Page 210 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

EXPERIENCE MORE

cellars of Moët et Chandon or The Meuse meanders
Mercier – both are in avenue through the
de Champ agne. Mercier has
the distinction of displaying Ardennes among
spec tacular scenery
a giant tun (cask) created for
EXPERIENCE Champagne and takes you through the and steep trails. Just south is
the 1889 Paris Exhi bition,
of wild gorges,
woods and warped
caves in an electric train.
rock for mations of
De Castellane offers a more
granite or schist.
person alized tour, accom-
panied by a heady dégustation.

Moët et Chandon
"' ⌂ 20 av de Champagne
# By appt only, Apr–mid-Nov:
outcrop over the river gorge.
The town of Monthermé
daily; mid-Nov–Dec & Feb– Dames de la Meuse, a rocky
A wooden cask on Mar: Mon–Fri ∑ moet.com lies on two banks, with its
display at Epernay’s Vieille Ville clustered on the
house of Mercier
Mercier charming left bank. The rocky
"' ⌂ 70 av de Champagne gorges around Roche à Sept
2 # Feb–26 Mar: Thu–Sun; Heures on the far bank entice
27 Mar–Nov: daily
climbers and ramblers. The
Epernay ∑ champagnemercier.fr jagged crest of Rocher des
Quatre Fils d’Ay mon suggests
! E2 ⌂ Marne £ n 7 av De Castellane the silhouette of four legend-
de Champagne; www.ot-
epernay.fr "' ⌂ 57 rue de Verdun ary local horsemen.
# Mid-Mar–Dec: daily
The main reason for visiting ∑ castellane.com
Epernay is to burrow into the 4
chalky caves and taste the
Champagne. The town lives 3 Rocroi
off the fruits of its profitable ! F2 ⌂ Ardennes
Cham pagne industry. As proof, Vallée de la Meuse @ £ Monthermé n 1ter
the avenue de Champagne ! F2 ⌂ Ardennes rue du Pavillon; www.
quarter abounds in mock- £ Monthermé n Pl Jean otrocroi.com
Renaissance mansions. Moët Baptiste Clément,
et Chandon, dating back to Monthermé; www. Set on the Ardennes plateau,
1743, is the largest and slickest tourisme-meuse.com the star-shaped citadel of
maison. Its underground cellars Rocroi was originally built
stretch for 28 km (18 miles). The Meuse meanders through under Henri II in 1555, and
The group also owns other the Ardennes among spec- later made impreg nable by
Champagne houses, such as tacular scenery of wild gorges, military strategist Sébastien
Mercier, Krug, Veuve Clicquot woods and warped rock for-
and Ruinart. There is little to mations of granite or schist.
choose between a visit to the Dramatically set on a
double meander of the Meuse,
Revin is a rather unremarkable
GREAT VIEW town in an exceptional site, its
Hautvillers Vieille Ville (Old Town) tucked
According to 19th- into the north bend. From the
century marketing, Dom quay, you can see wooded
Perignon (1638-1715) Mont Malgré Tout and a route
invented Champagne dotted with observation points
in Hautvillers, a picture-
perfect little village
near Epernay with
vine-covered hillsides The Château de Chaumont,
all around. a fairytale vision of plump
turrets and piercing spires
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