All posts tagged: Reims

a quick reminisce before the next trip…

Published by

Before we head off again next week to see some of Spain, Portugal & France…here are a few photos from our last trip. Hopefully with another two years practise, and some fancier gear, the shots will be better, and will tell the story of our time away.      Notre Dame will be visited again, and I’m pretty sure we’ll see another of France’s iconic vehicles!               The cafe scene in Paris, to the stunning light show in Reims. One of the highlights, ballooning over Burgundy. Pompeii was breathtaking, a must visit if you’re anywhere near.       There’s quite the art to walking on the beach in Amalfi, and a lot of walking in Rome.                     A strategically placed Vespa in Assisi, and a misplaced Boar in Chianti. In one of the most wicked “butchers/deli’s ever!!     The rugged splendour of the Cinque Terre, and the majestic beauty of Lake Como.      Venice, before the madness …

Lanson

Published by

Special occasions should always be celebrated with a bit of pizzazz, and nothing spells pizzazz like Champagne! Lanson Black label NV ~$40, exclusive to Dan Murphy’s. ‘A Champagne made predominantly with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the purest Champagne style. Vinification without malolactic fermentation: a historic decision at Lanson to guarantee a fresh and fruity wine.’ Everyone loves a ‘champers’, and nothing beats the birthplace of sparkling wine, Champagne. Aussies have forever been in love with the bubbly stuff we colloquially called ‘champers’, Australian sparkling wine made in any number of ways, but for many years labelled and marketed under the moniker “Champagne”, much to the annoyance of the French. Nothing wrong with Australian sparkles, just it ‘aint Champagne. Maybe our wine industry suffered from an inferiority complex in our early days, labelling everything after foreign wine regions such as Port, Chablis, Rhine Riesling, Burgundy etc. To make matters worse, we didn’t really even try to make wines true to those regions styles. For instance, Chablis is Chardonnay, yet our ‘chablis’ could have been almost any …

Get Lucky

Published by

Beaune, France Today we set off from Reims and headed south to Beaune in our hire car, which would take 4 hours as we set the GPS to avoid tolls. Unfortunately so did every truck driver who happened to be in our way on route to Beaune. So, a 4 hour anticipated travel time had now increased to 4.5 hours. Before heading off we visited FNAC, which is the JB Hi Fi of France, to buy an iPOD connection for the car. Unfortunately in France, they do not start their day until 10am so no luck there, looks like France radio for us!! First things first, we entered the hotel we were staying in into the GPS which came back as ‘not found’, great start to the day. Decided to enter Beaune and we were on our way. Whilst Hugh was much more comfortable behind the wheel, he still has a fascination with the right hand curb, so my nerves were still on edge. Once out of the city of Reims it was smooth sailing …

Champagne!

Published by

Reims, France First things first. We solved the riddle of the pronunciation of Reims, which you would think was something like “Rems”, with a guttural “R”. But you would be wrong my friends. It is pronounced something like “Runce”, with the “R” swallowed! Go figure! Twin beds, a great sleep in! Late start to the day. First call the patisserie for brekky, then off to book a champagne house tour or two. All good so far…..then we got our hire car!!! Wrong side of the road, have to look right to see the rear vision mirror, gear stick on the wrong side, crazy roads, one nervous passenger….NO GPS! Only had to travel 3km to Champagne Taittinger……40 mins, a gazillion wrong turns, and 21k’s later, and no frickin idea where we were but we ended up back at the car hire place, BY MISTAKE! Bloody hell, one wrong turn lead us up, and down, the garden path. To make matters worse, I seemed to have developed a crush with the roadside curb, hugging it like a …

From Paris to Reims

Published by

Reims, France And so it is time to bid a fond adieu to Paris, but not before another run in Luxenbourg gardens, and a croissant. Plus one more attempt at a coffee……fail! We loved Paris, such a beautiful city. The buildings, museums, gardens, history, cafes, patisseries, shops, etc, etc…. You could spend a week just exploring the boulevards, and lane ways, and if you happened to be rolling in cash that would help! Expensive place! Plus the beggars are a bit overwhelming, if only for their number, as they are mostly a very passive lot with their dogs by their side. Still, time waits for no man, or woman, so off by train to Reims in the heart of Champagne. The train trip was quick, I got a window seat with an actual view, and we arrived right on time. Our hotel was just down the road from the station, and found without fuss. The receptionist was waiting for us, and was delighted to welcome ” Hoog” to Reims!! Reims, also spelt Rheims, and almost …