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Region at a glance |
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Major city:
Reims
Region known for
Champagne production.
Picturesque
rolling hills and vineyards.
90 minutes from Paris, making it an easy day trip or
overnight from Paris.
Historical
gothic cathedral where France's kings were crowned
Champagne, the very symbol
of sophistication, graceful living and celebration, is
produced nowhere else in the world. All champagnes are
made within a few miles of each other outside Reims and
Epernay, near the Abbey of Saint-Pierre where the
legendary Benedictine monk, Dom Pérignon, supposedly
invented the bubbly by accident in the early 18th Century
(some would say by divine inspiration). Just as still
wines have different characteristics and tastes, so do
champagnes, and the great houses of Mumm,
Piper-Heidsieck, Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot and Moët
& Chandon, among more than 100 others, want to prove
this with guided tours (in English) of their cellars and
tasting of the current vintage.
Sightseeing centers
around Reims and its Notre-Dame Cathedral, the heart
of France's royal history where twenty-five kings
were crowned. This Gothic structure is one of
France's most magnificent churches, and some would
place its rose windows among the best in the world.
South of the Champagne
vineyards is Troyes, once one of Europe's most
magnificent cities. This capital of the Counts of
Champagne, who ruled the region before there was a
France, is lined with beautifully-preserved
half-timbered houses built during the 16th Century.
North of Reims are the French Ardennes where Europe's
sometimes bloody history has been decided on the
fields of Sedan, Argonne and Châlons-sur-Marne,
along the rivers Meuse and Marne.
The Champagne region
is only a 90-minute drive from Paris, making it an
easy day trip.
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Places of
interest |
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Asfeld |
Baroque church |
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Charleville-Mézières |
Place Ducale, Rimbaud Museum |
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Chalons-sur-Marne |
St. Etienne Cathedral, Cloister Museum of
Notre-Dame-en-Vaux |
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Colombey-les-deux Eglises |
General de Gaulle house and memorial
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Epernay |
Champagne vineyards and cellars |
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L'Epine |
Notre Dame Basilica |
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Fère |
Bridge and 13th century medieval castle |
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Hautvillers |
Town where Champagne was invented, reconstruction
of Dom Pérignon's cellar and laboratory in the abbey museum |
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Langres |
Home of Diderot, Renaissance houses, ramparts |
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Mouzon |
Notre Dame Abbey |
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Nogent-en-Bassigny |
Museum of the "Espace Pelletier" |
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Novion Porcion |
Three Wars Museum |
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Reims |
Champagne cellars, Notre Dame cathedral, St. Remi
Museum and Basilica, Palais du Tau, Surrender room, Fine Arts
Museum, La Pompelle Fort |
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Renwez |
Forest Museum |
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Rethel |
St. Nicholas Church, Ardennes canal |
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Revin |
View of the Ardennes forest |
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Rocroi |
Museum of the Battle of Rocroi |
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Saint Ménéhould |
City Hall, walks in the Argonne forest |
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Sedan |
Largest fortified chateau in Europe |
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Signy-l'Abbaye |
"Gouffre" de Gibergeon (natural cave) |
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Troyes |
Museum of Modern Art, Workers Tool Museum,
churches, Pharmacy Museum |
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Varennes-en-Argonne |
Town where Louis XVI was arrested in 1791, fleeing
from Paris |
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Verzy |
Spectacular view of the city of Reims |
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Villy-la-Ferté |
Last fort on the Maginot Line |
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Vouziers |
St. Maurille Church. |
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Technical
tourism and sports |
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The Montagne
de Reims route (47 miles) starts in Reims
and goes to Epernay, home of the famous Moet
& Chandon and Perrier-Jouët
vineyards. The Marne Valley route (33 miles)
begins in Epernay and extends past Hautvillers,
Ay, Dizy, Cumières, Chatillon and Vincennes. The
Côte de Blancs route (68 miles) goes
from Epernay south to Verus and Villenauxe la
Grande, an area planted almost exclusively with
Chardonnay white grapevines.
River
cruises, barging, ballooning, cooking classes.
Biking,
hiking, horse-back riding, horse-drawn carriages
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Cuisine |
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Champagne-Ardenne's
refined cuisine incorporates the region's native
sparkling wine whenever possible. Whether
accompanying the meal (before, during or after)
or used in the meal itself (in anything from
seafood to chicken), champagne is a very
important part of the region's culinary
tradition.
Champagne
derivatives such as, "Ratafia",
"Marc de Champagne" and "Fine
de Marne" are also quite popular, as
well as other spirits and wines including "Côteaux
Champenois" (available in white and
red), "Bouzy rouge", "Riceys
rose", cider and fruit liqueurs.
Desserts include sugar tarts, massepains
& croquignoles (from Reims), and
Haute Marne's meringue caissettes.
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