2geonomads

Monday 26th October 2015

Wake up to very misty morning but we still keep to our plan to visit Epernay, the town that has become synonymous with Champagne.

After the short drive from Dormans to this delightful small town we park in the main avenue not surprisingly called Avenue de Champagne and then walk the length of this street to check out the various vignobles. Moet & Chandon is  of course the most famous and we book a tour of their cellars for the following day. They stretch for 30 kms underground so we will have to get in some quick training. By the way the Russian receptionist at Moet comes up with two versions of an explanation as to why the ‘t’ is pronounced in Moet. One is that it may have come from an old French word for ‘mouth’ and secondly that Claude Moet had Dutch ancestry. We find out later that the second explanation is probably the correct one. In any event the ‘t’ is definitely pronounced so if anyone sniggers as you offer them a glass of Moet with a hard ‘t’ feel free to have a sip from the ‘arrogance bottle’ and correct them!

During our walkabout we call into the Tourist Bureau and a very helpful lady provides us with some very valuable info on the town, that is once she has managed to extricate herself  from a couple of Swedish fellows who seem totally oblivious to the long queue forming in front of the counter. One would-be purchaser of a couple of gifts from the tourist shop decides that 20 minutes is too long to wait to get rid of his no doubt hard-earned Euros.

Caffeine withdrawal symptoms are kicking in so we stop for our daily coffee fix, after which we make our way to Mercier, the producer of France’s most popular champagne. In contrast to Moet who have a world-wide following the greater part of Mercier’s sales come from the domestic market with relatively small exports to the UK, Spain and Brazil. Plans are being made to make a push into the Australian market in the near future.

A one hour tour by train to view the 18 kms of underground cellars is very informative and well worth the 18 Euros price tag. Purchase a bottle of Mercier bubbly which we intend to polish off while in Dormans.

The enormous wine barrel produced for the Paris World Fair 1889 same time as the Eiffel Tower.

Time to head south out of Epernay and follow a route taking us through Pierry,Monthelon,the delightful town of Le Mesmil sur Oger, Vertus,Bergeres-les- Vertus and on through huge tracts of vines on the undulating hills. As the evening approaches the setting sun only enhances the stunningly beautiful vistas. Arrive in the attractive town of Sezanne and this driver gets some welcome respite from the setting sun as we track north and back to Dormans.

All in all a great drive in glorious weather. Unfortunately, our plan to dine at La Lombardie restaurant in Dormans is thwarted when we find it closed. ( Monday, Bloody Monday! )

Another home-cooked meal and as usual Gail comes up trumps. Her ability to produce tasty meals at the drop of a hat never ceases to amaze me.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret