During our one week jaunt through France, we took on three delicious days in the Champagne region, sipping on bubbles galore, trying out some paleontology, and hiking among vineyards and forests.
To be in the Champagne region is to truly relax. In every town are champagne tasting cellars, picturesque cafes to enjoy, rivers and forests through which to wander, and patisserie sweets to sample. The best way to tour the region is by car, in order to easily visit the smaller towns and villages, which is what we did.
In Champagne, we were specifically looking for a way for the adults to enjoy champagne tastings while the kids were not bored out of their minds. And we found some great options.
Firstly, Le Cave Aux Coquillages. Much to our surprise, the Champagne region boasts some pretty exciting paleontology; caves containing giant shells and fossils from 45 – 60 million years ago. This is from back when a tropical sea once covered the land here. In visiting, you are introduced to the underground caves, where you can even see these enormous fossilized shells poking through the walls and ceilings, learn about the excavation of these ancient treasures, and see how the fossils are cleaned and cared for in their laboratory. Once finished, guests can taste the notably mineral champagne (delicious), and the kids can even buy their own bag of fossils to clean and inspect. This was, by far, the most exciting experience my kids had in Champagne. The entire cave tour was conducted in French, which they don’t speak, and they couldn’t have cared less, as they were too busy searching the walls for shells and inspecting the displays.
We stayed on-site, at the B&B, which couldn’t have been more pleasant. The room was sunny and clean, our hostess bubbling and kind, and the breakfasts were amazing, with fresh croissants and pastries, French cheeses, and local honey and jam.
We also took a few easy hikes while in Champagne, one a vineyard tour with informational signs explaining the irrigation, pest control, and other growing practices of the region, and one through a forest where we more or less spent our entire morning picking and eating wild strawberries.
We also enjoyed some of the small town pleasures. In Cumières, a small riverside town nearby our B&B, a festival was taking place. We drank champagne, ate crepes, and listened to music with the locals, really experiencing and enjoying the local culture.
It was also super fun to see numerous signs for the Tour de France, scheduled to take place a few weeks after our visit.
For dinner each night we chose a different city, once Épernay, and once Reims. Both evenings we had fantastic food in these elegant cities.
One of the fun kid-friendly tours we opted for was Les Ecomusées d’Oeuilly in Oeuilly. It is a historic village, with old buildings and, most importantly, an old schoolhouse. In the schoolhouse the children dress up, and even get to try on a dunce’s cap and write with a quill and ink. My girls had such a great time playing school for an hour, and the exhibits are fascinating for adults, too.
Something I loved and find to be unique to Champagne are all the signs for the local champagne producers. They are creative, individualized works of art – I wish I had photographed more of them.
Before we left Champagne, we opted for one more traditional champagne tour, at Mercier. We chose Mercier because the tour is well-rated for families, and you get to ride around underground on a trolley, so its kind of like an amusement park. Even taking the elevator down to the caves was exciting – there was an animated video projected onto the wall for the deep trip underground. Carved reliefs greet you at every turn in the cellars, and its easy to get lost in your imagination as you tour the kilometers of deep tunnels and passages. Plus you get to taste champagne at the end.
Our very last stop was for lunch at a village called Hautvillers, well-known for its quaint charm. We ate moules frites, drank pink champagne, and basked in the warm, sunny day.
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