moet et chandon – Extraordinary Vacations

The Champagne region of France makes a wonderful day trip or short getaway from the hustle and bustle of Paris. It takes about an hour and a half by car, or you can hop on a train and be there in under an hour. Because there are several areas you will want to visit, I highly recommend renting a car and enjoying the scenery. We choose to pick up a car from Sixt, right at the CDG airport and it was an easy, pretty drive. We booked our car rental through Expedia.

If you decide to take the train, there are direct trains that leave Paris each day and take you to the capital of Champagne, Reims.

We stayed at the La Caserne Chanzy Hôtel in Reims. This was in the main part of town, surrounded by restaurants and boutiques. A wonderful location. The hotel itself is overlooking the famous Reims Cathedral, where the kings of France came to be crowned. If you can, try to get a cathedral view room. We stayed in a skyline room on the top floor, with a large balcony overlooking the cathedral and it is well worth the splurge. When we were there, there was a light show every night, illuminating the cathedral.

The room was spacious, air conditioned and the bed was comfortable. The best part was the balcony, and its magical view. Breakfast was included and a wonderful spread of everything from smoked salmon, cheeses, eggs, and of course, fresh croissants.

From Reims we drove to Epernay to see the majestic avenue de champagne where many of the gorgeous champagne houses can be found. We booked a tour of Moet and Chandon and it is recommended. We also went to the charming region of Hautvillers, where Dom Perignon, the monk who perfected champagne, lived and is buried.

The region of Champagne is beautiful and full of amazing restaurants. We ate on the terrace of the appropriately named Le Bellevue, inside the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa, overlooking the French countryside. This was the best meal of our trip to France (Paris included), it is no wonder it has earned a Michelin Star.

The Royal Champagne Hotel is a wonderful place to stay if you would rather be in the quiet countryside of Champillion rather than in the main city of Reims. Oversized rooms, luxurious bedding and all the wonderful amenities of a high-end hotel at your fingertips, including a mini-fridge stocked daily with water and juice, included in your rate. If you are in the area and don’t want to spend a small fortune on lunch, behind the hotel is a small, public area with a picnic table and gorgeous views. Don’t forget your champagne glasses!

Key Information for your trip to Champagne

Booking a car is recommended, you can do so here: https://www.expedia.ca/

If you want to take the train, you can do so here:

https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/tgv?wiz_medium=SEA&wiz_source=google&wiz_campaign=com_en_g_mk_conv_tr-multiproduit_nb_generic_carrier&wiz_content=TGV&wiz_term=p69035806418&&prex=SEA&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk-_k_uL9ggMVDgStBh085AvcEAAYASAAEgLEJvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

The hotels I recommend are:

The Royal Champagne Hotel& Spa https://royalchampagne.com/fr/hotel.html

La Caserne Chanzy https://www.lacasernechanzy.com/en/

Restaurants

Excelsoir https://www.excelsior-reims.fr/?locale=fr

Le Bellevue https://royalchampagne.com/en/le-bellevue-restaurant-and-terrace.html

Le Gaulois (no website but you can call +33 3 26 47 35 76)

Champagne Houses to Book (you need to do this well in advance and be early for your reservation, they mean it)