And so to Champagne

Well, the whole idea for this holiday started with my desire to visit (and taste) Champagne so, as our holiday was nearly at an end, we packed our bags once again and headed off to fulfill this wish. Our drive took us over the Vosges mountains. We wended our way up windy roads through the woods and over the mountains, spying villages and farms nestled between the trees and in the valleys. The scenery changed as we got near to Champagne and there were more open fields. Throughout France we have seen rapeseed growing, with its beautiful yellow flowers brightening the countryside. However, once we got over the mountain range the amount of rapeseed crops seemed to increase. One thing that surprised me given the copious amounts of cheese and other dairy products on offer, is the few dairy or other animals we have seen. We have seen the odd group of maybe 8-10 cows outside but not the numbers you would expect. I know they do house them in barns but thought that was only in very cold months.
We spent a couple of hours in Chalons-en-Champagne on our way, driving past this arch on the way in.
It was pretty quiet in this town later on an Easter Monday afternoon. However, we did find an open cafe so I could sample my first glass of champagne in Champagne. We also strolled along the canal (trying to locate a cafe, only to find there wasn't a cafe on the canal (not that we could find) and found two cathedrals and a church and popped our head in each for a quick look. One of them had dioramas of the Easter story with what looked like lego characters. Another has a war memorial outside with statues of soldiers. We had decided to treat ourselves to a bit of luxury during our time in Champagne and Chateau Etoges certainly lived up to expectations.
Our room is in the second floor of the tower

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