Champagne Day Four

Suzanne arrived again to pick us up from outside the hotel, where we were sitting in the sun. We were leaving a wee bit early as she wanted to take us to the Abbeye de Saint Remy, which was in another part of town. Then onward to our first port of call, the famous Bollinger Champagne House. Actually, they haven’t always done tours, and they usually only do people in the industry, so we were quite privileged and even quite excited.

After lots of photographs in front of the famous frontage, we trooped in for a tour. It was quite long - they all are - but the young woman was excellent, and I retained a few facts that I’d heard yesterday. We started in a ‘clos’ (an enclosed vineyard) of only two rows, planted in the traditional random way - not serried modern rows. These vines were the only ones not killed, amazingly, by the phylloxera epidemic which killed all the vines in France in 1860. 

There were millions of extremely dusty bottles down (Extras) in the chalk cellars which went on in all directions for miles. 

A tasting of three vintages followed, and more posing for photos in front of the buildings. Mind you, the whole group were keen to do this.

And then on to something different - a cruise along a river, with lunch, and, er, champagne. Only a slight mix up where Suzanne took us to the place she was told to, which was actually the wrong place. And so we were running late, the cruise was cut short, but it was fun. We had a nice lunch - a plate of assorted charcuterie and salads and a baguette was just perfect as we sat on a wee boat, but at the side of the river (couldn’t chug along and eat outside because of the petrol smell). The charming Jerome looked after us. It should have been longer, but we were in a rush to get to our next champagne house, Billiecart-Salmon, as we didn’t want to be late. Huh! Four other people were late and kept us waiting, so that wasn’t a good start! More information overload and three tastings, with pencil and notebook provided, so everyone was taking notes, not just Hazel. I had to look busy, but I was just writing gibberish…

Back for a coffee and a lie down for an hour or so before we went off for our BIG treat - a 7 course tasting menu (with champagne and matching wines) at a Michelin starred restaurant - Chateau les Crayeres on the outskirts of town. And what a spectacle that was! Really amazing, wonderful dishes, served beautifully, with probably more black suited staff than punters. It was most interesting to just watch all the goings on, and the movements of the team, all wafting round gracefully and co-ordinating like a well oiled machine. Three waiters would arrive at our table, and all three put down the plates at the same time, and one of them would elaborate on the dish. It was theatre! JR and Hazel were busy clocking the label handbags.

Coffees in the drawing room (all tartan carpets and plush velvet cushion) while we waited for our taxi back. What a wonderful end to another great day. A slightly later start tomorrow, thank goodness. Our last full day…

Note: I’ve got the days mixed up and I’m too tired to fix them… this should be the 25th…