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Village of Dom…Hautvillers

Hautvillers

Small villages in France are meant to be explored on foot. Hautvillers, in the north east part of France in the Champagne region, is one of those villages.

What makes this one special?

Dom Perignon.

Have you heard of him? Maybe you equate his name with amazing bubbly. Who was he?

Born in about 1638 in the Champagne region of France, he was one of eight children. His family was like many others. They owned a few vineyards where he spent some time.

At a young age, he studied at an abbey, a Jesuit college, and became a monk. In fact, he ended up leading a monastery as a French Benedictine monk.

While at the Abbey of Hautvillers, he served as cellarer for its vineyard. That’s where he is credited with making improvements to the Champagne process or methode Champenoise. Before him, Champagne bottles would explode as the yeasts came back to life in the warm spring temperatures. He figured out to avoid these explosions.

Some of his other discoveries and advancements include combining different terroirs, pressing immediately after picking, holding corks down with string, digging cellars in the limestone to keep the Champagne at constant temperatures, and creating bubbles through a secondary fermentation. We can thank him for the prestigious Champagne we drink today.

In 1715, Dom Perignon was buried in the nave of the Abbey of Hautvillers. Typically, this section was reserved only for Abbots. That’s how well thought of he is in the village. His marble stone says he led his life “Cum Summa laude”, a mark of the highest praise.

Considered the cradle of Champagne, Hautvillers is a wine-producing village with its own unique look.

Houses used to display forged iron signs hanging from their entryways. These let everyone know what each shop was famous for. Today, many signs showcase activities related to Champagne. Others are for atmosphere.

We noticed the Hautvillers town prayer above one doorway. This is the morning prayer in the Champagne fashion.

Donnez-moi la sante pour longtemps, du boulot pas trop souvent, de l’amour de temps en temps, mais du champagne tout le temps.

Give me health for a long time, work not too often, love from time to time, but Champagne all the time.

I like this guy!

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Can I Take Uber at LAX?

Have you read the news about LAX, Los Angeles International Airport, and the changes with taxis, Uber, and Lyft?

If not, this is what is happening. You will no longer be able to catch a ride with any of those on the arrivals level roadway. This is true for all terminals. Instead, you need to take a shuttle ride to a dedicated pick-up area for app-based rides.

Taxi, Uber, and Lyft can still drop you off at each terminal.

What about other airports? Some are doing similar things.

Austin, Texas moved their pickup area for all app-based rides and taxis to the ground level of their rental car facility.

San Francisco now has a certain area in the central parking garage for these rides. You will need to take a shuttle there.

Seattle also moved theirs to the airport parking garage.

Boston moved both drop-off and pickup to a special area in the central parking garage.

There are probably more airports making similar changes.

So…what do you do?

Check the websites of Uber and Lyft before you go. They will give you the most up-to-date information on where to go to catch a ride. They will also let you know if your ride can drop you at the terminal or if you will need to plan extra time to catch a shuttle.

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So Many Museums

Museums in Paris

Paris is full of museums. That’s a given.

Think about The Louvre, the Centre Pompidou, Musee d’Orsay, Petit Palais, Musee Picasso Paris, Musee de l’Orangerie, Musee Rodin…I could go on and on.

This time, we visited a smaller museum. The Museum of Montmartre, located in the oldest house on the hill of Montmartre, takes you a step back in time. Fourteen personalities lived here at one time. This bohemian quarter was home to Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Duffy, and more.

Now, it houses the permanent collection of paintings, posters, and drawings signed by Toulouse-Lautrec, Modigliani, Kupka, Valadon, and Utrillo. These artworks recount the history of Montmartre, including the infamous cabarets of the Lapin Agile and the Moulin Rouge.

One whole room is dedicated to the French Cancan. Another one features rare zinc plates of scenes from shadow theatre like Le Chat Noir, the first modern cabaret opened in 1881.

After viewing three floors of paintings and posters, take a walk in the gardens. Dedicated to Auguste Renoir, these gardens offer breathtaking views of the vineyard below and the entire northern cityscape of Paris.

Renoir lived on site from 1875 to 1877. During this time, he painted his famous le Bal du Moulin de la Galette, La Balancoire, and Jardin de la rue Cortot.

This is truly a relaxing spot just steps from the busy streets.

If You Go: The museum and gardens are open every day from 10 am to 6 pm. It is located at 12 rue Cortot in Paris. Check the Metro map to get fairly close and walk up the hill.

It’s definitely worth the effort to get there.

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Champagne…

World’s Oldest Champagne House

There are plenty of Champagne houses to visit in and around Reims, France. The first one we visited was the world’s oldest.

Created by Nicolas Ruinart in 1729, he leaned of tales passed to him from his Uncle Thierry, a Benedictine monk. Those tales include stories about experiments Dom Perignon had done.

This wine with bubbles soon became successful in much of Europe.

More cellars were needed. Since the city of Reims sat on top of Gallo-Roman chalk quarries, these presented the perfect solution. Claude Ruinart purchased eight kilometers of this maze of chalk chambers, some up to 38 meters deep (almost 125 feet deep). Runiart still uses them today.

Through the years, they have had issues. During WWI, fighting around Reims destroyed some of the buildings. He moved his offices underground into the caves, until they were flooded. He ended up running the business from a raft. Talk about creative.

Then, during WWII the Germans discovered these cellars and pretty much emptied them.

Today, Runiart is part of a larger group. You still won’t find their distinctive bottle in the supermarket, however.

We took a tour. The limestone chambers, caves, and tasting did not disappoint. What we learned…

  • Runiart uses chardonnay grapes
  • Their style is elegant and full of mouth taste
  • All their Champagne is made in stainless steel
  • Inert nitrogen gas is used throughout the wine making process to protect against oxidation
  • Long aging in their crayeres (chalk quarries) brings many layers to the taste
  • You can purchase vintage Champagne made with grapes from a single year’s harvest, that year is displayed on the bottle
  • You can also purchase non-vintage Champagne or NV, with is made with a blend of grapes from multiple harvests

Would I recommend this tour and tasting? Absolutely.

It was educational, beyond just how Champagne is made.

The caves were almost unbelievable. The age, the manner in which they were naturally formed, and their use today are all pretty amazing. All I can say is, you have to see them to believe them.

Tastings were educational as well. And tasty…

If You Go: Runiart is located at 4 rue des Crayeres, Reims, France. You can book your tour online at runiart.com.

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What Did We Eat?

Foods in the Alsace region of France

Spending time in the Alsace region of France, we discovered a definite German influence. Apparent in both food and wine…some we enjoyed. Some…not as much.

Here are a few we tried…

Flammekueche

This is to Alsace what pizza is to Italy. It’s basically a tarte flambee garnished with a blend of cream, possibly cream cheese, lardons or bacon, and onions. You will find it on most menus. The crust is thin and crispy. Some chefs bake this in a bread oven. Even though it sounds heavy, it’s not. The crispy crust adds to the creaminess of the sauce. We found it on just about every menu, with slight variations.

We enjoyed it with a glass of Alsatian Riesling.

Pretzels

Pretzels in Alsace are more like a savory brioche. Garnished with rock salt, these are slightly crisp on the outside. The insides are light and tender. We noticed these at the market with pepperoni and cheese on top, similar to what you might see as a slice of pizza.

Choucroute garnie

Sometimes called the national dish of Alsace, this is a version of German sauerkraut. The fermented cabbage is cooked in white wine, beer, or cider and seasoned with juniper berries and black peppercorns. We saw it served with boiled potatoes and a variety of different meat.

Kugelhopf

Looking like a bundt cake, we found these in a variety of sizes. Something between a bread and a cake, this is usually baked with almonds and raisins. We found it to be a little dry as a cake. It was better when we dipped it in our morning coffee.

Alsace Wines

Most of the wines in this area are dry Rieslings, similar to what we found in Germany. Gewurztraminer is also popular, as are different sparkling ones. If sweeter wines are your favorites, you can find those as well. We opt for the dry ones.

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Cossy Champagne

Champagne Houses

Champagne houses vary. We visited a smaller house in a small village west of Reims.

Walking up the hill, we passed rows of vines. Some belonged to F. Cossy and some did not. Seemingly, they all ran together on the hill side. In reality, they did not.

That’s what makes this area so special. Even though vines run up and down the hills, through the small villages, and next to the winding roads it’s different than in many places. You won’t find acres of vines for as far as you can see which are all owned by one winery.

Here, an entire row may be owned by different people. One person may have vines which go a few feet or a few hundred feet. It doesn’t mean the whole hectare belongs to one person.

We set off to the small village of Jouy-les-Reims in search of a Champagne house a sommelier friend suggested. Traveling on narrow roads through small villages, we thought we may have made a wrong turn and were actually driving on a private lane. We’ve driven on a lot of roads similar to these. This time, we were following the GPS and wondered if we had entered the wrong address.

Houses and buildings perched so close to the road we could reach out and touch them. Vines with small bunches of remaining grapes begged to be photographed. There would have been no room to meet another vehicle. Maybe we were on the wrong road.

Turning a tight corner, we arrived at the address. Since it was a house and not what we were expecting, I called the winery owner. We were in the right place and she was on her way to meet us.

Some of her vines were ones we had passed. This time, we could photograph them. And, taste the remaining grapes. So sweet. She has other vines in a neighboring village.

Sophie Cossy had taken over the winemaking part of their family business when her father unexpectedly passed away. She was only 25 at the time. Young for a winemaker of a Champagne house. Their family had been farming these vineyards since 1764. They had been bottling under their own label since the 1950s.

The tour of her operation and the tastings were outstanding. Of all the Champagnes we tasted…these were among the best.

If you are in the Champagne area or are planning a trip, do not miss this house.

If You Go: Located in the 1er Cru village Jouy-les-Reims. You will be on the western outskirts of Reims. Check their website for visiting information, champagne-cossy.com.