Would you like a bit of Bolly sweetie? Just a smidge….

Salut from the channel ferry. We’re on our way back to the UK after 9 weeks in Europe – it will be nice to be able to understand what we’re buying at the grocery store or ordering at a restaurant!! 

Since crossing back into France from Italy we have travelled through the Alps, drunk our way down the Avenue de Champagne and eaten at Le Maori 2.0 restaurant!

 

A bit of a shock heading into the Alps with a drop in temp from 39 to 10 in just a week! After passing through the very expensive (nz$140) 11.6km Mont Blanc tunnel, we entered France. The Mont Blanc Tunnel is the world’s 2nd deepest tunnel after the Gotthard Base in the Swiss Alps and on average over 5000 vehicles go through the tunnel every day. In 1999 a fire disaster occurred killing 39 people and resulting in sweeping safety and administration changes.

 

Our first stop in the Alps was a wee town called Saint Michel de Maurienne. Cute but very quiet – apparently everyone goes on holiday in August, although to be fair we’ve gone through sooo many French towns that look deserted – shops etc often don’t open on a Saturday afternoon, Sunday, Monday morning or between 12 & 2 or 4pm every day, so it’s a bit hard to tell! Getting back to the Alps - what scenery – very reminiscent of travelling through the South Island. There wasn’t any snow, but the mountains were still majestic.

 

After a couple of nights in the Alps we headed to another slightly bigger town, Beaune. We had intended to cycle round the sights but we discovered a flat tyre and it took us all day to get it fixed! From there we headed to somewhere that I have been keen to visit for some time – Epernay in the heart of the Champagne region. I’ve previously been to Reims, so I was looking forward to tasting some different champers. 🍾

 

Trap embraced the champagne culture, and we found we actually liked quite different wines! Between the 2 of us we managed to taste quite a bit and with their generous 100ml ‘tastings’, after stop 2 we were already feeling the effects. We loved the environment of Chateau Comtesse Lafond and I liked the Rose Brut best of the 6 🥂🥂🥂 champagnes we tasted there. Our next stop was Mercier with the famous giant etched barrel. Again, we sat outside and enjoyed a 4-wine tasting. After a brief stop at Michel Mailliard for some more refreshments 😁, we were in desperate need of food, so popped into Venoge for a 2-wine tasting and a wee platter.  Refreshed, we headed towards the expensive end of the Avenue de Champagne, visiting Perrier Jouet and Moet & Chandon. Perrier Jouet was an incredible space – absolutely beautiful art work in the tasting room and gorgeous bottles and glasses. We decided not to do a tasting here as one 100ml glass was nz$40, so we just wandered around taking pics!  Our last stop of the day was Moet and Chandon. We did a 3-wine tasting here and I can’t say it was my favourite. Trap had to finish off my glass!!!! I suppose it was 5 hours, four champagne houses and 10 champagnes each by that stage, so….

We uber’d back to the campground and I had to have a wee nap 😴

 

After a rest day we headed off to Le Quesnoy – a town that was liberated by NZ in 1918 at the end of the first world war. They have a NZ memorial, NZ museum of liberation, Rue de la Nouvelle Zelande, celebrate Anzac day every year and have a restaurant called Le Maori 2.0 – we kid you not. We popped in for dinner on our first night and it wasn't bad!!!

 

And unbelievably, on arrival at our camp ground, a fellow kiwi from Whangapaparoa walked in!!!  He works at the NZ Liberation Museum and was dropping off some flyers. Later that night we ran into him and 4 other kiwis at Le Maori, one of which was from the North Shore and another from Whangaparaoa also! After delicious burgers and mint choc ice-cream, we jumped on our bikes, headed the wrong way down a one-way street but made it back to our campground in one piece – just!!

The next day we cycled all over the town visiting the NZ Peace Garden, NZ Memorial and the NZ Liberation Museum – a very moving tribute to the NZ troops. What a cute town Le Quesnoy is – cobblestone streets (which aren’t that great on a bike), gardens, lots of walking and cycle tracks and one of the largest intact ramparts left. We really enjoyed our stay here.

 

So, as we come to the end of our French journey, we reflect back on what we’ve experienced. We’ve been really impressed with France – the cleanliness (even on back streets and motorways), the facilities, the friendliness of the people and the effort the little towns make with flowers, quirky statues and art throughout their streets.

 

The highlights:

·       our favourite city was Paris

·       favourite small town was Saint Emillion

·       most unforgettable experience was catching up with Cathy after 23 years in Saint Raphael

·       Most moving was the visit to Le Quesnoy

·       Most entertaining was day drinking Champagne in Epernay and the Latin Quarter show in Paris

 

But to be honest we’ve pretty much loved it all.

 

Au revoir la France, nous reviendrons certainement (Farewell France, we'll certainly be back).

 

J&T xx