Day #03: Cheers from Champagne Country!

With great pleasure and a glass of our favorite bubbly beverage, today we are reporting in from the one and only Champagne region of France. Often imitated but never duplicated, this region is known worldwide for the sparkling white wine that bears its name and is a must visit when in France. Hard to believe we haven’t been here before, and we will definitely be back given the chance …. it is everything you would imagine and more.

La Ferté-Gaucher to Châlons-en-Champagne

  DAY #03 of 35   France   150 miles total

This morning we departed from La Ferté-Gaucher and on into the heart of Champagne country, one of our most-anticipated destinations on a trip packed with interesting and beautiful places. We cycled into the Marne River Valley, rolled up and down never-ending hills lined with vineyards and chateaus, then ran into a quagmire of Tour de France pre-race stoppages before ending in Chalons-en-Champagne.


Ready to roll from La Ferté-Gaucher on Day 3.

A few more wheat fields before entering the Marne River valley.

The Marne River, an eastern tributary of the Seine, creates a gorgeous valley for Champagne vineyards.

Important in history (the Celts of Gaul worshipped a goddess known as Dea Matrona – divine mother goddess – associated with the Marne; famous World War I battles were fought on its banks,) the Marne has been much revered. Here, Les Bords de la Marne, 1888 by Paul Cézanne.

The Marne was navigable as a free-flowing river until the 19th century. It had one gated 500 meter shortcut, the Canal de Cornillon, which was built in 1235, the oldest canal in France. Canalization was started in 1837 and completed in 1867. Mark’s dream of getting Shauna on a French river canal cruise may have just become a reality… any takers?

A typical village along the Marne.

Mark and Mike cross the Marne. Mike is an intrepid cyclist having cycle-toured across Africa, America, Chile, the list goes on and on… almost as many countries as we have visited.

Vineyards starting to outnumber the wheat fields.

Delving Deeper Into Champagne Country

The beauty combined with the exclusivity of the vineyards here have a seductive appeal, and inspired us to learn a bit more about Champagne.

Pinot noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay are the primary grapes grown in the region and used in the production of almost all Champagne, along with a small amount of other types as well.

Viticulture — the art of wine growing — is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. Located at the northern edges of France, the Champagne wine region played a significant role in the history and development of both viticulture and the country. Its climate is perfect for the vineyards and as a result the exact boundaries of the entire Champagne region are very precisely defined and regulated.

Trivia Facts:   Although many people use the word Champagne as a generic term for sparkling wine, in the European Union it is illegal to label any product Champagne unless it both comes from the Champagne region and is produced under strict rules. Despite legend and popular belief, Dom Pérignon (December 1639 – 14 September 1715) did not invent sparkling champagne. A French Benedictine monk, he did however make contributions to the production and quality of champagne wine in an era when the region’s wines were predominantly still red. Sparkling champagne didn’t become the dominant style of Champagne until the mid-19th century, apparently by mistake; the pressure in the bottle led it to be called “the devil’s wine” (le vin du diable), as bottles exploded or corks popped. At the time, bubbles were considered a fault.

This region has been known for its vineyards for over a thousand years. In fact, the Romans were the first to plant vineyards in this area as early as the 5th century, though tentatively at first. From 950 to 1316 the Counts of Champagne ruled the area as an independent county thanks to the profitability of the vineyards. By the 17th century advances in wine-making allowed the great Champagne houses to begin to develop and it quickly became associated with royalty. The rest is history.


Vineyards….

… and vineyards with increasing elevation…

… and vineyards with fancy equipment…

… and vineyards with fancy chateaus…

… we couldn’t stop taking pictures of vineyards.

A sentimental snap as this was the first bubbly we ever shared together. 💋

The Tour de France

The Tour was coming through a village on our route, but as most of us have seen it before, the group voted to press on. It would have added 3 hours to our day, time we preferred to spend sipping Champagne (I know, blasphemy to Tour groupies.)

Easy to tell when the Tour de France has come to town.

Decorations abound as the Tour rivals Christmas in importance to villagers on its route.

Hours ahead of the Tour coming through, streets are blockaded.

A local policeman explains the detour.

Dylan explains we only need to go a few kilometers straight ahead. (his experience had been that most local policemen will make exceptions to the blockades for short distances for cycling groups like ours).
This particular yellow shirt was adamant on the detour. One policeman even threatened to flatten Dylan’s tire if we didn’t obey. In the end, a short 4 km section took some of our riders – including Mark – an hour or so.

Shauna, however, got in under the wire.. literally the day’s finish line.

Even off the Tour route, decorations, displays (233 bicycles in a row here) and parties abound… all of France celebrates the Tour de France!

Châlons Cathedral
Our final destination of the day was Châlons-en-Champagne, one of those towns that is the perfect size for bike touring – large enough to provide all the amenities we require but also small enough for the traffic not to make it tough to get into the city in the first place. The 12th century Châlons Cathedral made for an imposing entrance to the city.

Ride and Seek owner Dylan celebrated his birthday with us before returning home. He will join us again for Stage 3.

Cheers to our 2nd 75-miler, to Champagne country, to a successful Day 3 of our epic Napoleon Cycling Tour.

Our legs were feeling surprisingly good today – maybe all the endorphins from the magnificent countryside? Sadly tomorrow morning we have to leave this magical place, but the good news is it will be a relatively short day at 60 miles, and we will tour Verdun (WWI) which is sure to be quite poignant.

Next Stop:   Les Monthairons

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