One Girl's Adventures: My Birthday in Champagne!

NOTE: As of January 17, 2012, I have moved my blog to my new website: www.onegirlsadventures.com

I will still be doing duplicate posts on this website for the next 6 months or so, but plan to close it down after that. Please go to my new website and subscribe!!

MERCI BEAUCOUP!

****

In July and August, Parisianers pack their suitcases and head out of the city for the all important vacance. The metros and rues are now full of Frenchies dragging wheeled suitcases in full anticipation of their beach time in Spain, Corisica or Morocco (and this year more than others people are extra excited to exit Paris since we have seen NOTHING but clouds and rain this summer!). This past weekend I didn't have a 4 week vacation on the horizon, but I did have a birthday...so I did as my fellow city dwellers, I packed all my favorite sun dresses and headed to the region that is famous world wide for one celebratory beverage...champagne, bien sur!

Well, I didn't need my sundresses, but even with a few clouds overhead the fabled champagne vineyards caused me to bubble over just like an overflowing glass of its fermented juices.

Champagne prodominately produces3 kinds of grapes or les cépages: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier

I became a big fan of both the Pinot champagnes durning this short trip.

I couldn't help but giggle everytime I saw the name of this tiny town (population 1,692)...check out the name on the bottom right corner of this sign...Yep, you read it correct! Dizy! I didn't get dizzy on champagne is this quaint town...but I am sure many others before me have....although I doubt if as many got as a big a kick out of the ironic name :) as me!

Oh, s'il vous plait Monsieur Pérignon....can you you just pour me one little degustation??!!

Here I am at Moët & Chandon in Epernay!

Seeing the house where Dom Pérignon is made was a bit like bumping into Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie...I think I got a little too excited and lost all composure :). Ah, I exaggerate, but it was a thrill to be there....although we opted out of the tour because all the locals had said it wasn't worth the price of admission.

Fun fact about Moët & Chandon, they have a Royal Warrant to supply champagne to Elizabeth II...so I guess we know now what she was drinking the night of Prince William and Kate's wedding!

Life is full of terrific surprises!

Last year I drank a bottle of Perrier Jouët on my birthday...this year on my birthday I, uh, visited the house where it is made!

Although the locals steered us clear of Moët & Chandon for a tour, they all heartily recommended we tour the Mercier Caves (founded in 1858). The experience was a bit like a Disneyland ride, but well worth the over top elevator ride a 30 mètres sous terre.

This picture is of the champagne being automatically "riddled" by these big cages.

The bottles are slowly turned over a period of time to get all the yeast sediment to settle in the neck of the bottle so it can be expelled before corking.

Back in the day all this turning was done by hand...ugh.

Monsieur Mercier wanted his caves to be beautiful for his workers so he carved beautiful reliefs into the walls of the caves. This is just one that I snapped from my laser guided train tour through a portion of the 18 km of caves.

Here is the website to this champagne house: http://www.champagnemercier.fr/en/

Their pictures are much better than mine :)

At the end of the exhausting elevator and train ride, we quenched our thirst with a beautiful glass of the Mercier product. The idea behind Mercier champagne when it started back in the 1800s was to make champagne affordable to the masses. I was able to buy a lovely bottle for 21 Euro...so the tradition still exists today.

In Reims, the capital of Champagne, there is a beautiful gothic cathedral named Notre-Dame de Reims...through October they do this projected light show on the front of the cathedral when it becomes dark...it was probably one of the most beautiful and breathtaking things I have seen in my life.

I am cuddling a bunch of grapes that may be used in a 2011 vintage of DP :).

With all the love I am giving it, I am certain it will be one of their best vintages yet!

A tasting in Hautevillers of different champagnes by some of the local producers. Hautevillers is an itty bitty town, but home to Dom Pérignon's Abbey where he was the cellier until his death in 1715.

"Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!" - quote attributed to DP

And I did drink the stars all weekend...it was wonderful!

Just a glimpse of the beautiful, little town of Hautevillers....and me!

The tomb of Dom Pierre Pérignon.

Something else cool in the Abbey was a relic of St. Helene (the mother of Emperor Constantine!).

This country seems to always be amazing me.

Two thumbs up!

That was my verdict after the great weekend!

The only hitch had been at our hotel when we decided to check-in early (11am-ish). The owner just kept repeating how tôt, tôt, tôt we were...and that we should have come after 2pm. I didn't quite understand her frustration as we weren't demanding our room, we just wanted to leave our bags and get a map...but she was all in a tizzy. Getting that map was like pulling teeth!

A fresh, crusty baguette from the local boulangerie and fresh chevre from a local farm helped erase the memory of the testy hotel owner.

However, when we came back after 2pm for our room she was as pleasant as punch...go figure...