Champagne Weekend!

For my last weekend in Reims, I took plenty of time to relax after a long week at work, and I also toured several champagne caves.  Each champagne company has a "house", which is where there business is located.  They are usually very old, historical mansions where the champagne is made and where huge parties can also be held.  Underneath these mansions are the caves, usually about 20-40 meters underground.  This is where much of the maturation of the champagne takes place since the caves provide dark, cold, and humid environments.

Mercier Champagne

On Saturday Anne and I drove to Epernay, the next town over, also well known for it's champagne production.  We went to Menier Champagne, where they have a cute little train that drives visitors around the cave.  After the tour, where we saw thousands of bottle at different points in the champagne making progress, we also tasted one glass of their champagne.  On our way back we drove through the country side and stopped in a few cute little towns.

 

Mercier Champagne

Later that evening I went out with Camille and Olivier, the twins of the family.  We went to a bar and listened to a band from their school perform. It was a super fun environment (minus the cigarettes) and the music was good!

The next day I went with Anne and Clement to watch them vote (not much different than in the US) and then we stopped by the Cathedral.  We figured since I had never actually gone inside that I should do that.  It was beautiful, and I especially liked the stained glass windows that Chagall made.  The other fun/famous things about the Cathedral is the "smiling saint", seen in the photo below.

 

In the afternoon I stopped by another champagne cave that was near the center of Reims just to be able to see a different company.  The caves and process were mostly the same, though this company's caves are much more recent and now quite as charming.  But we got 3 glasses of champagne instead of just 1! ;)

Finishing up my last week at the hospital then off to my travels with Kristin! Can't wait!