Page 211 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

Le Prestre de Vauban in 1675.
The main attraction is the MÉTHODE CHAMPENOISE
walk along the ramparts The secret to making bubbly is in its second
from the southern gateway. fermentation. After liqueur de tirage (wine,
The nature reserve at Rièzes sugar and yeast) is added, the wine is
is home to carnivorous plants bottled and, over a year or more, the yeast
and orchids. converts the sugar to alcohol and carbon
dioxide – the latter produces the sparkle.
Cloudy yeast sediments are moved
5 towards the cork by slowly ele vating
Chaumont and turning each bottle in a process
called remuage. The mouth of the bottle
is frozen and the sediments removed
! F3 ⌂ Haute-Marne £ @ (dégorgement). Finally, the sweetness
n 7 av du Général de Gaulle;
www.tourisme-chaumont- is adjusted by adding liqueur de dosage
(a mixture of wine and sugar) and the
champagne.com
bottle is sealed with a high-pressure
The former residence of the cork held on with a wire hood.
Counts of Champagne, this
feudal town enjoyed great
prestige in the 13th century. intense multicoloured stone here on 9 November 1970. His
On the far side of a ravine, group of ten mourners gath­ house is now a museum. In the
the old town sits on a rocky ered around Christ laid out on village churchyard, he lies in a
spur, with the Palais de Justice a shroud in his tomb. In the simple tomb, but a giant gran­
and the medieval castle domi­ left transept is a bizarre but ite cross of Lorraine, erected in
nating the view. beguiling Tree of Jesse. On this 1972, dominates the skyline.
The keep is a reminder that ill­lit Renaissance stone relief, At its foot is the Mémorial
this administrative centre had a family tree sprouts from Charles de Gaulle, a museum
a formidable past. This is con­ the sleeping Jesus. dedi cated to his life.
firmed by the Renaissance Northwest of Chaumont,
town houses, which are bulging Colombey­les­Deux­Eglises La Boisserie
with tourelles d’escaliers, tur­ is associated with General " ⌂ Rue Général de Gaulle,
reted staircases. Basilique Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970). Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises
St­Jean­Baptiste, a grey­stone The de Gaulles bought their § 03 25 01 52 52 # Apr–Sep:
Champenois church, is the home, La Boisserie, in 1933, daily; Oct–Mar: Wed–Mon
most remarkable monument but had to abandon it during ¢ Mid-Dec–Jan
in Chaumont. The interior is the war, when it was badly
enlivened by a spider’s web damaged. After its restoration, Mémorial Charles
of vaulting, a striking turreted de Gaulle would return to La de Gaulle
staircase and Renaissance Boisserie from Paris at " ⌂ Colombey-les-Deux-
galleries. Near the weekends to write Eglises # May–Sep: daily;
entrance is a tiny his memoirs. He died Oct–Apr: Wed–Mon ¢ Jan, 24,
chapel containing 25 & 31 Dec ∑ memorial-
an unsettling Mise charlesdegaulle.fr
au Tombeau
(1471), an

210-211_EW_France.indd 211 29/01/2019 15:06