Champagne!!!!!

At the first moment we arrived in Germany Julie has wanted to go champagne tasting at some of the best well known vineyards in the world.  About a month ago Julie asked me once again when we would go and do this expensive adventure.  She threw out a few dates and the majority of those dates were in the fall!!!!  NO WAY I say!  That's Fontainebleau time and I intend on spending every spare moment we have there.  So she suggested this past weekend. We started the weekend out by arriving to our room in Epernay, France.  It was an extremely tiny room with an even smaller bathroom that reminds me of my old camper bathroom.  Once settled into the room we headed out on the town for some great french food and entertainment.  It seems every restaurant in Europe has some sort of Bier Garten (Patio).  Sitting in one of these bier gartens, one enjoys people watching at its best.  We ate enjoyed great beverages and then passed out!

The next morning we woke up to a typical french breakfast, Coffee (YUCK!) and baguette with marmalade and/or honey.  We had out first tasting/tour at 11am.  This first tour was going to be at the famous Moet/Dom Perignon.  The elements and process of making champagne are breathtaking.  The 27 miles of Cellars under the city are packed full of fermenting bottles that are covered in dust for years!  The full process is way to long to get into and no one reading this really wants to read all my rambling.  The champagne after the tour was amazing some of the best!  We sipped on it talked with some of the others on the tour.  We actually ran into a family from the Denver/boulder area and they climbed, crazy small world!  After sipping on STARZ we headed to the Crepe shop for a quick lunch before our next tour/tasting at Veuve Clicquot.  This was yet another fancy building with cellars just as full of champagne fermenting.  At the end of both tastings we couldn't resist spending a "little" money!  We decided to buy a bottle of Dom to drink on our anniversary in Sept. and a bottle of the 2002 Moet Grand Vintage, and from Veuve a bottle of their 2004 Vintage Brut and a bottle of their Brut in a little city travel bag.  All in all it was a great weekend of tasting and hanging out with my great wife!  Here are a few pics to showcase the weekend, enjoy!

Our Gifts to ourselves!

Bottle from the Mid 1800's found at a ship wreck, another bottle sold for 30,000 Euro!

 There was an amazing looking French cemetary just down the road from out hotel.  I had to take a walk through it, I notice that the French take there dead serious.  Some of these plots have 8 or more family members buried there.  I felt honored to walk amongst these sites.

Moet & Chondon Memorial Site!