

View of Dormans

           View of Chateau Thierry

This is an incredible Shriine that was built after the first world war in Dormans

In Chateau Thierry we visited yet another champagne company. This time is was Champagne Pannier founded in 1899 by Louis Eugene pannier in Dizy. His decendants aquired Chateau Thierry cellers in 1937.

The cellers were dug some 800 years ago in order to excavate the stones to build the castle of Chateau- Thierry. The 2.5 km of deep galleries are excellant for the storing and anging of panniers cuvees. The picture below shows some of these wines in storage.

This delightful guide is pouring su a sample.

This picture shows all the different sized bottles of wine you can get.

yes we brought another bottle. This time we paid 28 euro.

This ends our trip in the Champagne aera. Our next port of call is Paris!!!!