To the Champagne country

On Sunday morning we said goodbye to our hosts of the last 8 days, Jean, Beatrice and daughter Marie-Adrienne. We had been made so welcome, with a large brioche on arrival, a delicious rhubarb tart a bit later and now a departure present of chocolates. Jean had taken me to a doctor in the next village then to get a blood test in Altkirch. Marie-A had phoned the dr.twice, etc. Nothing was too much trouble - a delightful family and it was almost tearful to say goodbye. We got on the road fairly early (for us!) as we had a lot of the slow N and D roads to cover. After about 80kms we arrived at the Chappelle en Haut, on a hill high above the town of Ronchamps. Don had seen this in 1998 and had to show Valerie. The design by the famous French architect Le Corbusier is in stark contrast to the complex detailing of the usual Catholic churches, chapels and Cathedrals. Well,it was built in the early 1950s. It was looking a little the worse for wear. Don still admires it - Valerie wasn't so sure. The views of the countryside are panoramic. Then it was onward, ever onward. At one stage Don was sure that the GPS was leading us astray but it eventually took us across some lovely rural country on minor roads to an Autoroute. After that we were on them for well over 200kms before some more minor roads led to the small village of Nueilly la Foret, our destination,between Reims and Epernay. This is the heart of Champagne country. Unlike in 1998, most small villages no longer have any shops, not even a boulangerie. I guess the supermarches have killed them off. This trip was our first long-distance one on a Sunday. Traffic on the minor roads was very light, and of course nothing was open, except the Autoroute stops, and they were crowded. It had been a good day, with fine sunny weather, but after 430kms of driving we were tired and finally able to relax in a cute little cottage. More of that later. Today, Monday we got up late, did some washing and decided to drive into Epernay,have a good lunch and go to the tourist office. The weather was not good, misty and raining. The GPS got us into the city centre area as requested but then seemed to be taking us out again. So Don decided to go into a car park rather than follow the instructions. Then we could not find out where we were on the only map which we had, in the Lonely Planet, so we voted to have lunch in the nearby Brasserie and then try to find the Tourist Office etc. After another delicious lunch we came out and could see a column nearby with wording about 1940 - 1945. We then let the GPS take us a bit further but stopped near the town market building and decided to take a walk. Using our natural orienteering skills ( or more likely just good luck) we eventually found a large "square" with impressive looking buildings and - that same column. Across the square was the tourist office. We had been originally parked within spitting distance. This was "Centre Ville"! Score one for us, zero for the GPS. The tourist office adjoined the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) and a magnificent park area. Then we came across Rue de Champagne and the impressive headquarters of Moët and Chandon. We decided to do their cellar tour another day as we were not dressed for the underground cold. Then we drove back, via vineyards in all directions, to our new home. The views from high points along the way would be great on a clear day. Unfortunately,it seems tomorrow will be wet again.