Traveling Wild: Visiting Champagne

Visiting Champagne!

I've wanted to visit the Champagne region for a while. Sparkling wine is one of my most favorite alcoholic beverages. It's just so tasty! But only sparkling wine made in this region can actually be called champagne--and it's known as the best in the world. So when we had the chance to take a day trip to the area with Stacy and Jason, you better believe we signed on for that. Plus we got to go by train, which is always fun.

Wilder's first train ride

The very beginning of Wilder's love affair with trains. 

Wilder was not yet the train fanatic he is now, but he still thought the train was really cool. More about train travel in another post. This ride on the TGV was short--only 45 minutes--and it was a scenic trip. When we got to Reims, we picked up some croissants (definitely want to carb up before visiting wineries!) and joined our tour guide Cris at the van. We reserved a car seat for Wilder in the van and off we went to the town of Hautvillers.

vineyards

like a painting

learning about champagne

Wilder liked the vaulted ceiling

The bottles have to be turned so precisely, twice a day.

The church in Hautvilliers, where Dom Perignon is buried.

doll baby in the church

little angel

sorry last one. So cute!

beautiful vineyard

Cheesin'

The crew!

We learned about Dom Perignon--a monk that was influential in improving champagne (who knew!?), and we got to see the church where he was buries. We saw the vineyards for Moet & Chandon (my favorite), and we learned about the process of making champagne. There is SO much to the process--it was fascinating! After just a few minutes in the van, we arrived at the first of two champagne houses: Ferrand Lemaire. We tried several brut champagnes, and they were delicious! I was worried about Wilder missing his naps on this day trip, but he napped for 90 minutes while I wore him in my Tula in the morning.

babywearing - handy for nap time!

Next, we went to J.M Gobillard & Fils  and tried a bunch more samples of champagne. It was all good. After that stop, we headed back to the train station and were home in time for Wilder to take his afternoon nap. It was such a pleasant excursion, and we came back with LOTS of delicious champagne to enjoy the rest of the trip.

magnums o' champagne

There are a lot of wineries in the Champagne region - if you get the chance to go, I would definitely recommend our tour guide Cris Event to help you navigate winery tours. He did a great job!