Champagne France

Day 91/France 59

Travelled: 65km from Asfeld to Mareuil s/Ay

After our morning coffee we drove into Asfeld to have a look at the 17th century Church of St.Didier. It has an unusual design with its viola de gamba shape and Baroque style. Made of brick, it has no straight lines. Unfortunately it is under restoration.

We passed through a village called Sydney!

We went through the centre of  Riems , passing the cathedral.

We drove through some lovely Champagne countryside.

We made our way to a lovely spot in Mareuil sur Ay, with shaded parking along side the canal (stayed 2014).

 After a cooked lunch (emptying out the fridge), we did some cleaning up in preparation for Bluey’s hibernation. 

Day 92/ France 60

Travelled: 95km via Epernay, Hautvillers, Fere en Tardenois to Pommiers (Soissons)

We had a morning stroll in Mareuil, which mainly consists of a couple of Champagne cellars, a boulangerie, a bistro,  hairdresser and tabac/newsagents. That’s ok for us as we had a lovely peaceful sleep. We contemplated wether to stay another day, as the weather is heating up again, but in the end moved on.

10km away is Epernay, the capital of champagne (visited 2003, 2014).

All the important champagne houses are located in town , especially along the famous Champagne Avenue.

Some notable buildings we walked past was:

The Hôtel de Ville 

The Gabrielle Dorziat theatre 

Notre Dame church (1925)

St.Martin portal

We have previously visited the champagne cellars so we continued to Hautvillers only 9km away. (Also visited in 2014).

This is where the monk Dom Perignon discovered the champagne wine making process in the 18th century. 

His tomb rests in the chancel of the St.Sindulphe abbey church. 

There are also some pretty forged iron shop signs scattered around the village.

Saying good bye to the vines..

We stopped to pay our respects at the Commonwealth War Cemetery 

We then set the gps for the ruined castle in Fere en Tardenois. The 1206 castle was transformed around 1528 with the addition of the Renaissance bridge being added in 1555, designed by Jean Bullant (architect of Castle Chenonceaux). We noticed the similarities. 

So after a bite to eat for lunch we made our way to another shady spot to escape the hot day (only 32°) in Pommiers on the banks of the Aisne river near Soissons (2018), slowly getting closer to our final destination.