War and Wine

After a slow start enjoying our luxurious surroundings we began the day with a champagne tasting at a place just outside the gates of the chateau before strolling around the village and picking up berries and baguettes for a picnic lunch. It was lovely sitting in the sun in the chateau grounds enjoying champagne (from hawkesbay black barn plastic wine glasses). Nice to slow down and relax.
The battle of the Marne happened close by and we visited two different memorials to this tragic battle. The first was an immense sculpture in a very rural setting beside a small church the second was a chapel which was unfortunately not open the day we visited but very beautiful and set in parklike grounds which we walked through to get there. It is just so sad that so many young lives were lost.
Epernay is famous for its champagne houses and I was really looking forward to walking down the Avenue de Champagne and seeing the golden mile of champagne. We started with a tour of Castellane climbing the 237 steps of their tower which overlooks the avenue, river and railway. It is cleverly positioned to open straight out onto the river and railway making transportation of the wine easy. On each landing on the way up the tower are different displays relating to wine making and the history of the Castellane winery. I was particularly fascinated by a display of wine labels that have been used over years. The label designers have cleverly integrated the red cross that is the well known emblem of the winery into the imagery in different ways. So clever.
The view from the top was lovely and we also saw some old wine making and processing equipment before sampling a couple of glasses of their champagne. Delicious.
It was getting quite late in the day so after enjoying a stroll down the avenue, marvelling at the rich and decadent look of the many champagne houses, we located one that was still open to customers and had food available. We enjoyed a charcuterie platter and glass of bubbles (would be rude not to) at Collard-picard before taking ourselves back to our chateau.

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