Champagne galore

Trip Start Feb 28, 2010

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Trip End Aug 28, 2010

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Joan's house

Flag of France Épernay, Champagne-Ardenne, France
Friday, July 23, 2010

A trip to the champagne cellars must be on the itinerary when you visit France. Today we were welcomed into Bollinger and Cattier. Nicholas had organised a tour of Bollinger for us all starting at 10am. We dragged ourselves out of bed to be on the road by 8.30am. As we neared Reims and Epernay our spirits lifted as we looked out onto the pretty rolling countryside covered in grapevines. Christian Dennis gave us a fantastic 2.5 hour tour through the Bollinger vineyards and cellars. His passion for champagne was contagious. Bollinger is one of the last remaining independent champagne houses, family managed since 1889. Our last stop was the tasting room where we starting on the classic Special Cuvee (Brut non vintage). This was followed by a Grand Annee (vintage) Rose and lastly a stunning 2007 vintage. Christian was very much in favour of Felicity and Genevieve taking part in the tasting so the girls were delighted at sipping on full flutes of champagne.

Bollinger House

By the end of this tour we were in the mood for a long French lunch. We went to a local restaurant recommended by Christian and sat down to a delicious five course meal. After this I had to have a snooze. The boys headed to Cattier while I dropped the seat down in the car and snoozed for the next hour with the girls quietly engrossed in various electronic games. These are allowed at certain times!

Genevieve summed up the day - I love it when my taste buds are bubbling!

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Champagne countryside	The special vineyards	Bollinger's own grapes	I'm cold and tired. When will this tour finish?
Turning the bottles	The vintage champagnes	My taste buds are bubbling

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Comments

fiona Hyland on

I am loving reading your travel blog and hearing all your fantastic tales, count down now to see you all in person, only a month to go!!! all our love, Fiona, Brett , Olivia and thomasxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sue Hornblow on

Wow what an amzing time you are having. Pleased to hear that you are leveraging Genevieve's wheel chair to the maxx. The champagne region is fascintating and sounds as though you managed to get premier treatment. Enjoy the last weeks of your adventure

Rebs on

Finally Rosemary admits to having some down time!! A little snooze after a lovely time tasting bubbles seems quite in order!

Emma Faulconbridge on

Everything sounds as though its still going great - and the photos look great too =) looking forward to catching up soon when you're back! Much love to all xx

Sally Brasell on

Still really enjoying your Blog! And very pleased to see the girls having an opportunity to try real champagne! What a wonderful experience for them.