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Hello from the Champagne region.
Reims didn't go as expected as there was no room at the (Holiday) Inn.So instead of the added expense we headed off to Epernay (see our videos).We popped in to the Moet & Chandon shop to purchase a lovely Moet Rosé and tried to book a tour but it was fully booked.Stupid Bank Holidays!We have done it before so not too much of a problem.We spoke to Tourist Information (a Godsend in every town) and got details of local campsites (not many!) and decided it wasn't a sensible idea as they were miles away and we wanted to sample the Champagne.Perhaps the landowners thought that planting vines was more profitable than campsites...?
So we stayed local and had some drinks and then food at the hotel which was surpisingly great and cheap (we like those).So, on to today, we were unsure where to go so picked some names from the map and off we went.Tourist Information gave us details of a "Fete du Vin" in Mutigny so we headed for that.On arrival it appeared to just be 2 small tents and the people setting it up sharing the champagne, there was also a bunch of Germans and us looking a bit lost and missing out on the champs, so we moved on.However we were then surrounded by fields and fields of vines (no grapes yet...) so knew we were in the right place.We went on to the spiritual home of Champagne to visit the tomb of Dom Perignon - Hautvilliers.It's a gorgeous little village with fantastic signs at every door and road.Apparently there is a statue somewhere of the monk Dom Perignon (apparently the one at Moet is a likeness) but we couldn't find it!
We then visited many mini towns in the areas of Epernay and Reims (we were running low on petrol) which amounted to a few houses and the odd tabac/pizza/bar conglomerate.However there were no campsites to be found (and the ones we did find were overrun by bikers from Germany,with teddies strapped to the back of their Hondas (?)) so we have ended up in a hotel again.Not intentional as the weather has been gorgeous and around 22 degrees all day so camping would have been great.I have strap marks and Darren has unpacked his shorts - so it'll rain tomorrow!
Love to all
Jo & Darren
xxx
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