Champagne

Champagne is the region in northeastern France that gave its name to the world’s best-known sparkling wine. Only wine produced here, within the delimited area, can be called champagne, made from grapes such as chardonnay, pinot noir and meunier. For the traveler, the region revolves around two towns: Reims, the larger, and Épernay, smaller and surrounded by vineyards.

Reims has a history that goes far beyond wine. The city is home to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame, where nearly all the kings of France were crowned from the 11th century, and the Basilique Saint-Remi, which houses the tomb of the bishop who baptized Clovis, the first Christian Frankish king. The two monuments, together with the Palais du Tau, form a group inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991. Reims also has a Roman arch, the Porte de Mars, and the hall where Germany signed the surrender in May 1945.

What makes the region unique lies beneath the ground: kilometers of galleries and former chalk quarries, the crayères, where bottles rest for years at a stable temperature. The champagne houses, called maisons, open those cellars for guided visits, almost always by prior reservation. Hills, Houses and Caves of Champagne entered the World Heritage list in 2015, including the Avenue de Champagne in Épernay and the hills of Saint-Nicaise in Reims.

Between the two towns lie the Montagne de Reims, a massif covered in forests and vineyards, and the valley of the Marne river. There are villages such as Hautvillers, where the monk Dom Pérignon lived, and Verzenay, with a lighthouse amid the vines. The harvest usually takes place in September. Champagne here appears as a culture and the work of generations: visits often end with a small tasting, and drinking in moderation is part of the experience.

This destination brings together 2 cities: Reims, Épernay.