Sunday, July 5, 2009

Champagne- 4th of July

I woke up way too early for my taste(6am) in order to leave by 7 to meet at 745 to make the bus to Champagne. We didn't end up leaving until 820 because a few people were late. We grabbed some croissants for the road to hold us over. We got on the bus and the bus driver was extremely anal. He yelled at Allison because her croissant got a few crumbs on the ground. haha, he even gave bags out just in case people got sick. He was pretty funny to watch. We made our way to the Basilique St. Remi, a benedictine abbey which was very gothic. It was absolutely beautiful. I will try and post pictures. (side note: right when we got off the bus, the driver was in the back sweeping out the bus, hahhaah)
We took plenty of pictures in and out of the Basilique and then headed to Palais du Tau which was the seat of the archbishop of Reims and played a role in the coronation ceremonies. Today, the museum houses coronation regalia, tapestries and sculpture associated with the Cathedral. Then we went to the Cathedral(right next door). It was built on the site of the 5th century church in which Clovis was baptized in 496. Begun in 1211, it was finished in 1294, but the upper parts and the tower were added in 1428. (i am re-typing this from the info sheet that we got so you guys can learn a little too). The outside of the cathedral had hundreds of sculptures of angels, animals and people to tell the story of the bible. it was absolutely beautiful. It amazes me that something that large and so sophisticated was built so long ago. it sustained a few areas of damages during WWI and II i believe.
After this, we went to Place Drouet d'Erlon which is a big plaza with a bunch of cafes for lunch. While we were sitting there, several bachelor parties walked/screamed by with the bachelor wearing funny costumes such as a leotard and a duck suit. One even got in the fountain and swam around. It was pretty funny.
We made it back to the bus and made our way to Epernay and went up the hill to the village Hautvillers, the town where Dom Perignon(cellermaster at the abbey), invented the modern champagne process. We looked in the abbey church which was adorable. In this town, there are small metal signs on peoples doors that indicate the occupant's trade, a custom initiated a generation ago by the mayor's wife.
We had a special guided tour of the abbey grounds. We were also informed that this tour is only for large buyers of dom perignon. To be more specific, only 22 people this year have been given this tour, its not open to the public...lets just say we got the hook up. (one of the owner's was a student of the program 22 years ago and lets us come here on special permission)
we got to see the small house where Dom lived(his name was Pierre- Dom is a title). The company later joined with Moet who later married a Chandon. We also got to see the press that he used back in the day. THe views from this place were absolutely breathtaking. It was cool to know that no one usually gets to see this place.
After this tour, we went down the hill to Epernay where we got a guided tour of the Moet et Chandon cellars which included an explanation of how champagne is made today.
Moet is made from 3 kinds of grapes: pinot noir, pinot (forgot the name), which are black grapes, and chardonnay. It is made from a perfect balance of all 3 grapes. The special thing about Dom Perignon is that it is usually held in the cellars and aged for 12 years. Typical chamgpagne ranges from 1-3. Moet is held for 5 years and the more special kind is held for up to 10 years, depending on the year of grape. They have vintage years- which is where they find a crop that is goin to be very special. Those become the special, more expensive bottles which may be a little different in taste from the original champagne.
The cellars were amazing. 28km of maze- different corridors which housed the wine at different stages of the fermentation and aging process. Some of the bottle are still turned by hand and may even be corked by hand. They have 4 cellermasters who are the only ones who know the secrets, including which "garage" is which wine at different stages. They have a secret code that only they know which tells them what kind of wine and which stage is it at. Pretty cool huh!
After the tour, they took us up to the garden (which apparently doesnt usually happen, even for our class) for tasting of the 2003 Moet et Chandon, and the 2003 Rose Moet et Chandon (whihc also apparently doesnt happen---usually they just taste the imperial which is the standard moet). It was very beautiful and the Champagne was delicious!
Then we headed back on the bus--beautiful scenery all the way. We got back into Paris, dropped our stuff off and searched for some dinner. We walked around way too long and ended up at an African place which was very cute. I tried something called N'dole beof which was not so great. Lyon had a lamb stew that was delicious so I just ate some of hers. Then I went home because I was exhausted! A pretty fun 4th of July!!

Today, I slept in very late which was amazing!! Then I went to a cafe and had a steak crepe and capuccino and did some reading. now I am home and ready for bed soon!
Au Revoir!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Lady,

    Thanks for eating breakfast with us yesterday. Sounds like you had an amazing experience there. Wish I could have been with you but pictures will work just as well as long as there is commentary. Glad you finally got some sleep. You should make sat and sun your sleep in days since there is no school on those days.

    I was oh so lucky to get the night off of work last night. I was up in Petaluma with Clint at a friends pool. It was so nice to get that call that I didn't have to come in. Even better that I have all of today to get everything I need to get done before Costa Rica.

    Well I best be going if I want to get everything done today before work tonight. All my love!

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