Reims champagne country! hmm!

Here are a few pictures from our trip in April to Reims....there will be other blogs...it was a splendid day! We took the train out early in the morning and came back in the evening.
Here is the city gate that we saw early in the morning on our champagne day adventure.

Reims is in champagne country. The grapes grown here are the secret to champagne and the secret to the grapes...can't tell you!
hee hee. Actually it is the land. The vineyards grow on land that sits on top of chalk beds. Apparently this helps the earth hold moisture a certain way and make great grapes that then with some secret recipes and mixtures produce the legally licensed champagne that then gets shipped around the world.
We visited Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin and G.H. Mumm!

But before getting to the bubbly some other history tidbits.
Reims is also famous for its history.
This is where Clovis...a king of France was baptized by St. Remy.
See photo below.
Here is the Basilica of St. Remy.
Do you see how small Michael looks in this picture? This Basilica is humongoid!

Curb your dog please or let him go off the sidewalk. Had not seen this note before! Apparently there are some in Paris. Michael showed me one around the Pantheon later on that week.
Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin....let the learning and tasting begin! yummy! Those are La Grande Dame bottles on each side of the statue.
After some history where we learned that the widow of Cliquot took on the business instead of selling it off and is the one responsible for their international growth, we learned about how they make their champagne. The story floored us. This woman...Veuve in French means widow...was amazing. Not only did she pioneer international Champagne marketing, but she solehandedly made her late husband's company an internationally known company in days when most women did not even get to study!
Like the story so far....
Now, for the champagne.
Ok, so here we go down into the caves dug in the chalk layers....it was cold and dark and very musty.Looking back up at the entrance. The staircase was beautifully lit!
These are Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin Grande Dame bottles. If I remember correctly they sit for about 8 years! They are very pricy but oh so smooth tasting....we didn't get to taste them, but we tasted the step down and that was nice enough! I imagine these bottles are wonderfully smooth.
Walking through another one of the lit tunnels in the caves....there are many many kilometers of caves...I think he said over 20 km? Can't remember.
Here I am with one of the bigger bottles. I think it might be a Magnum or the step up?
Well, there are more pictures...I have to format them.
Sorry for the month long delay.
There has been a lot going on!
Phillip came through. Loved his visit. MISS YOU!
Went to Normandy with my cousins and had a fun hoedown out there for her mom's 60th. They danced to "Cotton Eyed Joe!"
Elections happened.
Saw lots of hoodlums on our way back election night. Did not even dare to take pictures. No need to give them any sort of respect. Police are everywhere.
So Sarkozy is indeed the new president and France is on a new road come May 16th.
So for now, off to format photos and will get them up ASAP.

Bisous from Paris!