Champagne (France) - August Bank Holiday Weekend

Mom's last weekend with us was a long weekend as the Monday was a bank holiday so it was off to Champagne we went. It was an early start to get to the Eurotunnel terminal. It was a little freezy at that point in the day as you can see in the photo below.

The view from the Eurotunnel terminal - beautiful! Not far from the cliffs of Dover.
And then it was onto the train for our journey under the sea.

We popped up on the continent and headed for lunch in Reims. Below we are standing in front of the cathedral in Reims. An amazing building both inside and out!! No photo could really do it justice.

How is this for a location for lunch? :)

With full tummies and raised blood sugars it was time to explore the cathedral

A wander through the city taking in some of the other sights that were on offer before we headed to do some more exploring of the Champagne countryside with its rolling hills of vineyards, little villages where everybody seemed to make champagne in their garage. It was everything that people had said it was and oh so French :)

Moet and Chandon country - we couldn't actually find the chateau in the countryside but we did find some indications that we were close :)

Nothing like a little late afternoon carriage ride through the vineyards - lucky peeps.

And then it was onto where we were going to be staying for the weekend - a beautiful self-catering gite in a tiny little village. We stayed right across the road from the village church which was beautiful as we had the church bells chiming every hour till 23:00. The next morning we started the day with fresh croissants from the baker who came to the door to sell his wares.

After our French fare we went exploring. Sunday was our history day and we headed deep in WW1 territory. We started in the Argonne forest where we saw some of the craters that had been formed by the landmines. It was amazing to see how the forest had re-grown and rejuvenated itself but still had reminders of a past devastation.

Here we are in front of one of the German underground tunnels and bunkers.

And then it was onto Verdun - one of the towns that was very much in the middle of the battle - for some lunch and the opportunity to savour some very yummy French pasteries.

Not far from Verdun was the Ossarary de Douaumont which is a massive memorial to those who died during WW1. It is a massive structure, very peaceful and contemplative inside and really makes one aware of the huge loss of life that was caused by the war.

In front of the Ossarary is a grave yard for all the French citizens of the area who lost their lives.

After getting our fill and a new perspective of WW1 we headed back to our gite for a little bit of R&R and the chance to enjoy a late summer evening.

Monday morning we were off to spend a bit more time with the champagne side of things. We started by heading to Chalon for some brekkie and a little wander through the streets and city.

Breakfast and the chance to get the caffeine levels to what they should be.

Some of Chalon's monuments and statues :)

And then it was onto grander and more sophisticated things in Epernay. We did a couple of drives up and down Champagne avenue trying to keep our mouths closed as we took in the grandeur of the many well-known champagne houses chateau's.

And then it was time to head in the direction of the Eurotunnel to retrace our footsteps that would return us to the shores of the UK and the road that would take us back to our little home in Wimbledon. Another great adventure with lots of memories that I'm sure we will look back on often.