Reims & the Champagne District

After a solid day off with Lindsay last week, exploring the girlier bits of London (and trying to not let the crap weather get us down) Saturday rolled around and we were off to Reims, France.  2 hour on the Eurostar, a quick change of stations in Paris, a 45 minute express TGV train later we’re in Reims, the capital of the champagne district.

It’s a typical cute french town, cobble stone streets, obligatory cathedral (check, check), but due to the mass tourism of the champagne houses the town is over stocked with cafes and restaurants happy to let you indulge in art of french leisurely relaxation.  We spent over an hour on a cafe patio munching on leafy salads and sipping a champagne cocktail, followed by a few hours in another cafe in the sun sipping cafe cremes chatting, reading the paper (napping if you’re jet lagged!) and people watching.  The best thing the french do is let you sit with your one drink for hours, without trying to get you to buy anything more.  Some people might call this bad service, i call it decadent.

Eventually we peeled ourselves off the patio chairs and wandered the town stopping to window shop and scouting the champagne houses for one to visit the following day.  Time for a cafe break, we are in France after all.

For dinner we went to a local bistro recommended by a coworker that was truly excellent.  Two big things for me, 1: I got to try escargot for the first time and 2: I learned what Magnum means in the context of ordering a bottle of champagne.  To be fair, this was new to Lindsay too.  No it doesn’t mean premium, and no it’s not a brand of champagne.  In fact it’s a size.  2 bottles worth, 1500 litres worth to be exact.  It’s like the french word for “mega”.  We got quite the look from the waiter (and let’s be honest almost every patron in the restaurant).  I guess they don’t encounter 2 champagne rookies like us everyday!

3 hours later, the bottle empty, we showed them!

Sunday.  Surprisingly no hangover!  I think I have a new love for champagne.  breakfast on the cafe we note that the main strip is quite sleepy.

Oh ya, France.  France loves to close stuff on Sundays.  Thankfully they keep the champagne houses open, so it was off to the Mumm house.

The tour was an hour, quite detailed and very educational.  And yes, within the first 5 minutes of the tour the sizes of the bottles are taught.  Lindsay and I exchange a glance and a quiet giggle as we see the magnum bottle in a line up vs. the other bottles.

Later that evening it’s the TGV express back to Paris and the Eurostar back to London.  And as we pulled into London, its one of those rare moments that i get to truly appreciate living in Kings Cross.  10 minutes later, we’re home.