Champagne for Breakfast and a Secret Admirer

Today was exciting!  It started with a visit at Tattinger Champagne House in Reims and ended at Harry’s Cocktail Bar in Paris.

House of Tattinger

I rose early, got ready, and skipped breakfast so I could make it to the train station on time where the champagne tour was set to start.  At 9:00 am as I waited in the cold rain, Tomas, our guide, pulled up in a van and welcomed me.  He was tall and had a distinctive accent when he spoke English.  Later I learned that Tomas was half French and half Scottish.  I also learned that he has a brother living in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.  This connection made me like him immedietly.  Seven other passengers joined us in the tour.  A couple from France, a couple from Germany, a couple from Denmark, and a French woman my age.

Underground Caves

We began the tour at Tattinger, the largest champagne house in Reims.  Here, we descended 15 meters into the ground to the caves where Tattinger stores its champagne.  These caves are in reality a series of underground tunnels that run all throughout the city.  They were dug by the Romans who used the chalk they extracted from the earth to build the city.  It is these clay tunnels that provide the perfect humidity, temperature, and light to store and ferment the champagne.  Tattinger is not the only champagne house that does this practice, all the champagne houses do. 

Living Underground

Inside the cold labyrinth of tunnels, we walked up and down stairs, racks of champagne bottles lining the walls.  On the chalk walls, I found graffiti.  It’s not the typical graffiti made with spray paint.  This graffiti was carved into the chalk walls.  One read “RF 1914” inside a circle.  Tomas explained that this stood for Republique Francaise (French Republic) 1914 and it was carved during WWI.  I learned that during the first world war as the Germans assaulted champagne, the citizens of Reims hid underground in the tunnels.  Under the earth the children went to school, the priests gave mass, and the people went about their daily lives… all underground.  It struck me how the caves dug by the Romans in order to build the city were now a shelter from the attacks that were destroying that very city.  The vineyards, Tomas explained, were battlefields during the war.  How can it be that a city that produces a drink synonymous with celebration was the place of great suffering and terror?  Maybe these people understand how important it is to celebrate happy moments.

After ascending from the caves, a champagne tasting was waiting for our group.  The Tattinger blancs de blancs became my breakfast.

Discovering the Vines

After Tattinger we drove 15 minutes outside of Reims to another champagne house.  On the way there, Tomas stopped the van and pulled to the side of the road next to a vineyard.  “Wanna see the vines?” he asked.  What happened next is a moment I want to cherish forever.  The air was cold and a light rain fell over the vineyards.  I walked amongst the vines, touching their leaves as I went by.  Bright yellow with splotches of brown and red, fall is in full swing in Champagne.  Tomas plucked the leftover grapes from the vines and offered them to us.  It was a rush tasting Pinot Noir right off the vine.  For a wine lover like me, this moment was priceless. 

Paris

I left Reims at 4:15 via train and arrived in Paris 45 minutes later.  After checking into my hotel, I did my hair in an up style, put on red lipstick, and took a stroll down the street until I reached Opera Garnier and Galeries Lafayette.  I had no agenda, I was just enjoying the hustle and bustle of the City of Lights.  People everywhere!  Bistros full!   I saw Christmas decorations in my favorite home store called Les Maisons du Monde.  What I found was that any writing on the decorations was in English!  Merry Christmas was displayed everywhere.

Harry’s Wine Bar

At last I reached Harry’s Cocktail Bar, which was recommended to me by a bar tender in Reims. This bar is the oldest cocktail bar in Europe.  I ordered a mojito and struck up a conversation with a British couple sitting next to me.  Suddenly, the waiter approached me and said that a gentlemen – but he could not tell me who – said I had beautiful eyes and wanted to pay for my drink.  Still got it!  Haha.  I never learned the identity of my secret admirer, but I walked back to my hotel with a skip on my step.