Entries Tagged 'travelling' ↓

We left the Champagne region on Sunday morning the 17th and after few hours we arrived in Rennes, the capital of Bretagne. The weather was sunny and windy, so we could appreciate the beauty of this city in the best conditions. After a quick lunch on a nice terrace, we took a walk through the streets, we found imposing and classical buildings but also traditional houses with wooden structure. A massive palace was the Parliament of Bretagne, dating from the period when this region was still independent from France. We will feel the “independency” of this region also in the next days, especially because of its own language (the names of the places are all written both in French as in the original Breton name) and the reserved attitude of the people.
Walking up a road we arrived to the big cathedral that was on top of a hill and took a walk in the annex park. Something we constantly admired during our trip were the beautiful flowers and accurate gardens, magnificent roundabouts and street corners: every free space in France is accurately gardened!

Unfortunately Sunday is a day that always gives a melancholic face to a city, so we decided to leave Rennes to reach our next destination: the Forest of Broceliande. Since days we had been so exited about this place, like two kids leaving for Disneyworld… The reason of our excitement was given by all celtic legends originating from this forest: Merlin, King Arthur, Morgana and many other characters of tales.

Holiday in France

The day after our arrival in Epernay, we visited two producers of champagne. That means, we started drinking at 10 am…
Luckily the weather was warm and sunny, which allowed us to appreciate the wide landscapes, the small villages, the vineyards, the corn fields. The main colours that I remember from that region are green and pale yellow. Green are the vineyards (because it’s summertime, of course), the top of the hills with their compact vegetation, the trees along the streets. Pale yellow are the country houses, the corn fields and…. the champagne in our glasses!
The first producer we visited was Veuve Godart et Fils a family run company in Moussy, a small village near Epernay. Everything there was so genuine, real and authentic. The owner was pouring champagne in small glasses from behind the counter, explaining things with few simple words, and packing cartons of the bottles we ordered, all at the same time. Their tasting room was also warehouse, workshop and kitchen, all in one place. And their champagne was very good, genuine and rustic, it tasted a little bit like fresh mowed grass. We bought 6 bottles of Vieille Réserve at a very correct price.
Then we moved to Reims, the capital of Champagne, a beautiful and elegant city with a spectacular cathedral, which is really worth a visit, especially for its artistic glass windows (both ancient and more recent, some by Marc Chagall).
After a quick lunch on a terrace we went to the worldwide famous Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin. We had reserved a visit since few weeks and we got a complete and exhaustive visit by a very professional PR who explained to us the origins, the story of Madame Ponsardin who married Mr. Clicquot and after his premature death (‘veuve’ means widow) took over the management of their winery, on a very modern and revolutionary way for a woman in that period (mid-19th century!).
He explained all processes of production, from the vineyard to the bottle, and guided us through the incredible cellars, called Crayères, huge underground chalk galleries, where wine is stored and matured. The visit ended with the tasting of their famous Brut, which is very refined and delicate, very different from the one we tasted in the morning.

We closed the day with a delicious dinner in an elegant restaurant in Epernay, Le Théâtre owned by a Belgian guy, that treated us in the best way.
It was the last night with our Belgian friends and in the Champagne region and we toasted friendship and good wine!

Holiday in France

Last holiday in France was a good experience for me, it was the first time I visited it on the road and I appreciated many aspects of that country. The highway isn’t crowded as in Italy and is far away from the main cities, there are many herds grazing on green fields far away from pollution. I also loved cheese, it’s so creamy and tasty! The territory is bigger than Italy and there are countless trees, woods, forests and natural parks. But the main characteristic that I appreciated of France is wine and, above all, the centenary story of it. In fact I realized for the first time how France has an important tradition about wine, wineries and grapes. I understood why the French wines are considered at the top of the world. The reason? Story, territory, climate, restricted rules and high quality of products. The interesting visit at Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin was the confirmation of that, especially when the PR, during the visit, said: “Around 1815 Madame Clicquot sold thousands bottles of champagne in St Petersburg”. Amazing!

Holiday in France

After about three hours drive from Dijon we finally arrived in Epernay, a small town in the Champagne region, which is obviously famous for its sparkling white wines.
We had made a reservation at Hotel Les Berceaux, located in the center, which had been suggested to us by other Belgian friends as a good place to sleep. But once in front of the hotel, we first thought we had arrived in the wrong place, as from outside the building looked very old and dirty. The entrance hall on the contrary was recently renovated in a quite stylish design, so we thought the rooms would have been renovated accordingly. But we already changed our mind when we squeezed ourselves and our luggage into an old, small and stinky lift. Then we arrived at second floor and to get access to our room we had to pass through a self closing door, into a small passageway where no more than one person at a time could pass (and it acceded also to another room, so when the other guests came out of their room at the same time, it was all like “Oh, sorry, please, you go first…thanks…”). So imagine myself, with luggage in one hand, trying to open the door of the room with the other hand and willing to keep the first door open with a foot… quite a funny view, believe me.
But not as funny as the view of the room and of the bathroom… A ridiculous small bed (Manu had to sleep with his feet outside the blankets!) with absolutely no space around it. The bathroom was small and old, really a shame! There was a small balcony with view on a horrible building and dead flowers in the pots.
Moreover, the employees at the reception where also quite unfriendly (maybe they were simply unhappy to work in a place like that…).
So when we went down and finally met our Belgian friends, we all had to order a glass of Champagne to be able to get over our disappointment (you know, we always find an excuse to drink).
We made a commitment for the future: always double check friend’s suggestions for hotels and restaurants…

Holiday in France