Our trip to Champagne country in France began with a visit to Chartres Cathedral. Built in the 12th century, it is the 5th cathedral on the site since the 4th century. The feature that Chartres has is its spectacular stained glass windows, which I couldn’t capture all that well with the camera I was using back then.
Our next stop was Taittinger Champagne Cellars. Although the company was formed in the 18th century, many of the cellars have been there since the 4th. The tunnels and caves were dark and cool and the champagne was light and smooth.
By this time in my mom’s life, she was unable to drink alcohol any more due to medications she was taking. So I would drink her share too. This gave me a couple sample glasses of the champagne they produce.
After Taittinger’s, but before lunch, we visited Reims (or Rheims) Cathedral. This was the coronation cathedral for all but three of the kings of France. The cathedral was severely bombed during World War II. Some of the stone even melted. The windows at each end of the cathedral were restored, but the windows on the sides were replaced with white glass. One of the chapels contains stained glass windows made by Chagall.
The cathedral also has a black Madonna and child. This was because the earlier pagean goddess of the area was black and the early Christians wanted to give people something to which they could relate.
Lunch was in a lovely restaurant near the cathedral. It was a three course meal included in the price of the tour that consisted of paté de foie grois, followed by mixed pork and beef with a timbale of vegetables and another of potatoes (all of which had rich sauces), and mousse a l’orange for dessert. This was accompanied by a glass of a light Chardonnay with the paté, two glasses of a dry red wine with the main course, and a glass of sweet rosé with dessert. For me, this meant eight glasses of wine. They were all small glasses, but it was still eight glasses of wine. I was feeling no pain by the time we left the restaurant and we still had one more stop to go before heading back to Paris.
Our last stop was the town of Epernay and the caves of Möet and Chandon (founded in 1749). This is where Dom Perignon is made. Dom Perignon is the name of the monk who is credited with inventing the method for making champagne.
Along with the various types of champagne they make, they also had on hand a cask of port that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte. He had been a friend of Jean-Remy Möet, grandson of the founder. Napoleon would take bottles of Möet champagne with him when he went to fight his battles. That was how their champagne became known in other countries. They still have the largest percent of the export market of all French champagnes. Napoleon left his cask of port behind to pick up later, but never returned to get it. It still sits there, waiting.
By the time we left Epernay, I was ready for a nap. Fortunately we only needed to return to Paris and get to our hotel. The lunch had been large enough that no dinner was needed that night. Just a couple of items from the small shop in between Cityrama and the hotel would do. I kept pretty quiet and Mom steered me along. So, to the casual observer, nothing appeared to be amiss. But we both knew I was pretty well schnozzled, snockered, squiffy, and soused. It was definitely the most inebriated I have ever been on any trip I have taken.
