The Champagne Region - reccomendations???
 

Hi Guys,

Popping over to France for 3 nights October for a short break. We are planning on getting the ferry and driving down to Reims and the surrounding area.

So whos been there - any reccomendations for places to stay/eat and any good driving roads:luxhello: ?

Also, what's the score with speed limits - is it generally accepted to cruise at 90 on motorways or are they quite strict?

Cheers

Richard

Epernay. Le chapon Fin (the fine cock/chicken whatever) opp the train station. Great meals, 7 course for 170FF in 1997 did have mossie problem once.Cheap and cheerful. Also off the le rue champagne ?IBis place near the Mercier vineyard. Epernay is fantastic, small friendly walkable. Moet, mercier and personal favourite, esterlin (try it) cant remember many houses tourist advice gave a great map and said who ahd tours or tasting. friendly, good eats. Strongly reccomend. Reims is a big city, with a great cathedral. Epernay is southwest of Reims and has a great smooth drive to it over the plateau. Stunning.
per speed limits did manage 140 in a V70 with a huge amount champagne in. Was younger then! probably get midnight expressed nowadays...... Enjoy

Epernay sounds nice, can't find Le Chapon Fin but the Ibis looks fine.

Cheers

Richard

Watch out for "les flics" - went over to Nancy this w/end via Reims/Challon etc and they were thick on the ground (or N roads and villages) hiding in bushes and vans 400m from the road sort of thing!! LOL

There is a "tariff" in July EVO I think as they've suddenly got very hot. 140 would mean a month INSTANT ban & they mean right then/there :eek:

Didn't like Epernay that much......bit of dump really. But then we stayed in a Great Western and it was cr@p.

The Rue de Champagne is summut though and the Moet building is huge. Also in the foyer they have different bottle sizes....mines a Salamanzer [sp].

One plus for Epernay is there is a great Irish Bar run by ................. wait for it ........................... an Irish guy [married to French chick]. Really friendly and open late ;)

Reims is a nice historic place but large so not as accesible as Epernay.

Other than that just enjoy driving around the vineyards.

Roo :)

http://www.villa-eugene.com/accueil_uk.htm, which is situated on the Avenue de Champagne in Epernay.

Follow the Route Champagne from Epernay to Reims, where you will find hundreds of independant producers (who also grow grapes for the main Houses). You'll be able to buy lots of nice cheap Champagne :)

Nice tip there Daryl - glad I have the sportswagon to load up with!

Couple of pics from the Veuve Clicquot cellar tour :)

http://www.sjskyline.com/images/misc/veuve01.jpg
http://www.sjskyline.com/images/misc/veuve02.jpg

Gonna have to find a cheap hotel as spending could get out of hand;)

As PTMW has said, they've really clamped down on speeding and if you can't pay the fine, they'll keep your car until you can :)

How much are the fines and what's the speed limit...?

When I went last year I made sure I kept under 100mph, although it's very tempting to go much faster as the A26 from Calais to Reims is very lightly trafficked. The cruise control helped me not to give in to temptation. :)

You have to go slower on the way home because of all the weight in the back. ;)

In Epernay, I thought the Perrier Jouet tour was the best - it's smaller than some of the others, but you get to see more of what goes on. The bonus is the tasting at the end - PJ is superb stuff, even the NV. Other houses include Moet, Mercier and De Castellane.

In Reims, I thought the Veuve Clicquot tour was very good, although it's on a much bigger scale than PJ, so you get more people on the tour. Other houses here include Mumm and Taittinger.

Reims seems to have a better choice of restaurants and bars than Epernay and the main street is pedestrianised, with dozens of places to choose from.

Also worth a visit is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame, where the Kings of France used to be crowned :)

One last thing, Reims is pronounced 'Rance' ;)