Sunday, May 26, 2013

May 23: Two Champagne Makers and a Cathedral

Ron and I, despite years of traveling in Europe, are still too chicken to actually drive there, so we booked a day tour to Reims Cathedral, which happens to be in the Champagne region, so the tour included visits to Mumm's and to Moet et Chandon (with cellar tours and a sample glass of the product in each place).  Fine with us!

It was another day of mostly bad weather, so it was good to be in the bus or indoors most of the time.  We were able to relax and watch the scenery while the driver dealt with rush-hour traffic in and out of Paris and maneuvered the large bus into parking spaces. 


The bright yellow sections are the flowers of the canola plants.


Outside of Reims Cathedral



We'd toured Mumm's on the way to the Cathedral; on the way back we stopped at Moet et Chandon, which turned out to be the better of the two, mostly because of the wonderful guide we had.  He'd been raised in the region, was passionate about the history of the company and the whole subject of Champagne making, and was able to answer the very detailed questions of one of the tour group members.  In the early years during a war with Prussia, the owner found that Prussian soldiers had broken in and were helping themselves to the merchandise.  He wisely decided that if he let them enjoy the product he'd turn them into customers.  It was a good decision; after the war, sales of  Champagne to Prussia increased substantially.

 Part of their display of medallions of monarchies to whom they supply Champagne; the one in the middle is from the Vatican.

A monument to Dom Perignon, the monk who founded the Champagne-making process.  Dom Perignon is now part of Moet et Chandon, which in turn was absorbed into the LVMH group.  There is very little family involvement in the business anymore.


1 comment:

  1. I think the canola fields are beautiful but if you live near one you will often awaken to a thick coat of pollen on your car. Also terrible if you have allergies!

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