Champagne - Lonely Planet

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Champagne
POP 1.3 MILLION
Includes 
Reims. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Montagne de Reims
Champagne Route. . . 305
Vallée de la Marne
Champagne Route. . . 305
Côte des Blancs
Champagne Route. . . 307
Épernay. . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Troyes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Champagne Route
of the Côte des Bar . . 316
Best Places to Eat
Why Go?
Champagne arouses the senses: the eyes feast on vines parading up hillsides and vertical processions of tiny, sparkling bubbles; the nose breathes in damp soil and the
heavenly bouquet of fermentation; the ears rejoice at the
clink of glasses and the barely audible fizz; and the palate
tingles with every sip. The imagination and the intellect are
engaged as Champagne cellar visits reveal the magical processes – governed by the strictest of rules – that transform
the world’s most pampered pinot noir, pinot meunier and
chardonnay grapes into this region’s most fabled wines.
Despite the prestige of their vines, the people of Champagne offer a warm, surprisingly easy-going welcome, both
in the stylish cities and along the Champagne Routes, which
wend their way through villages to family-run cellars and
vineyards. All of which will, if France has its way, become a
Unesco World Heritage site in 2015. Watch this space.
¨¨Claire et Hugo (p314)
¨¨L’Éveil des Sens (p302)
¨¨La Grillade Gourmande
(p310)
¨¨Tout Simplement (p315)
¨¨Le Millénaire (p303)
Best Places to
Stay
¨¨Les Telliers (p301)
¨¨La Villa Eugène (p309)
¨¨La Villa de la Paix (p314)
¨¨Château Les Crayères
(p302)
¨¨Parva Domus (p309)
When to Go
Reims
°C/°F Temp
Rainfall Inches/mm
40/104
6/150
30/86
5/125
4/100
20/68
3/75
10/50
2/50
0/32
-10/14
1/25
0
J
F
M
Jun Reims pays
homage to Joan
of Arc at the Fêtes
Johanniques (first
weekend).
A
M
J
J
A
Aug Cellars open
for free tastings at
the Côte des Bar’s
Route du Champagne en Fête
(first weekend).
S
O
N
D
Sep Golden
autumn days and
cork-popping
harvest
celebrations.
297
\
#
Oi s e
Rethel
Laon
\
#
N2
·
/
Aisne
\
#
A26
·
/
ARDENNES
Parc Naturel Reims
Régional de la #
2 #
3
Montagne
de Reims
Verzenay
Vallée de la Marne
‚
AISNE
Champagne Route
ne
ar
1
#
A4
/
·
\
#
sur-Oger
Châlonssur-Marne
rn
MARNE
MEUSE
N44
·
/
e
#
\
e
N3
/
·
\
# Le Mesnil6
#
Ma
Côte des Blancs
Champagne Route
Verdun
Forêt ÷
#
d'Argonne
Mont Sinaï
(288m)
÷
#
1
#
Châtillon- \
#
1 Montagne de Reims
#
sur-Marne \
#
##
2\
7
#
ChâtillonChampagne Route
sur-Seine Épernay
A4
·
/
M
#
\
R
R
s l i ght s
C h a m pag n eMHe iugh
Butte de
Montfaucon
(336m)
Soissons
Bar-le-Duc
\
#
Sézanne
\
#
N4
·
/
Vitry-leFrançois
#
\
rne
Ma
e
N19
·
/
HAUTEMARNE
AUBE
Troyes
Lac
d’Orient
Parc Naturel
÷
# Régional de la Colombey-lesForêt d'Orient Deux-Églises
#
]
4
#
A5
·
/
Côte des
Bar
\
#
N77
·
/
A6
·
/
A
ub
A26
·
/
\
#
Romillysur-Seine
Sens
\
#
Lac du DerChantecoq
S ei n e
YONNE
\
#
Bar-surSeine
St-Florentin
\
#
Tonnerre
\
#
ê
#
40 km
20 miles
#
Bayel \
A5
·
/
N19
·
/
Ü
# Abbaye de
Clairvaux
Essoyes
Les
Riceys
\
#
8
#
\
#
Chaumont
1
#
#
5\
#
Champagne Route
of the Côte des Bar
N71
·
/
\
#
\
#
e
# 00
N4
·
/
St-Dizier
SEINE-ETMARNE
CÔTE D'OR
A5
/
·
Châtillonsur-Seine
A31
/
·
Champagne Highlights
1 Rambling through hillside
vineyards, comely villages and
family-run wineries on scenic
Champagne Routes (p304)
2 Toasting the end of a cellar
tour in Épernay (p308) or Reims
(p298) with a glass of fizz
3 Climbing the tower of
Reims’ Cathédrale Notre
Dame (p298) for 360-degree
views of this flat region
4 Wandering the half-timbered
backstreets of Troyes (p311)
5 Treading in Renoir’s
impressionistic footsteps at
Atelier Renoir (p317), Essoyes
6 Marvelling at traditional
Champagne-making techniques
and technology at the Musée
de la Vigne et du Vin (p308)
7 Revelling in the mansions
and Champagne houses
lining Épernay’s Avenue de
Champagne (p308)
8 Immersing yourself in
mid-20th century France at the
Mémorial Charles de Gaulle
(p316) in Colombey-les-DeuxÉglises
A31
·
/