Several months ago I was offered an amazing opportunity. I was hired to consult on a business trip to France. A business group with an interest in wine would be visiting the Champagne region with press members and VIP clients. I was asked to go along and share some insights to enrich their experience during the visit during meals and to help select and arrange meetings with various Champagne producers. In time this consultation would grow from a four day visit to eight days that would also include Bordeaux. I wanted to share a bit of my experience over the next several posts; as writing, or reading everything at once would probably be a bit much.
In the end this job grew to a few weeks but not all focused in wine regions. Since this blog is about wine we will stick mostly to that.
I decided to go ahead of the group, both to get acclimated, and to spend some time in Champagne on my own. Since my travel was paid for I decided to stay as long as possible.
I flew into Charles de Gaulle Airport and rented a car. I thought seriously about taking the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, high-speed train) which would have been faster and less expensive, but given the amount of driving I had to do over four days, renting the car from day one seemed easier in the long run. The drive, once I got acclimated was about ninety minutes of fun, scenic driving. This was my first time driving in France so I was a bit concerned. I speak and read a very small bit of French, but that, combined with a rudimentary understanding of International signs proved re to be all I needed on the road. I highly recommend driving if you go.
I stayed right downtown at the Grand Hotel du Nord. This was a nice little hotel with the underground parking garage right outside the door. It is centrally located and comfortable. This is a budget location and not luxurious, but more than sufficient. I was surprised to find that it did not have air conditioning, I would not stay here beyond early spring. I visited in June and had to have the windows open. My window was fifty feet from drunk crowds that sang songs at the top of their lungs until 2 am. I was so happy to be there that sleep was almost an after thought anyway and I learned to sleep through anything. If you are on a budget it is a nice spot. If you want to step up a bit I did spend a few nights at the Mercure Reims Cathedrale. Nice modern rooms AC amazing over all. The only draw back is it’s not so central location. It is about a fifteen minute walk to central Reims and twenty minutes to the Cathedral.
Since my arrival was mid day I thought I would spend the afternoon exploring the city of Reims to get my bearings, and then sleep off some jet lag. There would be lots of Champagne tasting starting early the next morning.
I got my first glimpse of the grand cathedral on my first day in town. I will explore the cathedral in a bit more depth in a later post. It is truly one of the most awe inspiring buildings I have ever seen. I found it much more impressive the the Notre Dame most are familiar with, Notre Dame de Paris. In the following few posts I will begin the Champagne tasting. My travels will take me literally from the extreme North and South of the Champagne region as well as the far West and East. I covered a lot of territory in a few days so the next few posts of visits and tasting will be dense.