The Holy Land of the Champagne

11/03/2016 04:18:00 PM Nyanko 0 Comments



One of the most famous exports of France is undeniably Champagne, the sparkling wine. In the months of September and October, only the best quality grapes are harvested by hand in the Champagne region to make this world-renowned drink. Being in France at this beautiful time means that we can go to the numerous vineyards in Champagne to immerse ourselves in the fragrance of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Pinot Noir
The Champagne region lies to the east of Paris and is easily doable as a day trip by train or by car. However, to have an easier access to the vineyards, it would definitely be easier if you drive. Our day started with a vineyard tour to Champagne M. Brugnon. It was our first visit to any vineyard and the decision to visit M. Brugnon was based entirely on online reviews (book your visits with instant confirmation here!!) We were so glad to visit this family-owned vineyard as our very first visit!


The vineyard is located at Ecueil, a short 20 minutes drive away from Reims (the main town of Champagne region). The current owner, Alain, personally walked us through his vineyard and cellars and gave an excellent introduction on the production process of Champagne. There were 8 of us on the tour, and since some of us don't understand French, he kindly gave us the tour in both French and English!

One of the most memorable part of the trip was when he took a single grape and demonstrated to us how the juice is extracted. First, a gentle squeeze is applied to the Pinot Noir (a type of black/purple grapes) to extract the clear sweet juice. The grape is then further squeezed to extract the juice from the skin and flesh. The juice from the skin and flesh is the one that has the dark purplish color. It is crucial to extract the two types of juices separately as they have a different taste (sweetness, bitterness and fragrance) and ferment at different times. It is difficult to understand this unless you see it for yourself! I did hope that he will let us try squeezing a grape too, but i guess his grapes are too precious to be ruined on our hands! :P


At the cellar, Alain shared with us how the "bubbles" are formed by adding yeast again after the wine fermentation. Later, the bottles of wine are gradually flipped upside down and froze at the mouth. When the bottle is finally opened, all the pent-up newly formed gas will expel the frozen yeast from the rest of the wine. This last process finally gives birth to the beautiful bottles of champagne.

Fermentation chamber
Dark gloomy cellars
Finally!!
After going through the entire champagne making process, Alain invited us to a tasting of 5 of his precious wines: Brut, Brut Selection, Blanc de Blanc 2010, Brut Millesime 2009 and Brut Rose. He took time to show us his book on the wine production, and drew graphs and tables to help us understand the maturation process and how the different grapes under different soil and climate produces different tastes. The business (vineyard and production) is overseen by less than 5 people so it was really tough work to produce, market and manage the sales. (Of course, they had to hire extra help during harvesting as one of the criteria of champagne making is that the grapes have to be harvested only by hand!) Even though he must be very busy, Alain spent at least 2 hours with us throughout the tour on a precious Sunday. And I have to highlight that the tour/ wine tasting that Alain hosted for us is free!!! What??!!

Yes, that is absolutely true. I cannot imagine how passionate Alain must be with his work and family-business that he is willing to spend so much time showing strangers around week after week. His champagnes are actually very affordable, starting at about €16 for a bottle. Who says champagne is only for the rich??


We bought 5 bottles and he helped us pack them into the boot of our car, ensuring that his wines are properly placed to endure the journey. It felt like he was saying good bye to his precious babies... Aw...

Later, we took a quick drive to Reims city center to visit the Notre-Dame Cathedral and have lunch. The Notre-Dame Cathedral of Reims was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage way back in 1991, and was where the kings of France were crowned. It is also famous for its beautiful gothic art stained glass windows, and during certain periods, there is a spectacular sound and light show on the facade of the cathedral. Accordingly, this event will be on from 18 Nov 2016 to 8 Jan 2017 (Reims Tourism).
(C) Reims Tourism
The upcoming sound and light show must be the reason why the cathedral is under maintenance when we visited it late October.  It's quite a pity, but the cathedral was majestic and beautiful even so.






Interestingly, modern artists were invited to produce some of the stained glass for the windows, so there is actually a blend of the old and new designs in the very same cathedral. In particular, I love the contrast of the modern-style stained glass with the miniature of the cathedral.



Since we've decided to try to make it for the Taittinger champange tour at 3:45pm, we had a quick lunch at Au Bureau Reims Cathedral (yes, it's right in front of the cathedral). Its location made us feel that it may be a tourist trap, but as it looked rather popular, we decided to give it a try.

  

I rather liked the atmosphere, though I have to say that the food is rather average. We each had a main course and then I had a coffee snack. It came up to only about €38, which i would totally pay for (taking into consideration the atmosphere, quality of food, and location). 

My menu-of-the-day, some pork meat and croquettes
And a medium sized block of steak for the man.
I rather liked the coffee set, just to try a little of everything
and of course have the much-needed coffee!
To burn off the lunch, we walked about 20 minutes to Maison de Champagne Taittinger, the third oldest champagne house in the world. We had checked with the tourism office right in front of the cathedral who told us that we could just request to join the tour directly. Unlike the earlier trip to Champagne M. Brugnon, being in the city center, Taittinger naturally doesn't have plots of vineyards to produce their grapes. Hence, the tour is only to its cellars where their wine is matured. However, a huge highlight of their cellars (which are actually chalk caves) is that it is also a UNESCO World Heritage site, being part of a 4th century Roman stone quarry.



The basic tour option for an adult is €17 for the guided tour and a tasting of their Brut Reserve (It is not possible to join the tour without doing the tasting), which is rather steep considering that i can buy a whole bottle of champagne from the champagne house in the morning! The main reason that we decided to visit Taittinger was so that we could experience for ourselves whether there is any significant difference in the tours for big brand names or small businesses.

The tour started with a professional video on the history
of Champagne region and Taittinger of course.
According to the video, one of they key grapes in the production of Champagne, the Chardonnay, is introduced to the region by Thibaud IV of Champagne. This came as a huge surprise to us since he was also the same person who brought back the famous Damascus Rose (which was subsequently cross-bred to produce the many species of French and European roses) in Provins, which we visited just not so long ago!!


The clay vaults have a really different feeling from the usual wine cellars. You would have noticed from the very first step in, that the air is much colder than the outside. Even the clay walls are cold! According to our guide, the temperature in the caves remain at a constant all year round. That is why it is such a perfect place to store and mature these expensive wines.


At where the Taittinger building now sits, there used to be a cathedral, the Saint Nicaise Abbey. There are almost no traces left of the cathedral,  save for some stairways and gates in the underground vaults.

One of the staircases that used to lead up to the Abbey
In World War I, Reims was heavily bombed and the soldiers used the caves as their hiding place. It must have been a really horrid and gloomy time then, living in these caves with no daylight. There are still several carvings that the soldiers left behind indicative of those days...


Champagne isn't only produced in the typically wine bottle sizes we are familiar with. There are in fact 8 different sizes which Taittinger sells (or used to sell) their champagne in. Of course, due to the odd sizes, not all of them can be handled by the machines and substantial manpower is needed to manually handle the larger bottles throughout its maturation.


As we have learnt from the earlier visit, the yeast that were added at the end to produce the sparkling effect had to be removed from the wine.

The unsavory yeast sediments
Note how the bottles are gradually tilted till it is almost vertical.
This to allow all the sediments to gather at the mouth of the bottle.
More than just a cellar, the Taittinger's clay cave is full of history
It takes years for a champagne to mature. During this period of time, the bottles are stacked tightly against one another. The whole stack stretches for several meters deeper into the cave, and as you can see from the photo below, is even taller than most of us!

Bottles after bottles of expensive champagnes!!!
The guide told us that one of the main reasons of stacking the bottles tightly in opposite directions is to help the bottles endure the internal pressure building up from the fermentation of the yeast. Since the bottles are capped,  all the air created from the fermentation has no release (and that is also how the bubbles get infused into the wine itself) and can occasionally cause these strong glass bottles to explode. Since each bottle is so expensive, they couldn't afford a chain explosion. By stacking it as such, any explosion of a bottle will not jeopardize its neighboring bottle. What a smart and space saving method!!

Endless rows of champagne.. *slurps!*
Finally for the champagne tasting...


I really loved the visit to Taittinger simply because of its amazing historic clay caves. Of course, the guide was kind and knowledgeable, but I can't say that he is as passionate about champagne as the grapes grower himself. At Champagne M. Brugnon, from planting to harvesting of grapes, from production to sale, the entire process is handled by the family. It is easy to see that he really values his grapes and wine, and that passion and love is undeniably contagious.

Having visited 2 drastically different champagne houses in a day, I've certainly gained a new appreciation for champagne. As a really amateur drinker and to be really honest, I can't tell much difference between the branded and the local. For me, i'll be more than happy to buy several bottles of the local champagne (which is equally good) to share with my friends at any time than to only be able to afford one single branded bottle to save for that special occasion. After all, it's the company that matters more than the drink, right?

Cheers!!


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Day Trip to Medieval Town of Provins

10/04/2016 04:21:00 PM Nyanko 0 Comments



Stepping into Provins, France, is like travelling on a time machine and being transported back into the medieval times. Almost the entire Le Châtel area is surrounded by fortified walls built in the 13th century and it almost feel as though you were entering another country, another world. Only that it isn't, and that Provins, a town listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001, is only about 1.5 hours train ride away from Paris.




We reached Provins shortly before noon and started our journey from the main tourist office along Chemin De Villecran. There are plenty of parking spaces there and we grabbed the handy Provins map to go. The map offers suggestions for sightseeing walks and provides a comprehensive list of all the attractions so you can follow the routes easily without any prior planning.

To beat the lunch crowd, we had our lunch early at 11:30 at La Table Saint Jean. It looked rather empty on the outside and we wondered if it is really as good as the online reviews say. Surprisingly, most of the seats are hidden in the petite two-storey building and the entire restaurant quickly filled up with guests during our meal.

Cosy interior
For the weekend, they have the Gourmand and the Traditional Menu sets priced at 32.90 EUR and 20.90 EUR respectively. Choices are available for starters, mains and desserts. English menu is available. We took one of the sets each, and I honestly feel that the lower priced Traditional Menu was good enough.

My Traditional Menu set:
Three flavored homemade Terrine
Duck leg confit with local potatoes.
Homemade Apricot Pie
The three flavored terrine was great, and the accompanying toasted bread was perfect too. The bread was much better than the sliced baguettes served at the beginning of the meal and we regretted eating so much of those just because we were starving. My duck confit was perfect, the fatty parts almost melt in your mouth and really, you can't get sick eating the fats. There was so much meat packed into that small duck leg that I couldn't finish it all. The potatoes were rather dry and not exactly crunchy, but it was a good side to the juicy and flavorful duck. The only regret I had was the apricot pie, which you would probably have noticed from the photo, is charred on the crust. Inside, the part of the pie near the crust is actually under cooked and felt doughy and moist. I'm sure they could have done a better job for the other fruit pies looked "okay". To be sure, maybe it's better to order a non-pie dessert instead.

There were also pies such as apple, strawberries etc.
There are several shows in the Provins to showcase the various aspects of life during the medieval times. The two most popular shows begin in late March and ends in October. We read online that The Eagles of the Ramparts is the best of three, so we purchased our tickets from the booth right in front of the Saint-Jean's gate. It was 12 EUR per adult, which is really not too expensive for an hour long performance.

Promotional Poster
Our show is scheduled to start at 14:30 but we were told that we can enter the premises at 14:00. It's a rather long and quiet walk from Saint-Jean's gate (and be assured you are not on the wrong path!). It is definitely worthwhile to reach there early as you get to take a good look at the different species of birds before the show begins. There were so many species i almost thought we were at a bird park!





This one's probably angry that he has to perform in the rain
Most unfortunately, at this point of time, it started to drizzle and even that evolved into a rather heavy downpour. I was worried that the show will be cancelled and that we wouldn't be able to get any refund on the tickets, but the performers carried on in the rain! I felt really sorry for the birds though, I'm sure it's never part of their instinct to fly in the rain.

It's really a pity that it had to rain at this time, and as we didn't have any raincoats or umbrellas, we were reduced to hiding under a "bridge" some distance away. The birds were flying low right above the viewers head, but of course none of them could appreciate that with the umbrellas. :( 




Even so, the performers were really kind and keen to share their experiences with the audience. They actually brought their birds and let each and every single person get the chance to have the bird trot on their arms! They even specifically came to engage us (the bunch of people without any rain gear and hiding at the far end). It was really memorable and I would definitely recommend the show to anyone coming to Provins. I'll pray for you though, that it doesn't rain during the show!

The professional crew carried on with the entire show in spite of the rain.
Annoyingly, the rain ceased after the show ended and making us all drenched. We continued walking along the ramparts and got to enjoy some really good view of the city from above the fortifications!

I can almost imagine the army defending the town from invaders.
Caesar's Tower and the Saint-Quiriace Church in the distance
The Provins Rose Garden is also one of the main attractions of this town. Count Thibaud IV of Champagne brought back the signature rose: "Rosa Gallica Officialis" and that is how the people of Provins fell in love with the rose. It is a rather far walk from the show venue, down the slope of Rue Saint Thibault and then further down Rue Des Jacobins.

Along the way, we passed by the Libraire Medivale, and it was lovely to just take a look inside!

A small hidden shop

I've read that the majority of the old houses in have underground basement built in since the days when Provins was a famous and successful market town. This must have been one of those underground chambers!

By the time we reached the Provins Rose Garden, it started to rain again. Urgh!!!

You have to enter the shop front first before going to the garden
On the day when we were there, they happened to have The Easel Competition, a painting competition for the amateur and young talents. We were pleasantly surprised to see all the paintings (and painters) congregating at the Rose Garden! No wonder we saw so many painters around the town earlier!


As you would probably have guessed, this is my favorite painting. It depicts the rainy gloomy day at Provins all too well...


We didn't stay to hear them announce which is the winning art piece, and we decided not to enter the Rose Garden as well cause of the rain. From the outside, we could catch a glimpse of the garden and it didn't look like many of the plants are in blooming season anyway... It probably would have been very nice in summer though!

I can only imagine the beauty...
The whole town was just lovely to explore and stroll around, and there were few traces of modernization as we walk towards the Caesar's Tower and the Church. There were also few tourists so we could really take in and enjoy the atmosphere.

Alley up to the tower and church
The Saint-Quiriace Collegiate Church looks too plain and lonely compared to those our more recent years. Accordingly, it was never completed as the French Kingdom fell into financial difficulties midway through its construction. I wonder if it would have been more lavishly decorated given the status of Provins town in the medieval days...




Even the dome is unadorned
Perhaps at this point of time, I should mention that Provins flourished in part due to its prime location for trade in Europe. It subsequently evolved to hold the Trade Fairs of Champagne and introduced several policies and architecture to enhance its reputation and ensure safety of its inhabitants and the tradesmen. At some point of time, Provins even minted its own currency which could be used throughout Europe. The counts therefore constructed a fortress and tower, the Caesar's Tower, to showcase their power and protect their palace. 

It does look amazing considering that it's built in the 1100s
With the affordable ticket price of 4,30 EUR, you get to explore the exhibits inside and climb all the way to the top for splendid views of the entire town of Provins. At the end of the tour, there is also a looping video (with english subtitles) sharing some history of Provins. 

View of the tower from the South and the old road from Paris
Miniature model of the tower
One of the best views of Provins must be from the tower

Video on the history of Provins in animated cartoon
Provins is a really lovely and unique town for a day trip out of Paris and there's definitely more to explore than those I've mentioned, For example, there is the Tithe Barn, which was used as a covered market and where goods were stored in the lower room. You could also explore the Underground galleries with a guided tour or visit the Museum of Provins which houses collections related to the history of Provins. Regrettably, it is common that most of the information and description in these sites in the smaller towns of France are only in French. Some of it is fine, such as the Eagles' show we caught which was only in French, but others just doesn't make much sense visiting if you don't understand the language. Of course, you could always read up beforehand but I've always preferred looking at the place or artifact and reading up on it there and then. Nevertheless, I would still highly recommend everyone to take a trip here if only to experience the unique medieval atmosphere.

Our souvenir from Provins!
(By the way, the jam is really good, with a light fragrance of rose in it!)

Rose petal jam, hand-crafted bowl and magnet :)

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