Getting to Reims is about a 45 minute train ride from Paris and is VERY easy. Get your tickets ahead of time online and show up to Reims ready to get your champs on. We decided to splurge and get a private driver which I highly recommend. Let me give you the lay of the land, near the train station (by taxi, bus or walking) you can get to some fabulous champagne houses and do tours/tasting. The town of Reims has some great restaurants and is charming. But, what you really want to do is get out of the town and get down with the local champs folks and to do that you need a driver. When I say champagne houses, I literally mean houses where champs is made. And there are hundreds, everywhere BUT they wouldn't just take any Joe off the street who drives up. You need to have a driver set it up or a company. Trust me, you want to get the real experience out in the countryside in the vineyards. Let this be your splurge on the trip and take out all of the planning and worrying about champing and driving.
We used La Vigne du Roy Champagne Tours and there is no need to look further. Our driver met us at the train station and from there we sat back and enjoyed the day. We went to three champs houses and did a lot of tasting at each. They do provide what they call a "light lunch" do not be fooled, it is a lot of food. We cannot say enough great things about the day and about the access that we had to the champs makers, the caves, the tastings, literally everything. I even wanted to sabrage a bottle so the company set that up for me and it costs all of 18 euros and we got to drink the whole bottle. There are options to do semi-private which I think would have been a fabulous too.
The whole experience is lovely and something that really was a highlight of all our travels. If you want to visit Reims do think about getting out of the city and into the countryside and down with the peoples who are making the most delicious champs.
Notes: When you arrive at the train station and look for what platform you are going to leave from it probably won't be there. Do not panic. They usually don't put the number up until about 10 minutes before the train leaves. Also, if you don't see "Reims" as the name of the train, do not panic. The name of the city where the trains final stop will be on the screen, just check and make sure the train number matches up. If you have questions about where your seat is located or your car number, there are nice train folks wearing a uniform and conductor hat who can scan your ticket and tell you all the details. Make sure to take a jacket/sweater for your cave tours as it is chilly down there!
No comments:
Post a Comment